by L. L. Muir
Liam didn’t respond, but simply checked his weapons were well-hidden, headed up the sidewalk, and stopped at the gate. When he arrived, he grabbed hold of the iron bars, shook them, and bellowed for Amber.
It didn’t take long for the blackguards to come running.
~~~
The three henchmen slowed as they approached the gate.
Liam clasped his hands around the bars so they might think him unarmed.
A tall, thin man with a scar on his cheek smirked. “Well, well. What do we have here?”
“Ye’ll be takin’ me to Amber, now, before it goes the worse for ye.”
The men, all carrying guns, glanced at each other and chuckled. “Did you misplace someone?” Another, more muscular guard asked. “If so, I’m not sure what that has to do with us.”
Liam studied the guard, saw the bruise he’d personally given him swelling the left side of his face. “Dinnae waste my time. I wish for the girl.”
“Dinnae waste my time.” One mocked. “Or what? You’ll shake the gates some more?” One of the males, the thin one, tried to hit Liam’s knuckles with a sharp swipe of his gun, but Liam moved his fingers too quickly.
They all laughed again.
“Is that a dress he’s wearing?”
More laughter. “I think you’re right.” The scarred guard said. “The man is wearing a blouse and skirt. Are you wearing your undies?”
Laughter.
“Are they filming Braveheart II in Las Vegas? I hadn’t heard. Should we ask for his autograph?”
More irritating laughter.
“What happened to ye?” Liam smirked at the man he’d injured earlier. “Ye’ve a face like a skelped erse. Did someone injure ye?”
The man’s jaw jutted. “What did you say to me?”
“Did ye run into a fist? A well-placed elbow? Or did ye lay upon a pillow to batter yer oversoft skin?”
All three men raised their guns. “Get out of here,” said one. “While we’ll still let you.”
Liam wiggled the fingers of his right hand in a wave. “Come out and play. Three against one. Are ye afraid?”
The scarred man looked at the two others. “What do you say, should we teach him a lesson?”
They smiled. “I’m in,” said the thin one.
The other guard tucked his gun in the back of his pants. “Me too.”
At that, the scarred male tapped something with a finger at the side of the gate, and it slowly glided open.
Liam backed a few steps and when the gate was wide enough for the three guards to move through it, he exploded into action. With a Highland yell that had chilled many an Englishman, he changed course and ran at them, grabbing one man by the throat as the others went for their guns.
He shoved the guard into another and they both tumbled to the ground as the third lifted his gun.
Liam slammed his foot into the man’s knee and the shot went wild as his joint buckled backward and the man, falling to the ground, screamed in pain.
The other two were up, and one kicked him flat-footed in the back, sending Liam forward. As the muscular guard scrambled up, Liam used the man’s head to catch himself. Another reached for him and Liam wrenched, then broke his arm, swiping the legs out from under the scarred man.
The third guard regained his feet and lifted a gun. Before he could level it, Liam rushed him, broke his wrist, and relieved him up the gun at the same time.
As the three men lay groaning on the ground, he shoved the gun into his belt, then gathered up their weapons and tossed them as far as he could over the slight cliff bordering the property.
He ran towards the house when a shot rang out and pain blossomed in his shoulder. He stumbled.
It didn’t stop him.
He rushed inside. “Amber!”
Nothing
He ran up the stairs, going room to room calling her name.
His panic started to grow. He couldn’t find her.
Maybe downstairs? He heard a scream and moved onto the balcony of a luxurious bedroom.
And there she was.
Bound to a chair beside a pool of water, a man, cross-legged and relaxed, seated across from her. He lowered himself off the balcony, dangled for a moment, then let himself drop.
He landed in the landscaped dirt below and rolled, just missing a cactus. He was up and running. Before the guard with Amber even realized it, he was upon him, Liam struck him unconscious.
He heard a scream, a crash, and turned to see Amber, standing over a man he hadn’t seen. She must have swiped with the legs of the chair she was still bound to.
