Breathe, Saber. Damn it, you f**king breathe. Jess’s voice filled her mind, a clear command from a man clearly used to obedience.

It would have been comical if she weren’t struggling for survival. If she could breathe, she’d be doing it. She fought for air, tried coming to her knees, but was driven back to the floor by the pain. She was losing consciousness. Maybe her life.

Jess was there, on the floor beside her, dragging her into his arms, pulling her head back and lifting her stomach. “Take a breath, Saber. One f**king breath, that’s all I’m asking for.”

The terrible crushing stone on her chest and head eased with Jess’s close proximity, but she couldn’t hear or see properly. There was real pain now, all through her body, her ribs, her back, even her face. Had the belt struck her a dozen times before she got a shot off? How many times had he kicked her? It felt as if she’d been run over by a truck.

Jess pushed her hair back as he laid her on the floor, careful to keep her body from the blood staining Patsy’s ivory carpet. He turned his head quickly to assure himself that Patsy wasn’t in any danger. She was fighting the tape, trying to get out of the chair, her horrified gaze on the blood dripping from Saber’s eyes and mouth.

“What’s wrong with her, Jess?”

“She’ll be all right.” He sent up a silent prayer that it was true. “Give me a minute and I’ll get you loose.” He breathed for Saber, trying to find a way to get air into her bursting lungs.

Saber stirred. Groaned. Her lashes fluttered. She gasped and spat blood. Rolling, she came to her knees, clutching her stomach. “Patsy?” She glanced at Jess’s sister, her vision blurry. Patsy’s color was off, her face pale, sweat beading on her forehead and mingling with the water that had been poured over her.

Jess steadied her. “Can you stand?”

The energy was gone, drawn away from her by Jess’s presence, but the aftermath was there, pounding in her head and strangling her lungs. She fought to take a breath, and then a second. More blood seeped from her nose. She wiped away the tracks on her face, spat again to clear her mouth.

“Saber?” Jess’s hands went to her hips, holding her as she staggered to her feet.

She had to hang on to his shoulder, cling to his chair in order to stay standing. “How many, Patsy?”

“Four. I saw at least four, but I thought there were more.”

“I only got three of them,” Saber said and wiped at her mouth. She’d never been so shaky. Killing with a gun wasn’t for her, certainly not this close to the victim and not in an enclosed space.

“Sit down, baby,” Jess said, his hands gentle as he pulled her onto his lap. “Just rest for a minute while I get Patsy free.”

“She said at least four, Jesse. I only got three.” She pushed the gun onto his lap. “I can’t use this, not again.”

Saber helped Jess cut through the duct tape holding Patsy to the chair. Every movement was painful, but she forced herself to keep going, pulling clothes from a drawer and helping Patsy to put on the soft sweatshirt to cover the terrible marks on her body.

“I can’t stop crying,” Patsy said, collapsing onto her brother’s lap. “I was so scared, Jess. They were going to kill me.” She flung her arms around his neck, sobbing, burying her face against his chest.

“I know, honey,” he said, trying to comfort her and watch the door at the same time. “We’ve got to make a run for it.” He caught Saber’s hand. “Can you do this? I need to know, Saber.”

She forced air into her burning lungs, her throat raw, the taste and smell of blood forever etched into her senses. She nodded. “I’m good. Let’s get Patsy out of here.”

She didn’t wait for his piercing gaze to assess her, afraid she’d collapse. Saber inched her way around the bodies, careful not to touch either of them. They were going to make a run for it. A man in a wheelchair, Saber unable to breathe properly, and Patsy tortured and traumatized. “I never realized what an optimist you are,” she muttered as she peeked around the corner. “We’re clear. Move fast.”

The elevator, which Saber hadn’t known existed, was to the left of the bedroom. It was small and hidden by the long columns that formed arches to frame the art pieces. With Patsy on his lap, Jess powered the chair with fast bursts of speed across the gallery floor while Saber guarded the stairs.

“No wonder you managed to get in so fast.”

“Patsy put in ramps for me at the back entrance because it was easier to maneuver and close to the elevator if I wanted to go up to the second floor.” His gaze met Saber’s over Patsy’s head. He was frowning. Patsy was rocking now, back and forth, making small keening sounds of distress. She looked gray, her skin cold and clammy. I think she’s going into shock.

Who could blame her? Those men were terrorizing her deliberately for information on you. She wouldn’t mind going into shock herself, as battered as she was. She was an assassin, and she’d killed, but not like this, not this brutal, ugly, messy death. She did it with style and no fanfare. Quiet and natural as if it were meant to happen. She even tried to lessen pain and fear for her targets.

Saber felt rather than heard movement. On the stairs, Jesse. Patsy has to be quiet. Get her into the elevator with you and I’ll distract them.

Fuck that. You’re coming with us.

She sent him one telling look. The elevator was going to make noise. No matter how modern, it wasn’t silent when running. The enemy would know and would be standing at the door, blasting away as it opened.

Damn it, Saber. But he was already using powerful strokes to propel the chair down the hall to the small cage. Saber inserted her body between Jess’s and the stairs. She no longer had the gun, but it didn’t matter. Her mind would never take another assault and survive. There had to be another way.

