Fighting With Light (The Coldwell Brothers #2)

56. Liam

56

Liam

Aelia hurries out of our weapons store room, and I finish hooking my rifle to my vest and sliding clips into the elastic holders. I buckle a holster and a knife to my thigh and start to leave, but then I think twice and grab Aelia a vest, another pistol, and a blade.

I step out, and she’s already walking towards me in black cargo pants and a t-shirt, with my boots in her hand. We trade. I hand her the vest, and she tosses the boots at my feet. Aelia straps it on and takes the other pistol from me, then straps the knife to her thigh as I slip my boots onto my feet and lace them up.

She stands and checks the pistol again, flipping the safety off before sliding it into the holster.

“I probably shouldn’t say this, but that’s hot.”

She rolls her eyes. “What do we know?” she asks.

I lead her down the stairs to the kitchen, and Clarence already has a vest on giving orders to a group of three other men on our team. Mom sits at the little cafe table off to the side, sipping her coffee. The color has returned to her skin, and the anger is sitting on her like a set of the Queen’s jewels—heavy.

Aelia grips my forearm and leans in to whisper in my ear.

“What did that text say?”

More gunshots ring out and I really don’t like that my mom is just sitting there drinking coffee even though there is a pistol laying next to the saucer on the table.

I glance at Mom before telling Aelia what my father said.

I cough, clearing my throat because even thinking about it hurts. “He said…” I don’t even want to repeat the words. “He said he would make us pay, and he’s done playing games. He’s coming to kill me and my brothers, hang our bodies on the fences for the birds to eat, and he’s going to…take Mom, you, and Cordelia and…” I choke on the words I can’t say.

I shake my head.

“It’s okay, I’ve got the picture,” she whispers.

I nod, and she kisses my cheek. It won’t happen. I won’t let it. I will cut his head off before he touches any of them.

“Do we know who they are?” Aelia asks.

The first rule of war, know your enemy.

Clarence gives Aelia a look, and I don’t blame him. “Yes, ma’am, we ran facial recognition on some men seen getting off the plane at a private airport about twenty miles north of us. They have been linked to a group from Great Britain, which is why my contact notified me.”

“Is it Cameron?” I ask Clarence.

“We’re not sure, but he’s not with them, though. We know that much,” he says.

Aelia nods, locking down her emotions.

“Where is Emerson?” I ask Mom.

“On his way,” she says.

“And Kai?” I ask.

“They need to stay away from all of this, Liam, you know that. They’re on their way to another state for a freestyle competition. We can’t risk them.”

I agree, it’s exactly what I would have done.

Emerson is the one that sets up the game plan, but he’s not here yet. A few more gunshots ring off in the distance. We need to stop talking and end this.

“Where do we have people?” I ask.

“We expect them to come from both the front and the back of the property. Snipers are on the roof and two teams are on the ground. We have the house covered and…” Clarence glances at Mom, then he leans forward.

“I asked her to go to the safe room, but she refused,” he says quietly .

Mom slams her tea cup on the saucer and stands. “Clarence, I can hear you. I’m not going into the damn safe room because if that asshole shows up at my home, I’m going to put a bullet through him.”

I glance at Clarence and he stands up straight. “Mom—”

“Do not Mom me, Liam Grant Coldwell, I know what I said, and I’m not going.”

Aelia giggles next to me. “Grant?”

I frown and glance out the window in the direction gunshots are going off.

“Yeah, what’s your middle name?”

“Gabriella,” she says.

“Oh…”

She grins and takes my hand.

“We don’t know how many are out there.”

“Alright, then, let’s get to work.”

Gunshots pop off again, and the door to the garage slams open. Emerson stomps through, huffing like a raging bull. Blood splatters across his face, and he hangs his rifle off his shoulder.

“Nice of you to join us, Emmy,” I say.

He glares at me and sets his sights on Mom. She shakes her head no, and he looks back at me.

“Okay then, time to get to work.” I grin.

Clarence will stay with Mom. Emerson gives Aelia a look and we follow him back out the door. A bullet hits the brick above the garage and we duck, moving with our heads down to an outcropping of rocks next to the driveway. The house is built into the side of a rock face and there are mountains behind and to the sides of the property.

“I counted three at the gates and eight in the east and west. They have us surrounded. Two of our men are down, one dead.”

I curse and glance at Aelia. I don’t like this at all. But I can’t help the question rolling around in my mind. How did my father do this? Where did he get the money?

“We take care of the three at the front, then help the guys out back. ”

We follow Emerson, dodging bullets and using the night as cover. Moving as a unit to the front of the house, I let off a string of bullets with my rifle while Emerson covers me. Aelia watches our backs, and we keep moving closer and closer to the source of gunfire.

There’s thick landscaping near the gates, and since they shot out our floodlights, it’s dark and hard to see if anyone is in the bushes. Emerson and I take a few steps, then I hear Aelia move behind me. She pulls her pistol, shoots, and rolls into the bushes. I hear a grunt and then a gurgle, and she crawls back out with blood on her hand and her knife covered with it.

“Missed one,” she says. Emerson stays still, scanning the area ahead of us. The ping of bullets in the wood rushes past our ears, and we run off to the side, returning fire.

“We need to get around them,” Emerson grunts.

We take turns returning fire until I have to change my mags. Emerson covers me and then we switch. At the front gates, I can barely make out two of the shooters, covered in black, but one isn’t hiding very well and the other is moving to a different position.

Emerson and I act, raining down bullets on both of them. We approach closer and find one bleeding out and the other dead.

Next, we go to the west side of the property to help the others as they fire back.

“Do you have any grenades?” Aelia asks.

