Electric Storm(98)

“Jackson?”

He nodded. “And my guess, Dominic’s not too far behind.”

Jackson’s yellow eyes reflected in the dark, barely a block away and coming up fast.

“You told them we would be here.” Of course he did.

“I had a feeling you’d try to leave by yourself if I didn’t bring backup.”

Something in his words gripped her insides hard. “What did you do?”

To give him credit, he didn’t back down.

“I believe he means me.” Durant’s shape melted out of the darkness less than ten feet away, sauntering toward them with a lazy gait, an uncompromising glint in his golden eyes.

“Damn it, London.” She fisted her hands, so angry she shook. The man had the gall to cross his arms and give her a hard stare.

“You would’ve gone alone.”

She shrugged away the accusation. What could she say? It was true. Before she could respond, Jackson and Dominic muscled between them, disapproval radiating from them. It was the first good look at Jackson she had since she’d left him unconscious. He appeared fine, strong and uncompromising, but something about him had changed subtly. Power surrounded him, snapping at her with surprising strength.

“It didn’t work.” Disappointment pierced her.

Not only did she fail to fix him, she’d dragged his wolf so close to the surface that he had to be teetering on the edge. Such hyper-vigilance couldn’t feel good. How long could he go on like that without breaking under the strain?

He didn’t have to say a word of reprimand, though she felt it anyway, and his silence made it all the worse. He stepped closer, stalking her in a way that tightened her muscles in preparation to either fight or flee. She shifted her stance and found her back pressed up against Durant’s chest.

“You aren’t going without us.”

Jackson’s guttural words kicked up her heartbeat. She swallowed hard and nodded dumbly. It was too late anyway.

Durant placed his hands on her shoulders, dragged his fingers down her arms, and she leaned into him as her legs threatened to give out under the assault between the both of them. When his hands trailed over hers, he pulled the note from her nerveless fingers.

She jerked away, biting back a groan of protest at the loss of contact. The bastard had used the attraction between them to distract her. Although she should be angry, it faded quickly under the rush of arousal that flooded her body, and the gut wrenching compulsion to touch them both back.

“I know this location. It’s five miles west of where I found Cassie.”

“You’re missing one important fact.” She crossed her arms, feeling exposed and chilled as some of her reasoning returned. “They’re expecting to find a woman waiting for them.”

“We’ll stay hidden.”

“And if they have shifters on the hunt?” That was a hard fact to swallow, but she knew they had one. The markings on the bones proved that. Who’s to say they didn’t have more? “They’ll be able to pick you out of the trees in seconds. I won’t let them keep Taggert.”

“Nobody else wants that either.” Dominic tried to sound reasonable, but there was a harshness around him that wouldn’t be compromised.

Those dark eyes of his locked on hers, and he leaned so close that their noses almost touched. All the excess energy and frustration pouring off him wrapped around her, peppering her fragile shields, choking her with its strength.

“You’ll not leave here without us.”

“Fine.” She bit out between clenched teeth. She didn’t really have a choice anymore, not when they knew the drop off location. “How do you want to do this?”

* * *

The silver and iron zip tie gouged into her wrists until her bones felt bruised. She resisted the urge to shift positions on the hard-packed ground, hating that she could barely feel her ass anymore. The lack of gloves made her more uncomfortable than her situation. And that said a lot, thanks to the light drizzle that left her clothes sopping wet and her skin clammy.

The sharp sting of the hunter’s gaze bore into her. Assessing her, but he didn’t make his move. The countdown to the pick-up time had come and gone twenty minutes ago. With each minute that passed, her chest tightened. This had to work. She didn’t know any other way to stop the next killing, didn’t know any other way to ensure Taggert’s safety.

Bright lights flashed in the distance, and her heart rate accelerated into a pounding rhythm. Voices rose and fell, and her suspicions flared to life. She twisted to see the lights angle off in the wrong direction.

Crap. Those weren’t her men or the hunters.

“Halt. This is the police. Don’t move.”