"No." Bear frowned. "You deserve luxury and safety."
She sighed. "You don't understand. If I want luxury, I can make my own money. And I can definitely keep myself safe. Get a clue, Bear." She grasped his hands and set them to the side before sliding off him to stand. "However, we agree that our mating is definitely off the table, so to speak. So let's finish the rest of our agreement, and we'll go our separate ways."
He opened his mouth to say something, anything, when the door blew open with a fiery blast. "Nessa!" he yelled, leaping for her.
Chapter 10
The explosion blew Nessa over the marble coffee table. She landed hard, the air whooshing from her lungs. Training kicked in and she rolled, coming up in a crouch.
She gained her equilibrium in time to see Bear bound over the back of the settee straight at three men in black with ski masks covering their faces. He plowed into two of them, propelling them sideways into the doorframe. Wood cracked and splintered. Sheetrock blew out. One guy dropped to the ground and the other pulled up a green gun and fired.
The shot went wide, toward Nessa. She yelped and leaped to the right. Then she set her stance and focused on the third guy, concentrating on his energy. Human. He was tight and tall-definitely in fighting shape. But she could take a human. Several, probably.
He lifted an odd, narrow, long gun.
She paused, panic rippling through her.
He fired. Several yellow-tipped darts shot out. She yelled and jumped out of the way, dropping hard to the floor. The darts flew over her head and embedded themselves in the drapes behind her. There was only one reason to use darts in a firefight with a witch. The damn things had to be full of Apollo.
A body flew over her to crash on the dining room table. She gaped. The human bounced to the floor and then expelled air before going limp. Smoke billowed in the room, and a small fire from the explosion licked up the wallpaper by the entryway.
Don't think. Act. On her hands and knees, she lunged for the dart shooter's legs, taking him down in a tangle. He chopped at the side of her neck, and she saw stars. Pain rippled down her entire arm and through her rib cage. The guy fumbled for his gun again, his eyes cold behind the mask.
Panicking, she kicked the gun out of his hand, and it went spiraling across the lush carpet. She punched him in the throat before following up with a jab to the nose. Blood sprayed, and she tried to duck, but it arced across her blouse. Bollocks.
With a fierce roar, the human tossed her off him. Her shoulder hit the coffee table, and pain flared through her torso.
Another body flew over her head, this one smashing into the window and dropping to the carpet with a bone-breaking crunch. Bear was throwing bodies everywhere.
She looked up.
He stalked toward her, fury sizzling off him and choking the atmosphere. Through the light smoke, he looked like a destructive god.
"No." She shoved to her feet. "This asshole is mine." Her feet scrunched into the carpet as she advanced on the human.
He looked from her to Bear, obviously thinking Bear was the bigger threat.
Bear crossed his arms, blocking the exit, his gaze beyond pissed. "Hurry up, then." He paused. "You might want to give him a message for George."
"He doesn't work for George," Nessa said, jumping up and kicking the human beneath the chin. His head snapped back, and he dropped to his knees. He did not get right back up.
How disappointing.
"Not for George?" Bear asked.
"No." She moved in and yanked off the guy's ski mask. He swayed in place. About thirty, black hair, blue eyes, very thick jaw. Nessa punched him in his smashed nose again.
He howled and grabbed his nose.
She sighed and looked at Bear. "He's just not giving a good fight."
Bear nodded soberly. "Your kick probably gave him a concussion. How do you know he doesn't work for George?"
Nessa jerked her head toward the dart gun several feet away from her. "Apollo darts."
Bear straightened and lost his lazy amusement. His eyes darkened to a violent hue. "Apollo? This is a kill squad?"
"A crappy human one." She grabbed the guy's hair and jerked back his head. Blood flowed freely down his face and over his mouth. "Who hired you?"
He sputtered and spit blood.
She swallowed down bile. "I donna' want to kill you, but I will. Tell me who."
Bear growled, letting the rumble sound just like a real bear.
The human trembled. "Frank J hired us."
"Who is Frank J?" Bear muttered, gingerly touching a cut in his lip.