Part 45
Andy feels Tyrone's arm around her neck loosen slightly as he laughs at his cousin's words. The glee in Damon's voice is obvious and it says something about the men's mental state. She can feel these guys are not mentally stable, to say the least.
Watching Miranda stagger at the words, the incredible, unfathomable statement that they're the children of Caroline and Trudy, Andy tries to catch her gaze.
"You're lying," Miranda says, her voice stark. "None of us ever had children."
"Wrong again!" Damian chortles. "I was born in 1875, Tyrone two years later." His smile disappears and his eyes turn opaque. "I knew Caroline, my mother, for thirteen years and once they had murdered both her and Trudy, I took care of my younger cousin. We always knew the facts about out mothers, about their longevity."
"What about your fathers?" Miranda asks. To Andy's relief, she has straightened and some color has returned to her cheeks.
"Father. Singular. Our mothers shared everything, including their men, and especially Isiah Brown. He's our father, which of course, makes Tyrone my brother as well as a cousin."
"Keeping it in the family, huh?" Andy says, not liking how Damian is inching toward Miranda.
Damian turns to Andy, his lips pulled back into a snarl. "And the little girl toy speaks," he says. "If she causes you trouble, just get rid of her." The last words are for his brother/cousin.
Miranda bends down fast and when she straightens, a long dagger is in her hand. Where did she keep that? In her boot? Without hesitation, Miranda throws herself at Damian and presses the dagger against his neck, while grabbing a fistful of his hair with her other hand. "Let Andrea go." The knife is pressed hard enough against his pale neck to draw blood.
"Damian!" Tyrone calls out, his voice shrill.
"Shut up!" Damian shouts, growing rigid. "Cut the little bitch!"
"But—" Tyrone, clearly the weaker of the two men, or the softer, begins to tremble against Andy's back. His grip is hard, but not as hard as it was moments ago. Thinking fast, Andy's keeping her eyes trained on Miranda to try and judge her intentions. She doesn't doubt that Miranda is ready to slit Damian's throat for all he's done.
"Let her go!" Miranda roars and pushes the dagger harder against Damian's neck. "Now."
"Damian," Tyrone says pleadingly.
"Shut up," Damian says, now pressed against a pillar next to the pews.
Andy squirms in Tyrone's grip. He doesn't seem to notice, but the grip around her waist and neck is still too hard.
"You have three seconds," Miranda hisses. "One."
Damian's eyes are bugging out, and he's struggling to breathe. The dagger must be razor-sharp as blood trickles down his neck.
"Two." Miranda doesn't take her eyes off Damian. They're about the same height and only the knife gives her the upper hand, as Damian is twice her size when it comes to raw muscle power. Andy is readying herself for a fight with Tyrone, in case Damian slips out of Miranda's grip. She knows that these men are going to kill them no matter what, which means that she and Miranda have no choice. They have to fight.
A loud groan from the altar makes everyone but Miranda turns their heads toward the unexpected sound. Andy knows this is her only chance. She rams her elbow into Tyrone's solar plexus, using all her strength, added by the adrenaline rush she's in the midst of. His grip loosens when he gasps for breath. Pivoting, Andy goes in for the mother of all knee jerks, slamming into his groin. It's not a clean hit, but enough for him to double over. Using her other knee, Andy repeats the maneuver, this time aiming for his chin. This time, it's a direct hit, and it actually hurts her kneecap when it slams into him. Tyrone's head flies back and he goes down, hitting his face against the flagstone floor with a sickening crack.
Andy turns in time to see Miranda and Damian fighting. Miranda has her grip of the knife and is pressing at it with her full body weight, while Damian is trying to get an arm in between them.
"You murderous bitch," Damian growls. "You…you could have saved my mother. You and those other bitches. Instead, you hid all these years, like a coward, while my mother died at the hands of those who were beneath her. Mere mortals!" He screams as Miranda pushes the tip of the dagger into his skin just below his chin. He jerks, still cursing, but now in a gurgling voice. "I'm going to kill you," he says, spitting drops of blood against Miranda's face.
"Wrong. This is when you die, and it's all on you," Miranda says and drives the dagger home.
Damian goes rigid, jerks one more time, and then slumps to the floor. Miranda staggers back, gasping for air as well.
"Miranda," Andy hurries over to her. "Oh, my God." She's shaking as she grabs Miranda by the arm. "You…he's…"
"He's dead." Miranda's voice is hollow. Her hands are covered in blood. "911."
"What?" Andy feels dazed but then makes an effort to gather her scattered thoughts and block the images of Miranda pushing a dagger to the hilt under Damian's chin. "Right. Yes, of course." She finds one of the burner phones in Miranda's coat pockets.
"The man by the altar," Miranda whispers and leans against the pew behind her.
Andy winces. "Let me go check. Tell me if Tyrone comes to." She hurries over to an elderly man who is now sitting up, holding his head. "Sir? Are you all right?" She's dialing 911 as she bends over him. "I'm getting help."
