Page 101 of Claimed By the Damned

"Bastian! Grim! We need covering fire! We’re moving him NOW!" I roar into my comm, hoping they can hear me over the gunfire.

Lila

"They have him!" Bastian’s voice is tight with relief, but strained. He’s still firing, but the attackers are pressing their advantage, trying to advance. "Ryker, Theo, get back here! Grim, lay it down!"

The assault rifle barks again, a relentless staccato. From my position, Ryker and Theo are half-carrying, half-draggingEthan’s limp form away from the burning wreck. Ethan. He’s alive. Oh, thank God. But he looks… bad. So bad. Even from this distance, the blood, the unnatural way he’s being moved… My gaze snags on the dark, spreading stain on his side, and a fresh wave of terror, cold and sharp, washes over me.

They’re exposed. So terribly exposed. A group of three figures breaks from the tree line on the far side, trying to get a clear shot at them.

"Ryker! Nine o’clock!" Bastian yells, shifting his fire.

"Lila, get down and stay down!" Bastian shouts at me without looking, then he’s out of the SUV too, moving with Grim to create a wider field of fire, to draw the attackers away from Ryker, Theo, and Ethan.

My heart is in my throat. They’re all out there now. All of them, fighting. For Ethan. For each other. Forme. I press myself lower, but my eyes dart around, scanning for any threat they might miss. The Sig Ryker pressed into my hand earlier feels heavy, cold, and impossibly powerful in my trembling grip.Point and shoot. Don't hesitate.

Terror and a desperate, aching admiration war within me as Ryker and Theo inch their way back, dragging Ethan through the dirt and debris, while Grim and Bastian fight like demons to keep the enemy at bay.

Grim’s grenade launcher thumps again, followed by a satisfyingCRUMPand a shower of debris as another enemy position is obliterated. For a precious moment, the gunfire lessens, the enemy momentarily stunned by the blast.

"Now! Move it!" Bastian’s voice cuts through.

Ryker and Theo use the opening, covering the last few yards to our battered SUV. They heave Ethan into the backseat, onto the space beside me where Bastian had been. Ryker scrambles in after him, his body immediately covering Ethan’s, shielding him further. Theo dives into the front passenger seat.

Bastian is still outside, laying down covering fire as Grim sprints back to the driver's side. Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I see movement, a lone figure, using the chaos as cover, materializing from the shadows of the dense trees, weapon raised, closing in on Bastian’s exposed back.

Time slows. Bastian is focused forward, completely unaware. There's no time to shout a warning. A cold, clear certainty crystallizes amidst the chaos. This is not about being a victim anymore. This is about them. About protecting the men who protect me, protecting the life growing inside me. The lessons , Ryker’s brutal pragmatism with a knife, Bastian’s calm instruction with the stun gun, Ethan’s patient guidance with the security system, they aren't just abstract knowledge anymore. They are tools.

Instinct, sharp and fierce, takes over. The Sig is up, my hands surprisingly steady despite the adrenaline thrumming through me. My focus narrows to the front sight, aligning it deliberately with the center mass of the advancing attacker, just as I’ve seen them do countless times in training vids, just as Bastian had quietly talked me through on the range that one afternoon when I’d finally agreed to learn.Controlled breath. Squeeze, don’t pull.I squeeze the trigger.

The recoil jolts my arm, shoving my shoulder back, the sound deafening in the confined space of the car. But through the flash, I see the attacker stumble, a dark stain blossoming on his chest. His own weapon clatters uselessly to the ground before he collapses.

Bastian whirls around, gun up, his eyes wide for a split second before they land on me, then the downed man. His expression shifts rapidly from shock to comprehension, then to something akin to fierce, surprised approval. "Good shot, Little One!" he yells over the din, giving a curt, decisive nod before turning back to unleash another volley at the two remaining attackers closingin. Grim, having reached the driver's door, also opens fire, his heavy rifle spitting death. My breath shudders out. I actually did it. My hands are shaking now, reaction setting in, but a small, fierce warmth spreads through my chest. Not useless. Not anymore.

"They're trying to box us in!" Grim shouts, pulling open his door but not yet getting in. "If we run now with Ethan like this, we're targets!"

Bastian, still partially exposed, nods curtly, his jaw tight as he reloads. "He's right! We make our stand here! Finish them!" he roars, his voice a commander’s bark that cuts through the gunfire. "Ryker! Theo! Create a perimeter! We end this NOW!"

Grim is already using the driver's side door as cover, laying down suppressing fire.

Ryker

Ethan groans beside me, his breath hitching. He's bleeding too much. The dark stain on his vest is spreading at an alarming rate. I’m already ripping open the med kit, my hands slick with his warm, sticky blood before I even get the trauma shears out. Head wound, possible concussion, broken arm for sure. But the wound to the side… it’s deep, and it’s likely arterial, I’d bet my life on it. "We need a doctor, now!" I shout, my voice raw with a desperate urgency as I try to shove combat gauze into the wound, applying as much direct pressure as I physically can.

Through the open doorway, I hear Grim yell about being boxed in, then Bastian’s decisive command: "Finish them! Ryker! Theo! Create a perimeter! We end this NOW!"

My blood sings. Bastian’s right. Running now means they hunt us, pick us off, and Ethan won't survive a prolonged chase in this condition. We have the element of surprise if they think we're still trying to flee from the primary ambush point.

"Theo, you good to cover the rear?" I ask, my voice hard. Theo, his face pale but eyes blazing with a cold fury I’ve never seen in him, nods sharply. "They hurt my brother. They will fuckingdie."

"That's the spirit," Bastian yells from outside, already moving to a better firing position alongside Grim. Then his voice, still a commander's bark, cuts through the air towards the SUV interior, "Lila, get on the floor, between the seats. Stay there! Keep that Sig handy, just in case!"

I look at Lila, her eyes wide but carrying a new resolve. I press a thick wad of gauze from the med kit harder onto Ethan’s bleeding side. "Baby Girl, keep pressure on this for him, hard as you can. Press like his life depends on it, because it fucking does. And stay down, no matter what you hear. You got this?"

"Don't you dare get hurt," she whispers, fierce, her small hands immediately covering mine over the gauze, then taking over the pressure as I withdraw. "I've got him. Go."

A surge of pride, fierce and hot, courses through me. She’s terrified but she’s not breaking. "Wouldn't dream of it," I say, giving her hand a quick squeeze over Ethan's. Then, with Theo already moving to exit from his side, I launch myself out of the SUV, ready to bring the fight to them.

The doors fly open fully. Bastian, Theo, Grim and I pour out, fanning into pre-determined positions. Grim joins us on foot properly now, his heavy rifle barking again. It’s a ballet of bullets and death, honed by years of shared combat.

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