Replica(74)

Why was she saying that now?

“Because I’m still not sure Antonio was a good idea. And Calvin gives me the fucking willies.”

I swallowed hard and did my best not to think any more questions. As long as she didn’t realize I hadn’t spoken out loud, maybe—

“Oh my God. You didn’t say anything, did you?”

I shook my head.

“Not now, Rachel. We’ll deal with this, but not now.”

“Why the fuck not?” she yelled.

“We’re being followed!” Ivan called out.





CHAPTER 34





RACHEL



I couldn’t stop to think about the implications of the fact that I’d heard Lea’s thoughts as clear as if she’d spoken them aloud. We had bigger issues—literally. The werewolves from hell were headed straight toward us, and I had a feeling we couldn’t fight these bad boys.

“How did they survive the explosion?” I asked.

“I suspect they were kept somewhere else.”

I still had the gun tucked in the back of my pants, so I pulled it out, then lifted it up to turn off the safety.

“A gun won’t kill them,” Lea shouted.

“It might if the bullets are silver.” It made sense. The guards worked in a facility that housed supernatural creatures, many of whom were not there on their own volition.

I leaned back, trying to take aim, but Lea’s steps weren’t exactly smooth and I was sure the shot had to be through the brain. It didn’t help that the back of my head throbbed where Antonio had hit me. But I had to do something fast. “Lea, they’re gaining on us.”

“Impossible.”

“Yet true.”

“How many?” She glanced at Ivan, who struggled to keep up, Antonio looking none too happy on his back. Calvin ran like he was out for a Sunday stroll, his face devoid of emotion.

“I can’t tell exactly. At least fifteen.”

“Not great odds.”

I snorted. “Since when do we do great odds?” I sucked in a breath, shocked at what I was about to suggest. “We need to stop and fight them. We’ll never outrun them. Antonio and I are slowing you two down. We stand a better chance taking them on face to face. It’s better than them grabbing us from behind.”

I could sense her emotions, her struggle to do what she thought would be safest for me. It was equally reassuring and alarming.

“We’re stopping,” she shouted to Ivan and Calvin. “Be prepared to fight. On the count of three.”

The glare Ivan shot her suggested he wasn’t a fan of this plan, but he gave a sharp nod.

“One,” Lea counted.

Antonio noticed my gun and prepared his. I briefly considered grabbing my knife out of my boot, but I couldn’t hold onto both weapons and Lea. The gun would work out of range of the werewolves’ claws and teeth, but I had to calm my nerves and steady my hands. It all depended on my aim, how many bullets I had, and if they were silver. There were a lot of ifs there.

God, I hoped I’d made the right choice.

“Two.”

Antonio shot me a cocky grin that said, You can do this.

Damn right I could.

“Three.”

Lea turned sideways so my right hand aimed forward as she skidded to a halt, sending a plume of dirt into the air around us. The dust filled my nose and stung my eyes, but I didn’t dare blink in case I missed my opportunity.

I lifted my gun and aimed for the eye of a werewolf approaching us at full speed.

Doing my best to keep the gun steady, I squeezed.

The recoil jolted my arm. The werewolf continued his forward momentum—spittle hanging from his open mouth, sharp claws out, ready to grab me—and for one horrifying moment, I wondered if I’d made the wrong call. But his body was just several seconds behind the misfiring dying synapses in his brain. His feet twisted beneath him and he fell forward, his body skidding on the ground to a stop.

Confused, two werewolves behind him looked at him, then stared at us, their eyes glowing red. They were pissed.

“One down,” Lea said as I jumped to the ground and lifted my gun. “Fourteen to go. You take the one on the left.”

“Got it.”

She pulled out a short blade, her face looking like a statue of an Amazon warrior.

I took careful aim at my mark and squeezed the trigger just as Lea leapt onto the back of her attacker and jabbed it in the eye with her stake, digging deep.

Antonio had shot several rounds from his semi-automatic rifle, but the werewolf he’d targeted just looked pissed. Not a good thing.

“You’re the only one with silver,” Antonio shouted as he evaded the reach of another werewolf. “Make them count, Rachel.”

The problem was I had no idea how many bullets I had left.