Two men leapt onto the gallery floor, rolling away from each other to take cover behind the massive columns. Before Saber could react, the paintings and sculptures began to shake, the floor undulating. She caught at the banister for support, glancing at Jess in alarm.

Take cover, Saber.

She didn’t have time for much more than dropping down with her hands over her head for protection as sculptures began to fly through the air. Statues and paintings crashed around and into the columns. Pieces of the frames became weapons, hurtling through the air like missiles.

I think this is considered priceless art, Jesse. Saber peered through her fingers. He was destroying Patsy’s art gallery. Glass and plaster whirled in the air so that it created a screen.

Now, Saber. Run. Let’s get out of here. We have a better chance outside. Jess cursed himself for shutting down his team earlier. With the capture of the two locals and Chaleen discovered, neither he nor Ken nor Mari had felt any immediate threat. He cursed under his breath as he directed a painting to slam down over the top of the head of one of the gunmen.

Saber moved fast, her small figure a blur as she came rushing toward him. The elevator door slammed shut and they were moving. Jess counted the seconds it took to get to the first floor-an eternity when the two gunmen had only to run down a flight of stairs. He could only hope that both were so shaken by the strange phenomenon of flying art that they remained where they were for a few moments, although they were professionals. They hadn’t fired blindly, or panicked, either of them.

The door slid open and he propelled the chair out onto the floor of the small room Patsy used as a den. That was the other advantage Jess figured he had. The elevator shaft was hidden in the walls and all the panels appeared to be smooth. Even if the enemy had a house plan, the location of the elevator doors wasn’t included. Patsy had installed the lift within the past year. They wouldn’t have any way of knowing which room the elevator opened into.

“You hanging in there, Pats?” Jess asked, worried about his sister.

Her breathing was shallow and her pulse was racing. Her skin was cold and clammy and she wasn’t even attempting to hold herself up, slumping against him as if she were too exhausted to move.

“Talk to me, sis,” Jess said, powering the chair down the hall to the back of the house, where he’d parked the van beside the ramp. Saber, something’s wrong.

Saber shook her head. They were in a hell of a mess. She could hear the men running through the house. They have radios. Someone’s outside.

Fuck. I left the van running. They’ve got us trapped. Because whoever was outside would be waiting in that van, or at a vantage point where they could pick off anyone running to it. He had two women to protect, and if the enemy got their hands on either of them, they’d have Jess by the balls.

Give me some direction. Saber skidded to a halt.

The basement. Through the kitchen. The door’s to the left of the pantry.

Stairs? She was not hiding in a basement while he tried to outrace them in his chair. Jess, I’m not leaving you. She didn’t care if he used his manly I’m-in-command voice and glared at her, she was sticking to him like glue.

I’ll be with you. Just go. Get there fast before they find us.

Saber ran, following Jess’s instructions on left and right turns. She yanked open the door. Her heart sank. The stairs were narrow and steep, although there weren’t that many of them.

Help Patsy.

Saber dragged the taller woman from Jess’s lap, getting an arm around her waist. Patsy said nothing, barely opening her eyes, slumping her weight against Saber, nearly knocking her down the stairs.

Hurry, Saber. You’ll have to get my chair and then close the door.

Saber didn’t look at him, terrified at what he planned. She concentrated on getting Patsy down the stairs. The woman wasn’t walking, so Saber had no choice but to half carry, half drag her. She left Patsy slumped on the floor of the basement and rushed back to see Jess swinging his body from his chair and, using only upper body strength, began to descend the stairs.

The muscles in his arms and shoulders bulged with the effort, and she found her breath catching in her throat. There was determination on his face, his mouth firm, eyes glittering with menace. Even on the stairs, pulling the lower half of his body, he managed to look more predator than prey. She swallowed her admiration and jumped over him, landing like a cat beside the chair to yank it out of the way so she could close the door.

The basement instantly went pitch black. For a moment there was silence, then Jess swore beneath his breath and struck a match. “There’s a light switch near the door, Saber, can you see it?”

She flicked it and below, back toward the wall, a single bulb lit up. “I take it Patsy doesn’t use this much.”

“No. Hurry. Get down here. We’ll have to turn off the light again and unscrew the bulb so it won’t work when they try it.”

She was already carrying the chair down to him, taking the stairs two at a time. Placing the chair beside him, she raced to the back of the room and unscrewed the lightbulb, once more plunging the room into darkness.

“They’ll be coming, Jesse. They aren’t going to be fooled into thinking we’re gone.”

She crouched down beside Patsy and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, aware of Jess moving toward them in the dark. Only the energy field allowed her to “see” where everyone was. Although she was listening intently for the sound of the enemy, she automatically picked up the rhythm of Patsy’s heart-and stiffened.

“Jesse. We’ve got a problem. Can you get over here now? Feel your way to us? You have a clear path. Right now.” She turned Patsy’s limp body over so she lay on her back. Pressing her palm over Patsy’s heart, Saber looked toward Jesse in dismay.

Chapter 14

“Patsy’s having a heart attack,” Saber said. “If we don’t help her now, her heart could be damaged beyond repair by the time we make it to a hospital.”