Their Virgin Concubine(90)

Dane cursed softly, his eyes flaring, but Tal knew he was too far away for the guard to catch him without making a lot of noise.

“Khalil, I’m alone and I’m coming in.”

He could practically feel his brothers’ tension. He sent them one long last look. His brothers. His closest friends. He’d been blessed to spend this lifetime with Rafe and Kade. They would watch after Piper. They would take care of the country.

I love you, my brothers. If he died, he wanted such good lives for them. Children. Happiness. Love.

“I swear to all that is holy, I’m going to kill you, Talib. I’ve tried for years. I was the one who aided the rebels. I was the one who gave them the codes to get onto the drill site so they could take you.” His cousin’s voice floated from the room.

Tal’s gut churned. He’d known it deep down, but hearing the confession made it real. His own cousin had colluded to have him tortured. Yet, he had to stay unemotional. Piper’s life was on the line. He had to calmly walk in and give Khalil a better target than Piper.

Once Khalil had taken his shot, Dane would know where he was. Piper could get down. Dane would rush in and everything precious in Tal’s life would be saved.

He put a hand on the door, his heart racing. Would Khalil shoot right away or play with him for a while? He opened the door and immediately put his hands back in the air. “I love her. I’ve loved her for months. You were always smarter than I gave you credit for. I would trade myself for her. I’m the one you want. I’m the one who should pay.”

Piper stood to his right, her face pale and her eyes wide. There was a scratch on her cheek and her dress was torn. All her elegance was gone, but nothing could make her less beautiful. “Tal.”

“Don’t you dare move, Piper.” He spared her just a momentary glance. He needed to keep his eyes on Khalil.

A nasty grin split Khalil’s face. Now that he knew, Tal could see the toll the cancer had taken on his cousin. Or perhaps it was just a life spent doing evil to the people around him that had sunken in his eyes, made his skin sallow. He could never feel an ounce of sympathy for Khalil. Whatever horrible death found him, it would be too easy.

“I told you he would come for you, dear,” Khalil said. “And I will kill him, too, but not yet. He’s just in time to watch you die.”

Tal leapt just as Khalil lifted his gun. Time seemed to slow down, his vision centering on that gun. He had to save Piper, and there was only one way to do it. That bullet would have its victim. He simply had to make sure it wasn’t her.

The sound was muffled by the long silencer on the end of the gun, but that shot shuddered through the room and a terrible lash of fire went through Tal’s gut. It burned, cutting through his flesh.

Shot. He’d been shot.

He’d taken the bullet that would have likely ended Piper’s life. Even as he hit the floor, he could feel the bullet lodging in his gut, safely away from Piper. His body crumpled, pain in his every cell.

“Damn you, Talib,” Khalil cursed.

The door slammed open, kicked from the outside. In a second Dane was through, his big body moving faster than Tal could have imagined. The huge guard’s face was a blank as he raised his weapon, firing three times in rapid succession without a hint of hesitation.

Tal looked up in time to see his cousin’s body shudder with the impact of the bullets. Two in his chest and a neat shot that split his eyes. Khalil’s face went blank, his body slumping to the floor, dead.

Relief swam through Talib. Now he could die in peace.

“Tal!” Piper’s face came into view as she scrambled toward him, shoving the skirts of her destroyed gown aside. Tears coursed down her cheeks. She looked back up, seeming to find his brothers. “Someone call an ambulance. Kade, please tell them to hurry.”

Blood. There was so much blood. He could feel his hands getting slippery with it. Was it his? The world seemed to have a soft glow about it. Piper put a hand to his face. She really was an angel. And she should be protected. She should never be shot at. How could he have ever thought for a minute she was plain?

He lifted a hand to her face. “So beautiful.”

She leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Please stay with me. Please. Don’t leave us. We need you.”

But she needed something so much better than him. He tried to tell her, but the words wouldn’t come. He just held on to the sight of her face now streaked with a small smear of blood. He could hear Dane barking orders through his radio.

“Forgive me,” he managed to force out.

“Of course.” Tears streaked down her face. “Always.”

Rafe got to one knee, his hand on Piper’s back, lending support. Kade was shouting for help. Everyone was moving around him, but all that mattered was Piper.