His back flared in response, the sweat stiff cotton of his shirt scraping over the burn like sandpaper.
“Nothing that will not keep.” He slipped out of his jacket, grateful to have the weight of it off his back, and draped it around Claire. “I want you to rest now.” He looked over at the redhead. Mindy Kay knelt beside Lea, a long black coat pooling around her, cursing as she examined Lea’s injuries. “Where do you plan to take us?”
“He knows.” Mindy Kay nodded toward the driver, shrouded by darkness and a hat pulled down over his face. “It’ll be safe, I promise. I’ve been planning to break Lea out since she was taken.” A smile broke across her face, warming the clear blue green eyes. “You just made it easier, walking her right out of there. How did you get past Bertram?”
Marcus looked at Claire. “With a clever woman and a three-hole punch.”
“What?”
Laughing, Lea touched Mindy Kay’s arm. “I’ll explain later. You came home early.”
“I escaped one battle, only to end up in another one. If I hadn’t run into—” She cut herself off, glancing at the front of the van. “Let’s just say I would have been right next to you in that cell, Lea. We’ll have to lay low—the chief’s got patrols crawling over the town, looking for evil. That would be anyone who doesn’t agree with him.”
Claire struggled to sit; knowing it was pointless to argue, Marcus slipped one arm around her waist. With a smile, she turned to face Mindy Kay. “Thank you for helping us.” Mindy Kay dipped her head, red hair brushing her shoulders. “I know what a risk you’re taking, putting a bulls-eye on yourself like—”
“Everybody down!” The driver shouted as the van swerved, brakes squealing. Above it Marcus heard the first gunshot.
*
Annie punched the end button on the phone, letting her anger at Eric override the ratcheting fear. Marcus’ phone still went straight to voicemail. He was fanatic about answering it, considered voicemail offensive and rude.
“Annie—”
“Not yet.” She reined in the need to lash out at him, remembering what happened the last time she let her temper go. The image of Marcus, and the blood staining his chest, still haunted her. “I need—damn it.” She turned on him, grabbed the front of his shirt. “I want to ignore you until I’m over this, but we don’t have the time. Marcus isn’t answering his phone.”
Eric let out a breath. “He always—”
“Exactly. Where the hell is the car?”
Carefully, he pulled her fingers off his shirt. “On the other side of the aviation office. You can wait for me there. I want to thank Jeff for going out of his way to bring us up here.”
With that one sentence he managed to make her feel small and petty.
Annie caught up with him as he headed for the hangar, hands in her pockets to keep from touching him. Neither of them was ready yet—not without major bouts of yelling and the big chance of flying objects, aimed mainly at Eric’s thick head.
She stood to one side, uncomfortable, as he thanked Jeff. Until Jeff stepped over to her, took both her hands, and leaned in to whisper against her cheek.
“Thank you.” She jerked back, met his eyes. Clear, ice blue eyes that held no fear, no condemnation for what she was—only the gratitude that warmed his voice. “He told me because he’s damn proud of you. Now that I’ve met you, I understand his constant need to talk about you.”
Heat crept over her cheeks, embarrassing her more. “I’m sorry about what happened before—I didn’t expect a ring to amplify my power like that.”
“From what I read,” he smiled at the surprise on her face. “Yeah, I read up on witches after I learned about you. I wanted ammunition to talk him out of his obsession. It didn’t work. Now I’m glad for that. You’re good for him, Annie—and believe me, I never expected to say that about someone I thought put a spell on him when he was down for the count.”
She stiffened, tried to pull out of his grasp. “I’d never—”
Jeff merely tightened his grip. “I know that. Now. You take care of each other—he’ll always miss his sister, but you’ll help fill that hole in his heart. Hell, you already started. Now get—find your friend, kick some ass. I’m going to hunt down a nice big steak.”
Annie leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. For believing in Eric—for doing this for him. You’re a good man, even if you did want to shove me out of his life.”
His laughter echoed through the hangar. “He’s just lucky I didn’t meet you first.” Letting her go, he stepped to Eric. “You need anything, you call. And watch your back.” Jeff dug in his back pack, and Annie’s heart skipped when he pulled out a small pistol. “It’s close enough to the one I taught you to shoot with, but take a minute to check it out before you have to use it.”