Az didn’t let her go, and she could feel the weight of his stare on her.
They swept past the tall tombs of the cemetery. The heavy monuments rose over the old wall, dark, cold.
“Who is he . . .” Az asked, then pushed, “to you?”
“He’s the man who took my life away.” Everything she’d had. Everything she’d been. “And he’s the ass**le who’s hunting me now. Brandt isn’t ever going to stop. He’s going to keep coming, keep attacking until I’m dead—”
“Or until he is.” Flat, final words.
Her gaze flew to him.
Az’s skin wasn’t even pale. He’d taken bullets, lost a ton of blood, and he sat there, eyes glittering with intensity and dark determination carved onto his face.
“This isn’t your fight,” she told him, her voice quiet but firm. “You can’t understand . . . you have no idea what they’re like.” He might think he knew about the paranormals out there, but Brandt’s pack was different. Savage. She’d never encountered anyone else like them.
Her gaze darted back to the road. The interstate was deserted. Perfect. Run, run.
She’d spent the last ten years running.
“They shot me. They made it my fight.” Now his fingers fell away from hers. “They’re the ones who asked for death.”
Her stomach felt like it was twisted into knots.
“So they are the ones who will get him.”
His words sounded like a promise.
“The bullets didn’t even slow that joker down,” Riley muttered as the gray SUV hurtled through the city.
Brandt stared straight ahead. “Those bullets can slow down anything.” He’d made sure of it. He’d f**king traded more than a pound of flesh for them.
That particular batch of bullets had sent vampires to the ground and caused demons to scream in agony.
They could damn well take out the bastard with Jade.
“I put two of ’em in him,” Riley said as he yanked the steering wheel to the left and took the sharp turn. “He didn’t even stumble. He just spun around and sent a ball of fire at us.”
Interesting. Brandt rubbed his chin. “What the hell is he?”
“Not human, that’s for sure.” Riley exhaled on a rough sigh. “He’s not gonna be easy to kill.”
The good prey never was.
“Jade was desperate to get to him.” Riley’s fingers tapped on the steering wheel. “She jumped off that balcony and ran to him, screaming his name.”
Brandt’s jaw clenched. He didn’t particularly enjoy this news.
“I’m tellin’ you . . .” Riley hesitated and Brandt caught the tremble of what could have been fear in the shifter’s voice when he said, “we need to find out just what that bastard is before we do anything else.”
Brandt remembered the look in Jade’s eyes as she’d driven toward him. Rage. So much rage. But . . .
You veered away, baby. Can’t kill me, can you?
Just as he couldn’t kill her.
“I’ll tell you what he is,” Brandt smiled as his fingers slid down to stroke the edge of his chin. “He’s f**king dead.”
Let the hunt begin.
The three-story cabin sat nestled on a lake, its large glass windows gleaming in the early sunlight. Jade braked near the edge of the long, winding drive and jumped out of the car. Vaguely curious, Az watched as she ran from the vehicle. But she didn’t go far. A few seconds later, she was back—and tossing a FOR SALE sign into the back of the BMW.
“I figure we can stay here for a night, maybe two.” She slanted him a concerned glance as she drove the car up the drive. “We can crash here long enough to get you patched up.”
But he was already healing. At least, his shoulder was. His back ached and burned where the bullet still lodged near his spine.
Pain was an unusual sensation. Since falling, he’d realized there were so many different ways to feel pain. Fast cuts, slices with a knife that opened the flesh in an instant. Deep, burning pain that tore beneath the skin when a bullet lodged in muscle and—
“You’re not going to pass out on me, are you?” Worry had roughed her voice.
Jade braked the car, and Az realized she was staring at him with wide eyes.
He lifted a brow. “Hardly.” Her suggestion was fairly insulting. As if he couldn’t handle a few bullet wounds.
“Good.” Her breath expelled in a fast rush. He watched her hurry out of the car and race around to his side. She opened his door and reached for him. “Come on. Just lean on me.”