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Nalla blinked once. And sprang forward in one, two, three strides.
With the fourth, she angled her foot to go soccer ball on the gun. Just as thelesserpulled that trigger again—
She missed. She fucking missed the kick.
And the bullet went directly into Nate’s heart.
As he barked an exhale and fell to the side, she tripped while wrenching around, and she was never going to forget what she saw…Nate focused on her and her alone as blood came out of his mouth and he landed with the bounce of a dead body on the dirty snow.
A sound came out of her like no noise she had ever made before, and she saw nothing, just a white plane of rage. Baring her teeth, she launched herself at thelesser, going for the hand that gripped that gun.
She was unaware of biting the wrist until she tasted something foul in her mouth, and she didn’t even think about what she did next. She bent the elbow with her free hand, turned the barrel into the slayer’s face, and forced her finger into the trigger guard.
The bullet entered through the bridge of the nose and the body seized on a oner, all the muscles contracting in sync, a spray of black blood and gray matter blowing out the back of the skull. No fucking around this time. With a sweeping plunge, she swung her right arm downward and stabbed him through the back.
It wasn’t enough.
Oh, God, what if there were more slayers, what if there was backup, what if—
Her strength doubled, and she peeled thelesseroff the snow by the sleeve of his jacket, rolling him over with a jerk. Even though her hunting instinct swelled until it took the place of what was normally in her veins, she didn’t look into the white face of her prey.
Her eyes were on Nate.
As she stabbed the center of the slayer’s torso, she was blinded by the light and momentarily stunned by a blast of bus-exhaust smoke.
But then she crawled through the dissipating heat. “Oh, God, Nate…”
His voice was just a croak. “Don’t call for anyone—”
“Are you out of your mind—”
“—I just need a minute—”
“—you’re bleeding to death!”
“—I’mnotbleeding to death!”
As they both got to the finish line at the same time, Nalla was done with the arguing. Glancing up and down the alley, there didn’t seem tobe any otherlessers. And what humans were around were way out on the sidewalk of Market Street. And there was no monitoring by the city’s crime prevention systems in this irrelevant alley or windows for people with prying eyes and phones.
Thank fuck.
Getting out her cell, she tried not to drop it with her shaking hands—
Nate snatched the thing from her and smashed it on the pavement.
“What the hell is wrong with you!” she barked. “We need help—”
“No—gimme a minute. No… matter what… happens… just…”
He started coughing, and as blood came out of his mouth and speckled his chin, she jumped up. But where was she running to?
“What the hell is wrong with you!” she yelled again.
“Relax,” he said through a choked inhale. “Minute. Maybe less. All it… takes.”
“For you to die!”
Fuck this, she thought as she started diving into his jacket to go through his pockets.