I glance at her over my shoulder. “Now you want my grenades,” I grumble.

“Hell yeah, I do.” She grins.

I chuckle.

“Hey, both of you focus,” Emerson grunts.

I wink at Aelia and her shoulders shake with silent laughter. We help the others on the west end and move towards the back of the house that faces north. I don’t think these guys expected us to be as well-armed or fight back the way we are. It seems like they didn’t bring enough firepower or other means to subdue us .

As we move to the back, we’re caught by surprise and three men take a run at us. He pulls his pistol on me, and I narrowly miss the bullet, grabbing his wrist to break it. He sees it coming and flips around, so I lose strength behind the blow.

My attacker spins around, putting me into a chokehold, so I squat down and throw my weight back to land on him. His grip loosens and I take my chance, slamming my head back into his nose and grip his balls, squeezing as hard as I can. My assailant screams and lets go almost immediately. I grab the knife from my thigh and plunge it into his lungs, then rip it out.

Out of the corner of my eye, Aelia is dodging another’s advances, as they get dangerously close to the pool. At the last second he rushes her, and they both fall in.

Aelia screams, and I haul ass over there. The pool lights illuminate both of them underwater, and I lift my gun to shoot, but the water and movement obscure my view. I can’t make a clean shot. She gasps with her head above water before she’s yanked back down.

“Aelia!”

Diving in after her, aiming for the man trying to take her from me, I’m able to wrap myself around him from his back and push him deeper underwater. He lets go of Aelia, and I see her swim away. He thrashes around in the water, trying to fight from my hold. Since he hasn’t come up for air, I know his lungs are starting to scream.

But he catches me by surprise and elbows me in the ribs. I grunt and punch him in the face, but all our movements are slowed by the water. I take one last blow and push away from him to create space between us.

We come up for air at the same time, and I can’t pull my gun out of the water fast enough to shoot him. Then brain matter splashes onto my face. Aelia stands on the edge of the pool, dripping, with a gun in her hand, pointed at the now-dead attacker.

I dip back under the water to wash my face off and haul myself out of the pool. “The pool guy is going to be pissed .”

“Are you okay?” she asks, reaching for me .

“Never better. Let’s finish this.”

Emerson is standing above two men, and neither looks like they are breathing. My brother took a punch to the face and I’m sure his knuckles are split, but he looks otherwise unfazed.

We head off to the other part of the team, helping them eliminate more in the back and end up in closer quarters than we hoped. A few of our men look dead on the ground, and the attackers have us surrounded.

I shoot, and Aelia throws a knife, landing in the center of the man’s throat. He steps back surprised, then angrily runs towards her. His head explodes courtesy of Emerson’s bullet and drops before her feet. She leans over, pulling her knife from his throat. The sound of gunfire has died down and the eerie quiet as the team from the other side of the property jogs over to us.

“All have been eliminated, sir,” he says to Emerson.

He nods. “Check the perimeter again and call in another team to replace you. Go home and rest up.”

“Will do,” he says, and they jog off.

Dragging my forearm across my forehead, I grimace at the feeling.

“Oh…you…” Aelia reaches for me and rubs my forehead. “Yeah, that’s not going to come off. You’re going to need a shower.”

“The same could be said for you, princess,” I grumble.

She winks at me with scraped up arms, her face is swollen again from getting hit, and blood splatters her vest. I don’t know how we got out of this almost unscathed, but I’m grateful.

Emerson leads the way into the house and calls out to Clarence and Mom. They come from the room in the back corner of the house, and Mom inspects us.

“Don’t get blood on my carpet. Go clean up.”

Emerson and I look at each other, and Mom saunters into the kitchen. I hold my hand out for Aelia, and we all head for the staircase. There are a few broken windows and probably bullet holes in the bricks, but that can be fixed .

Aelia whimpers and I spin around. She avoids my gaze and I grab her face, wincing in the process because she’s hurt again . She holds her side and stands there.

“Show me right now,” I command.

She groans and lifts her t-shirt. The fibers of the shirt seem like they got stuck in her wound, and gingerly peels it off. There’s a stab wound about an inch wide and my heart drops.

“It’s fine, Liam, it’s just surface. I don’t think he punctured anything.”

“You think, or you know ?” I ask, trying to swallow a new bout of fear.

Emerson squats down in front of her abdomen with a flashlight, and then the power comes back on. He sets the flashlight down and grabs Aelia’s hip, turning her to the side. She hisses as he touches it, and I try not to break my brother’s hand.

“She’s right, it’s surface. If it wasn’t, it would be bleeding harder and the depth would be more visible. It barely cut through muscle.”

I look at Aelia, who is watching Emerson touch her. “Hey, babe, you’re marrying me. Remember?”

They both look at me at the same time, and Emerson chuckles. “No offense, Aelia, I’m not into sharing women with my idiot brother,” he says.

“Good because I am very selfish. I like all the attention,” she quips.

“That only I’ll be giving you,” I grunt.

She grins at me and slides her hand down Emerson’s bicep to mess with me.

He rolls his eyes and begins climbing up the stairs. Her hand drops and she winks.

“You’ve been stabbed and you still find a way to be sassy.”

She lifts her shoulder with a smirk on her face.

I grab her neck gently and press my lips on hers. “What am I going to do with that mouth of yours?” I grumble.

“Oh please, you know exactly what you want,” she snips.

That makes me chuckle and I smile at her.

“She knows me so well,” I say confidently.

“And she also knows the answer is no. Plus, my face kinda hurts,” she says over her shoulder as she climbs the stairs.

“Too bad. You know I like celebrating victories in very specific ways.”