Page 50 of Protect Me
“Killian’s right,”Duncan says.“We get them before they leave. Bracken, head toward the exit with Killian. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on them.”
“On it,”I reply as I begin moving toward the exit. Killian doesn’t even look my way when I come to stand on the opposite side of the door. Light from the lantern beside him glints off the piercings in his face, making him look even more sinister than normal.
The crowd gasps, and my attention immediately shifts to Sway. She dangles from the lyra with one hand, her other down at her side, both legs dangling below as it turns slowly. Then—she lets go and plummets.
My heart falls with her.
Until she lands on the back of a large bear—Lex, the shapeshifter, having chosen his next form. He runs in a circle around the ring as Sway straddles him, waving and grinning as the crowd goes wild. Jealousy comes out of nowhere, making my blood run hot.
It should be me she’s wrapped her legs around.
Or Duncan.
Or Killian.
Not this fucker.
“Movement,”Duncan warns.
We all shift our gazes to the hunters as they stand and start making their way toward the ground. I ready for them, as does Killian, but the fuckers slip beneath the stands instead.
“Go,”Killian tells me.“I’ll remain here for now.”
I move along the outside of the Big Top, strategically making my way to the stands where the fuckers disappeared. Grabbing the canvas flap and lifting it up, I move beneath it and then immediately duck as a fist swings toward my head. I throw out an elbow and slam it into the gut of a hunter who snuck up behind me then spin and catch the tip of a dagger against the side of my throat for my trouble.
“Get over here,”I say through the bond.“I can’t shift, or I risk bringing the stands and all these people down!”
“Coming,”Both Duncan and Killian say at the same time.
“You’re not so fucking scary now, are you,animal?” the hunter in front of me says.
“Let’s go somewhere private, and I’ll show you animal,” I snarl back, my hands clenched into fists.
“I heard you were quite a fighter in your time.” He rolls his shoulders. “Should we find out?”
His words startle me.The fuck?This asshole knows about my past. That means these clowns are doing their homework, and that’s even more troubling than some random meatheads following orders to kidnap.
“Fuck yes.” I ready myself for his attack, but the scent of another fills my lungs. Someone behind me approaching fast. I drop down and swing my leg out, taking a hunter to the ground as I do. I jump down on top of him, heart racing, and snap his fucking neck like a twig.
It cracks, and he falls still.
Duncan and Killian rush in, Killian wielding knives in both hands.
I stand and glance behind me, pissed the fuck off that the other three hunters are gone. “They couldn’t have gone far.”
The stands above us erupt with cheers.
“I’ll get to Helen,” Duncan says, using her fake name just in case anyone’s listening. “You two track them down.”
“With fucking pleasure,” Killian snarls.
We rush beneath the stands, ducking beneath brace boards until we reach the end. A large square has been sliced open along the bottom of the Big Top’s canvas wall, so we slip out and into the darkness. In the distance, the carnival awaits, its bright lights giving the rest of the area a soft glow.
Killian and I shift in tandem, shredding our clothes as we do. Four paws on the ground, I sprint over the grass while I track the scent of them. It disappears into the trees just before the carnival, so we do, too.
* * *
Two hours later,we’re walking into D’s office at the back of the Big Top, naked, dirty, tired, and pissed the fuck off.