“Good girl.” Liam strode over and made quick work of him, punching him unconscious with two hard blows to his temple.
Amber’s mouth hung open. “I can’t believe you’re here!”
“Aye.” A bruise darkened one side of her face and fury blistered his insides. He gently reached to cup her cheek. “Are ye all right, lass?”
She nodded, a relieved smile stretching her mouth. “How could you possibly have found me?”
He returned her smile and quickly cut her bindings, so glad to have found her, proud to have fought on her behalf and won.
He opened his mouth to explain and was shot in the back three times.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Amber screamed, disbelief and horror surging through her.
Liam dropped to his knees, and she did as well, flinging her arms around him to try and hold him upright. It was no use. He slumped onto his side and she didn’t have the strength to lift him.
“Liam!” She shook him, could see his eyes were partially closed, but still moving as he tried to locate her. “Liam.” She shook him again. “Please don’t die. Please!”
He groaned, and she pushed his dark hair away from his face and cupped his cheeks with her hands. “Stay with me. I’m begging you to stay with me.”
She glanced up to see a man holding a gun walking toward them. “Please, call 911.” She sobbed the words. “He needs a doctor or he’s going to die.”
“And that would be such a shame, wouldn’t it?”
Tears flooded her eyes and she could barely see the man. “I’ll do anything. I don’t know what you want, or who you are. I don’t know why you brought me here, but I suspect it has something to do with my father. Please, if you save this man, get him an ambulance, I’ll do anything you want.”
The man squatted down beside her, his gun steady as he pointed it at her chest. “Amber DeLuca. You’ll do anything I want, anyway.”
“Amber.” Liam whispered the words and her head jerked back toward him.
“Liam. Can you hold on? You need to live.”
“I have to tell ye, lass.”
His voice was weak so she leaned down closer, face-to-face. “Stay with me, Liam. Please, be strong and stay with me.”
“I love ye, lass.”
“Oh, Liam.” Tears filled her eyes but she tried to stop herself from crying so she could hear him. So he could hear her. “I love you, too.”
“I was so alone. We were all so alone, for so long. Then to meet ye after all this time. I dinnae care if I die again, do ye see? To meet ye, to love ye, ’twas more than I expected or ever hoped for.”
Her eyes clenched tight but she could not stop the tears from spilling over. “You just hold on!”
“Ye are everything I didnae know I wished for. Yer spirit, yer kindness, the sweetness in yer heart. I’ll not forget ye, lass. From this life to the next, ye will be sheltered within my heart. Ye are better than anything I could have imagined. Ye are my greatest adventure.”
“Oh, Liam, you’re breaking my heart. Please don’t leave. I love you. I do. I love your joy in life, your smile, the way you talk, and the way you look at me. I love how you see the world, and through knowing you, my own has become brighter. Please. I can’t bear it if you die.”
“Oh, for the love of St. Pete and all that is holy! If I have to hear this for another second, I’m going end up shooting mysel
f!”
“Okay,” Amber barely spared him a glance. “You do that!”
“Just shut up!” He raised his gun.
Amber threw herself over Liam and felt his body jerk from the force of the bullet.
~~~
He was dead.
She could see he’d stopped breathing. His mouth went slack, and his eyes stared at nothing.
Grief roared up within her and with a loud scream that rose up from the depths of her soul, she turned and attacked the man behind her.
“You killed him!” She scratched at his face. “You killed him!” She hit, punched, scratched, and, though the man tried to subdue her, he couldn’t. Nothing touched her now.
He dropped his gun and she kicked it into the swimming pool.
She stomped on his foot, and must have hit it just right because he howled in pain and went down on the ground.
She kicked him in the stomach. Tried for his groin. Leaned down to beat her fists upon his back as he curled up into himself, all the while screaming her pain.
She’d known Liam for such a short while, but something within her had recognized him from the moment she met him. He was hers. She was his. And now he was gone and she was alone.
