Chapter 6 - The Siege of Grayhaven
The gunfire started with a sharp, concussive crack that rattled the kitchen windows, followed by the shattering of glass near the rear mudroom.
My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. I clutched the edge of the pantry shelf, my breath catching in my throat as old memories of my damaged lungs threatened to trigger a coughing fit. I forced myself to breathe slowly, counting backward in my head, keeping my panic locked deep down inside.
Through the crack in the pantry door, I watched the shadowy hallway.
Heavy thudding footsteps echoed across the hardwood floors. Shouts bounced off the walls—rough, unfamiliar voices barking orders, followed by the deep, authoritative roar of Roman’s voice cutting through the chaos.
“Clear the east hall!” Roman shouted.
A burst of gunfire echoed near the grand staircase. Glass shattered from a decorative chandelier, raining crystal shards across the foyer.
I couldn't just hide in the pantry while everyone fought to protect the home I had built.
Quietly, I pushed the pantry door open just enough to slip out. Keeping low to the ground, I crept toward the back office where the master security console was housed. The monitors flickered with harsh green light, displaying infrared feeds of the grounds outside.
Two masked intruders had managed to force their way through the rear mudroom door, bypassing Caleb’s outer perimeter during the height of the blizzard. On the main corridor camera, I watched as Caleb and one of his security guards engaged the intruders in fierce hand-to-hand combat, dropping one man to the floor before the second intruder scrambled toward the central staircase leading directly to the children’s wing.
Panic surged through my veins with the force of a tidal wave.
Not the children.
I lunged across the office, sweeping open the bottom desk drawer where I kept a heavy steel-reinforced lockbox. Punching in the code, I pulled out a snub-nosed .38 revolver—a weapon my father had given me years ago for protection when I first started traveling to the city alone.
Stepping out into the hallway, I raised the heavy weapon with both shaking hands.
Just as I reached the bottom of the grand staircase, the second masked intruder emerged from the shadows of the upper landing, a silenced pistol raised in his hand, heading straight for the nursery hallway.
“Hey!” I shouted, my voice echoing off the vaulted ceiling.
The intruder whipped around, startled to find a woman holding a gun on him instead of a cowering maid. He sneered behind his black balaclava and leveled his pistol directly at my chest.
Before he could pull the trigger, a dark blur erupted from the shadows beside him.
Roman launched himself off the upper balcony, tackling the intruder mid-air. Both men crashed heavily onto the carpeted landing, rolling violently down the first few wooden steps before colliding with the carved mahogany banister.
The intruder raised a knife, aiming it straight at Roman’s ribs.
Without a moment of hesitation, I raised my revolver, closed my eyes against the recoil, and pulled the trigger.
Bang.
The deafening roar of the gunshot filled the manor. The bullet struck the wooden floor inches from the intruder’s hand, sending a spray of splinters flying.
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The shock was enough to break the man’s concentration. Roman capitalized on the opening instantly, delivering a devastating right hook that knocked the intruder completely unconscious.
The hallway fell dead silent, save for the whistling of the blizzard outside and the heavy, ragged breathing of Roman Calder as he rose slowly to his feet.
