“She will talk, Alex,” the man called Jared said. “She’s human. She won’t be able to help herself.”
Denying that she had anything to talk about seemed pointless. This man had made up his mind. Everything in his tone, in his demeanor, in his expression told her that. But saying nothing implied guilt.
“Finding an injured man and helping him is hardly breaking news,” she said.
Jared smiled. “But that’s not all you found, is it?”
She should have stuck with the guilty silence.
“Have you ever heard of Abaddon?” Jared asked.
“No.”
“But you’re familiar with hell?”
“I might have heard of that one.”
“And the devil? You know him?”
Her mouth was dry and her fingers shook. “Not personally.”
He smiled, as if her answer had pleased him. She glanced at Alex from the corner of her eye. He looked pale and the snow clinging to his coat turned pink before it melted, but if he was in pain, he didn’t show it. He stood straight, his gaze steady.
“Leave her alone, Jared,” Alex said.
Jared ignored him.
“Abaddon is the devil’s devil. He’s what demons fear.”
Lilly took a shallow breath, hoping he couldn’t hear the dread rasping through it. “Glad I don’t know him, then.”
“Yes. You should be very glad. Hellhounds are the work of Abaddon.”
Lilly knew her laugh would sound forced and denial would ring false, but he was watching her reactions and she couldn’t pull off the stony countenance Alex had mastered.
“Interesting,” she said with as much detachment as she could muster. “But I’ve never heard of Abaddon and I don’t believe in the devil or hellhounds.”
“I would’ve thought seeing was believing,” Jared said.
“Maybe it is. If I see one or the other, I’ll let you know.”
His eyes narrowed. That was the only clue Lilly had that Jared meant to attack. Alex had seen it coming, though.
Alex moved swiftly, shoving her out of the way. She fell to the hard, cold ground just as a machete hissed through the air where her head would have been. She rolled as the stranger swung again, hacking down at where she lay. Alex met the man head on, weapon ready, blocking the blow. Lilly saw the flash of his tarnished eyes a moment before Alex slammed into the stranger and both men crashed into the Range Rover.
“Get in the car, Lilly,” Alex shouted. “Go. Get out of here.”
On hands and knees, Lilly scrambled around the front end of the SUV and stumbled to her feet. Inside the cargo area, the dogs barked like maniacs and scratched at the windows, racing from one to another and testing the strength of the mesh barrier that kept them confined. Her heart pounded like a damn war drum as she fumbled her keys from her pocket, slipping and skidding on the icy surface.
She chanced a look back. Alex fought for his life against his bigger, uninjured opponent.
Fought for his life and hers.
Against one of his own.
The magnitude of that hit Lilly in waves as she wrenched open the driver’s door, tossed the rifle in first, and flung herself in after it. She shut the door and locked it before she popped the glove box open and snatched the shells out. Her fingers shook as she reloaded.
The snow was coming down in droves now, so thick and blustery that she couldn’t see through it. Alex and Jared were blurry shapes in the pelting blizzard. What now? Drive off? Leave the man who’d helped her?
The dogs had steamed the windows. The sound of them in the enclosed space made her want to clap her hands over her ears. Bodies banged into the vehicle, rocking it.
Lilly revved the engine but she couldn’t see behind her to reverse, couldn’t go straight ahead unless she wanted to ram the SUV into the boulder. She could try a U-turn, but what if she hit them?
“Screw it,” she said and opened her door, coming around with the rifle locked and loaded. Jared had Alex pinned against the Range Rover, a short, lethal knife at his throat.
“Let him go,” Lilly said in her best Clint Eastwood voice.
The stranger didn’t even look up.
“Let him go or I start shooting. I may not look like much, but I killed two hellhounds I couldn’t even see.”
The words banked against the seething hostility and created a blockade that couldn’t be ignored. She knew she’d just confessed to something this man considered a crime, but she also knew he’d already condemned her. She stared down the barrel and fired a warning shot that whizzed past his head and into the forest behind them.
The stranger hadn’t expected it, but Alex had seen her in action and was ready. He slammed his forehead into Jared’s nose, gaining enough distance between them to bring his machete around. The blade sank deep into the stranger’s chest. Jared looked down, stunned—by the pain or the reality, Lilly didn’t know. A wobbling step back landed him in a deep drift. His knees gave and he sank.