Another scream rose up within her and she turned away, sank down onto a bench, and pressed her face into her hands and sobbed.
~~~
Liam woke with a start and could hear Amber crying.
He pushed himself up on his arms and looked around.
A man rose to stand over Amber, knife in hand. “You little witch. I should kill you for that.”
Amber’s head shot up. “But you can’t, can you?” she sneered. “You brought me here for a reason, didn’t you? And I bet any amount of money it has something to do with my father and so you can’t lay a finger on me, can you?”
Good girl. Liam struggled to lift his head which felt weighted and heavy.
He’d liked her sass from that first moment when he’d seen her fighting against her kidnappers.
The scarred guard came around the corner of the house, immediately followed by Amber’s father who held a gun in his hand. Seconds later, Victor followed.
Nial DeLuca glanced around until he spotted his daughter. He gestured to his prisoner to walk in her direction. “Amber, are you okay?”
Her head lifted and she wiped away tears. “I’m all right, Dad. Is there any chance you’re here to wreak havoc? Because if you are, I want you to start with this guy. He’s a murderer, and I want him in jail!” She sobbed the last word.
“Whatever you say, baby.”
“In jail, Dad. Not dead!”
Suddenly more men swarmed around the corner and DeLuca was fighting, and if his expression was anything to go by, having a fun time doing it.
The man beside Amber lunged for her. “Set me up, will you?”
Amber struggled with the man who’d shot Liam in the back.
His energy started to return and he fought his way toward Amber. The fact that she was in the midst of battle was making him lose his mind. She could not be hurt. He wouldn’t allow it. He couldn’t lose her. He wouldn’t allow that either.
The man tried to wrestle Amber into submission, lifting a knife as if he was about to plunge it into her. “Hey, DeLuca, look over here. I want you to see what I”m about to do to your precious daughter!”
“Amber! No! Victor, save her!”
Liam lifted his dagger and prayed for it to fly true as, with all his might, he drew back his arm and threw it. It sank deep into the other man’s throat and gasping, gurgling, he fell backward.
Liam was shaking, sweating and scared as he made his way to her and scooped her into his arms.
He’d almost lost her.
She started to touch him, her hands smoothing over his face, his shoulders. “How are you alive? You’ve been shot.” She struggled to get down. “I can’t believe you’re alive! Are you wearing a bullet proof vest?”
“I dinnae know. Mayhap the witch—”
And speaking of the witch, Liam looked down at Amber and he could feel it. This was the end of his time here. This—saving Amber—making sure she lived a long and happy life, this was what he was there for. He needed to tell her everything before Soni arrived. Amber needed to understand. He didn’t want her thinking he’d deserted her.
He wanted her to know, long after he was gone, that she’d been loved.
He didn’t want to go at all. He scooped her up in his arms and ran around the side of the house, through the yard and to the front gate, now standing open and unguarded.
He felt he could run forever.
If there was a way to outpace a witch, he’d find it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Hello, Liam.” Soni’s sweet voice, coming out of the darkness, stopped him.
He looked right, then left, wondering where he could hide, realizing he couldn’t. “Is it over, then?” Liam voiced the question as agony flooded him, hurting worse than any bullet could. It was too soon. He wasn’t ready yet. He held Amber close to him. He just wasn’t ready.
He couldn’t take his eyes off of Amber, knowing any second would be his last chance to look at her beautiful face.
“Ye know it’s the end we’re at?”
He did know, and his shoulders slumped. “Thank ye, Soni, for this chance. ’Tis been a wild ride. Life, living, it’s everything I remember, but much, much more. I hadnae known what I was missing before. I didn’t remember it bein’ so vivid.”
“That’s what falling in love will do to you.” She said the words softly, and with kindness. “Are ye then? Are ye in love number 42?”
“Aye.” There was no need to hide it.
“Does that mean you’re to stay?”
