Chapter 7 - The Siege of Ashford Tower
Gunfire ripped through the heavy oak doors of the penthouse foyer before Kendrick could even draw his second weapon.
“Get behind the desk!” Kendrick roared, shoving me down while returning fire with terrifying precision.
The glass panels overlooking the skyline shattered in a deafening rain of crystalline shards as Barrett’s mercenaries rappelled down from the roof. Smoke grenades hissed across the marble floor, filling the corridors with toxic gray fog.
“Titan, with me!” I shouted, choking on the acrid fumes.
The dog didn't hesitate. He was a warhound, born of blood and loyalty. With a ferocious snarl, he charged through the smoke beside me as I sprinted toward the nursery hallway.
Behind us, Kendrick was a machine of death, cutting down three armed intruders with brutal efficiency, clearing a path for Lucian to secure the elevator shafts. “Maya! Get Penny into the vault!”
I reached the nursery just as two masked men in tactical gear kicked open the door. Inside, Penny was screaming from beneath her bed.
“Hey!” I screamed, grabbing a heavy brass floor lamp from the corridor.
The first mercenary turned his rifle toward me, but Titan was faster.
The hundred-and-fifty-pound mastiff launched himself through the air like a missile, clamping his jaws onto the man’s forearm with bone-crushing force. The mercenary shrieked in agony as Titan slammed him to the floor, tearing the rifle from his grip.
The second man raised his sidearm, aiming straight at Titan’s skull.
“No!” I lunged forward, swinging the brass lamp with all the strength in my body.
The heavy metal base cracked against the side of his helmet, knocking his aim askew. The bullet tore through the wall, missing Titan by inches. The man stumbled, turned, and backhanded me across the face.
Pain exploded behind my eyes. I crashed against the doorframe, my vision swimming with black spots.
The mercenary pointed his barrel at my forehead. “Die, bitch.”
*BANG.*
A bullet erupted through the mercenary’s chest from behind, spraying the wall with crimson. He collapsed like a sack of stones.
Kendrick stood in the doorway, his gun smoking, his face painted with demonic fury. He stepped over the fallen bodies, hauled me into his arms, and kicked open the nursery closet, revealing the heavy steel door of a hidden panic room.
Penny scrambled out from under the bed, sobbing hysterically. “Maya! Daddy!”
“I’m here, baby, I’m here,” I choked out, gathering the little girl into my arms, pressing her face into my neck. Titan trotted in behind us, blood dripping from his muzzle, panting heavily but standing guard at the threshold.
Kendrick shoved us inside the vault. His hands were covered in soot and blood, his tuxedo shredded.
“Stay inside,” Kendrick commanded, his eyes burning into mine. “The door locks from the inside. Do not open it for anyone but me.”
“Kendrick, don't go out there alone!” I cried, grabbing his torn lapel. “They have you surrounded!”
He leaned in, his bloody hand cradling the back of my neck, and kissed me with a savage, desperate passion that silenced the gunfire outside.
“They brought a war to my home,” he snarled against my lips. “Now I’m going to end it.”
The heavy steel vault door slammed shut. The magnetic locks engaged with a heavy *clank*.
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Outside, the sounds of war turned into an absolute slaughter.
***