"What's going on?" the man whispers. "There was screaming…"
"I know, but I'll get us all help. Just hang in, okay." Andy stands as the dispatch answers. "I need police and paramedics to the old church in Greenfield," she says as she turns to check on Miranda and Tyrone. When she sees Miranda sitting on the floor, ghostly white, Andy's heart nearly stops. Hurrying over, she throws herself to her knees, barely making out what the dispatch is asking. "Miranda? What's wrong, what—" Staring at the blood on the floor, at first Andy thinks it's Damian's, but he has his own large pool of blood over by the column.
"You're bleeding," Andy says, whimpering. "What the hell?"
"Ma'am? Are you saying someone's bleeding? What's happened, ma'am?" The dispatch tries to get Andy's attention, but all she can see is the life running out of Miranda. 'One of the things that can actually kill us is exsanguination.' The words echo in Andy's mind.
"Yes," she barks into the cell phone after managing to press the symbol for speakerphone. "I have a woman bleeding out before me and an older man with a head injury. Please, you have to get here fast. You need to send a helicopter." Shaking, she helps Miranda lie down, looking frantically for the source of all the blood. It takes her a while, but pulling back the coat and the blood-soaked shirt sends a thin-bladed knife clattering to the floor. Apparently, Miranda isn't the only one with hidden weapons. Damian obviously had a knife too. "Oh, Miranda." Finding the wound just below Miranda's ribcage on her left side, Andy rips off her scarf and presses the bunched-up fabric against it. She dares to look back at the unconscious Tyrone. "One of the men attacking us is unconscious, the other one dead." Andy can barely speak, her throat is locked in panic, but she needs the dispatch to know. "Please get us help. My…my friend is dying!"
"We have the police and paramedics on their way. Local police are close by and will be with you in minutes." The man on the phone sounds calm and efficient. "Can I have your name, ma'am?"
"Andrea Sachs. Andy." Sobbing now as Miranda's eyes are glazing over and starting to close, Andy presses harder against the wound. "Miranda. Open your eyes. Look at me. Please. Look at me."
Miranda's eyes flutter open, just a slit, but it's a sign that she hears Andy.
"You should let me go," Miranda whispers, blood coloring her lips. "But I don't want you to. I want to be with you. I love you…I'm selfish that way."
"You're not selfish. You belong with me. And I need to be with you, I love you more than anything, so you just hold on and fight, Goddammit! Don't you dare die on me."
"I don't think it's up to me. And I am selfish. Asking…for this, for love, after all the years I've lived on this earth…is too much." Miranda raises a hand but lowers it again before touching Andy's face. "Don't want his blood on you…"
Andy's weeping now. A movement next to her makes her flinch and cry out, but it's only the older man that Damian and Tyrone attacked.
"That's it," he says in a husky voice. "Keep an even pressure on it. These men do that to her?"
"Yes." Andy is shaking and so cold now, her teeth clatter.
A sound by the door makes all three of them flinch, and Miranda cries out. Andy sees a man and a woman in uniform enter, guns drawn.
"Over here!" she calls out. "We need help. Where's the ambulance?"
"On its way." The female police officer approaches and takes in the scene. "Philip," she says to her colleague, "we need backup. This is a major crime scene."
Andy jerks with her chin in Tyrone's direction. "That one's alive. He attacked my friend and me, and this gentleman. The other one's dead."
"Roy! That you?" The male cop approaches the older man. "That's a nasty gash on your scalp."
"Philip. These men attacked me and then the girls." Roy, obviously known to the cops, said calmly. "I'm all right but this woman needs a medevac."
"She's getting one. Only minutes out now." The female cop kneels next to Andy after cuffing Tyrone and checking on Damian. "You're doing great. I'd offer to take over, but you shouldn't let go." She places a gentle hand on Andy's shoulder. "Dispatch gave me the name Andrea Sachs. That you?"
"Yes, I'm Andy." Andy can't see because of the tears streaming down her face. "Miranda. Tell me. Is she still breathing?"
"She is," the cop says.
After what seems like an eternity, more people flood the aisle, taking care of Miranda and Roy. Andy has pushed aside and ends up with her back against the opposite pews. She wraps her arms around her pulled-up knees, shaking so hard, she can barely breathe. She watches them work on Miranda, attaching pads to her chest, starting IVs, and adding pressure to her wound.
It's when Tyrone is strapped onto a gurney it happens. Andy watches how they start to wheel him toward the exit, only feeling numbness, when a movement catches her attention.
Unfathomably, Damian is on his feet, roaring. His eyes mad with fury and what has to be bloodlust as he throws the policeman in front of him out of the way. Andy screams in terror when he launches for Miranda. Taking the paramedics by complete surprise, he shoves them out of the way and lands on Miranda who is now unconscious. He wraps his hands around her neck and squeezes, shouting how she killed his mother, how she has to die, over and over.
Andy is on her feet, but before she can reach Miranda, the cops are dragging Damian off her lover. He roars insults and obscenities at the cops, only to suddenly slump between them as the last of his blood leaves his system. They still cuff him.
Throwing herself down next to Miranda, Andy feels for a pulse, but can't find any. Hands tug at her and she crumbles as the paramedics engage the defibrillator.
xxxxx
Continued in part 46