Liam wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly. “Stay? Can I?”
“Well, ye did save the girl. I always like it when that happens. And she did try and save ye as well. Ye seem a deserving enough couple.”
Liam couldn’t speak.
“But if ye dinnae wish the opportunity…”
Liam straightened “Nae! I mean, aye! I do want the chance!”
“There is a catch. Ye’ll have to renounce yer revenge against the bonny prince, of course. Are ye willin’?”
He glanced back at Amber, snug within his arms. “What say ye, lass. Will ye have me then?”
She smiled at him, her dark hair a cloud around her face, and she’d never looked more beautiful to him. “Yes, Liam. Always and forever.”
She said it like she’d never doubted, and he realized she hadn’t. She didn’t know his story, or hadn’t believed it anyway.
“Aye, Soni, I accept. But what of my brothers? Did they get the same chance? Are they here as well?”
He heard her laughter, but she was gone.
“Hold your hands up! And don’t move a muscle.” Roger’s voice called out of the darkness.
~~~
“Roger?” Amber asked. “Is that you?”
“Stop right there.”
Amber glanced over at Roger as Liam came to a halt. Roger, stance wide, had his squirt gun out and was pointing it at them.
“Roger?” Amber’s eyes widened. “What’s going on?”
“I know what you are, MacGregor. If that’s your real name, which I doubt very much. You’re an alien. And you know what? That sucks, man. I really liked you. But I suppose that was the point, wasn’t it? I even took you on a covert mission out to Area 51. I suppose you were spying, trying to shake loose secrets. I could lose my AA card over this if anyone finds out I took you there. Man! The things that I told you!”
Amber looked at him blankly. “You’re in Alcoholics Anonymous? But I’ve seen you drink before, and never to excess.”
Roger sighed and shook his head as if disappointed. “Aliens Anonymous, Amber. Sheesh.”
Amber impatiently wiggled free and Liam set her on her feet. “Roger. What are you talking about?”
“I think it’s pretty obvious that Liam is an alien. He’
s infiltrated our trailer park, probably to get to me. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. He doesn’t know basic things he should know. And he’s never seen Jaws before, or gone four-wheeling, and he carries weird coins around that are worth a fortune, and his Scottish accent is completely off. Plus the money thing. Who carries around tons of cash the way he does?”
“How would you know his accent is off? From the Internet?”
Roger scoffed. “From the movies! Keep up, Amber.”
Amber lifted a hand. “I really believe you’re wrong about this.”
“Of course you do. Amber, it’s pretty much a given you’ve been brainwashed. He probably put you in a pod or something and wiped your memories. But don’t worry, I know what to do.” He lifted his squirt gun.
Amber lifted a hand. “Wait!”
“Don’t worry, Amber, if you’re still human, this won’t hurt a bit.” Roger doused them both.
“Aaaaahh!” Amber screamed and tried to duck, to protect her eyes! It reeked of detergent, lemons, and ammonia.
Liam pulled Amber into his arms and turned them both away from the stream as Roger continued to squirt the smelly formula at his back.
“Roger, stop! That stuff stinks!” Amber hunched, grateful for the protection of Liam’s big body. “You saw what happened. We need to get out of here.”
Roger stopped. “I don’t understand. His skin should have burned and melted. I know I got the formula right.”
Liam turned back. “Roger, I am as human as ye are, laddie. I swear it to ye.”
“I don’t think so. I was coming to help and I saw you get shot! When those men showed up I hid and saw you get up, completely uninjured. Then you were talking with a dark-haired girl who appeared and then disappeared again. I saw it!”
“Aye, but that’s not necessarily the way of it.”
“Look alien, you are not taking Amber for your sick probing purposes. Have I mentioned how disappointed I am in you? Disillusioned, too. Velma is going to freak. And I’m pretty sure you’ve broken Amber’s heart.”
“No, I’m good,” Amber replied from the safety of Liam’s arms.
