Sold to the Don as a Sacrifice, Claimed by His Baby as MamaChapter 2

No time to think about any of that.

Voss lunges. His blade tears through my collar.

And right at that second, the rope snaps.

I throw myself sideways.

The dagger catches my shoulder instead of my heart. Blood soaks through my sleeve, hot and fast.

Voss's face twists. "Get her!"

Two of his guys rush me.

I rip the loose rope off my wrists and whip it across the first one's face. He stumbles back, grabbing his eyes. I snatch a short blade off the altar and slash at the second one. He scrambles away.

"Don't let her near the child!" Kovac shrieks.

Too late.

I'm already at the bassinet. I scoop the baby up and press him against my chest.

"Nobody moves!"

He doesn't cry. Doesn't fight me. Two pudgy fists grab my shirt and hold on tight.

His voice hits me again, fast and urgent.

【The bell! Hit the bell!】

【My idiot dad just got home! Get him down here NOW!】

I follow his eyes.

There's a heavy iron bell on a post near the edge of the altar. Old. Massive. The kind you hear three blocks away.

I run for it with the baby locked against me and slam the blade into iron with everything I've got.

CLANG.

The sound tears through the courtyard.

Kovac goes white. "Stop her! Somebody stop her!"

Two of Voss's guys charge me.

I swing backhanded.

CLANG.

Second ring. This one carries over the walls.

Footsteps. Running hard. From the front of the estate.

Something ugly flickers across Voss's face.

"Kill her." Quiet. Calm. Like he's crossing a name off a list. "Both of them. Before Ashford gets here."

Every man in the room pulls a weapon.

I back up against the bell post. One arm around the baby. One hand on a blade that suddenly feels like a toy.

The kid who was calling himself a deity ten seconds ago is shaking against my chest.

【Put me down! Run!】

【They want me, not you! GO!】

I hold him tighter.

"Shut up."

"You think I'm gonna drop a baby and save myself?"

He goes still.

Voss steps through his men. Dagger up. Eyes flat and patient, like a man who does this for a living.

"Then you die together."

He brings the blade down.

I can't dodge. Not with the baby. So I do the only thing I can.

I turn around. Curl my whole body over him. Cover him with everything I am.

A gunshot splits the air.

BANG.

Voss's dagger flies out of his hand and skids across the stone.

The chapel doors blow off their hinges.

A man walks through the smoke.

Black three-piece suit. A face that could freeze hell over. Pistol raised, barrel still smoking.

He sees the blood on my shoulder. Then the baby pressed against my chest.

The room goes dead silent. Nobody breathes. Nobody moves.

Kael Ashford lowers the gun.

"I was gone half a day."

His voice is quiet. Almost soft. That's what makes it terrifying.

"So who wants to tell me why there's blood on my floor?"