Page 54 of Shattering Dawn

There was no response. Gideon edged into the shadows. Amelia followed. Something small skittered away from the light. Scorpion. She tried not to think about what other creatures might be hiding in the ruins. She was wearing boots, she reminded herself. She would be okay. Probably.

She focused on the prints. Pale and luminous, they led across the lobby to the arched entrance of the east wing.

“To the right, Gideon,” she said. “That hallway.”

Gideon aimed the flashlight at the cracked and chipped floor tiles. More splashes of blood led to the second guest room in the corridor. The sagging door stood ajar.

Gideon motioned Amelia to stay out of the line of sight and then he eased the door open.

“Gideon Sweetwater,” he said quietly. “Amelia Rivers is here with me.”

There was no response. He went into the room. She followed. The beam of the flashlight speared a man who was huddled on the floor, partially propped against the wall. His head was sunk on his chest. He was dressed in faded jeans and worn boots. Hewas nude from the waist up. He clutched what appeared to be a wadded-up shirt against his side. The garment was dark with blood.

Metal glinted in the beam of the flashlight. There was a gun on the floor beside the collapsed man.

Gideon started toward him. “Call nine-one-one,” he said to Amelia.

She already had her phone out of her pocket.

The injured man raised his head and opened his eyes partway. “Won’t do any good. No service out here.”

Amelia glanced down at her phone. “He’s right, Gideon.”

“We’ll have to get him into the car,” Gideon said. “But before we move him we need more pressure on the wound. I’ve got a first aid kit. I’ll get it.”

“I’ll hold his shirt in place,” she said.

She dropped her phone back into a pocket and hurried forward to crouch beside the bleeding man. He groaned when she adjusted the makeshift bandage in an attempt to pack the wound more firmly.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Gideon disappeared out the door and returned a moment later, kit gripped in his free hand. Balancing himself with his cane, he opened the container and set it on the floor.

“Can you keep the pressure on while I get the dressing ready?” Amelia asked.

“Yes.” Gideon lowered himself down on one knee and took over the task of pressing the crumpled shirt against the wound.

Amelia ripped open several packages of sterile bandages. She thought the injured man had lapsed into unconsciousness but he stirred when she began wrapping the gauze tape around his chest to secure the thick dressing.

“Run,” he said, the words thick in his mouth. “Get out of here before they come back.”

“Before who comes back?” Gideon said.

“Drug gang. Go. Now.”

But the muffled rumble of a heavy engine told Amelia it was too late to run.

Chapter Twenty-nine

Gideon put hishand on the injured man’s shoulder. Amelia felt energy shiver in the atmosphere.

“How many?” Gideon asked.

The man rallied as if drawing strength from Gideon’s powerful aura. Or maybe he simply realized there was some hope after all, Amelia thought.

“Three, I think,” he mumbled. “Maybe four. They wanted information before they finished me but one of ’em said he could see the lights of your car. That’s when they took off.”

The effort to speak exhausted him. His eyes closed and his head lolled to one side.