“I’mneverwalking away from you, Mollie.Don’t suggest it again.”
“What do you mean you’re never walking away from me?”
Mike hadn’t planned to tell her she was his mate until they were off this island. She had enough to deal with without him heaping that on her too, but maybe she should know. As a mortal, she couldn’t possibly understand how intense the bond was, but perhaps it would help her to deal with his rising uneasiness and anger better. Or at least he hoped it would.
He opened his mouth to explain to her, but before he could, a branch cracking behind him caused him to spin around. Lifting one of his arms, he pressed it into Mollie’s chest and pushed her back as the cracking became footsteps.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Mike turnedand plucked her off the ground. Slipping into the shadows of a large maple, he knelt with her behind a cluster of boulders. Two vampires emerged from the woods—a man and a woman. The woman held a crossbow at her side while the man carried a rifle at the ready.
Their reddened eyes, the weapons they carried, and the patch on their black shirts marked them as two of the Savages who’d imprisoned them. They strode through the shadows of the forest, in a place where the sun didn’t penetrate the thick conifers, before stopping near a small boulder.
At his side, Mollie eased the rifle from her shoulder and clasped it before her. The two vamps glanced at each other before studying the trees above them. To the left, the conifers were thicker while to the right, oaks and maples were more prevalent and allowed more sunlight to filter through.
The Savages nodded to the left before heading in that direction. Mike watched them walk away with their weapons. Mollie might be able to shoot and kill them both, or at least impair them, but the gunfire would draw more Savages.
If he was going to take them, and their weapons, it would have to be hand-to-hand. “Stay here and don’t shoot unless it’s necessary,” he hissed to Mollie before slipping into the trees.
Mollie didn’t have a chance to respond before Mike glided away from her and vanished behind a large tree. He reappeared before fading in and out of view like a ghost floating through walls. Mollie’s heart hammered as her attention drifted between him and the vamps he stalked.
What if something happened to him? Just minutes ago, she’d been willing to walk away from him, but she couldn’t stand the idea of him being hurt or killed by one of these bastards. She didn’t want to lose him; shewouldn’tlose him!
Lifting the rifle to her shoulder, she aimed it at the backs of the vampires as they moved further away from her. She was a decent shot, but she was no sniper. At this distance, she could only hope to wound them.
Then Mike suddenly emerged next to the man. Mollie flinched but didn’t look away when Mike enclosed his hand on the man’s throat, lifted him off his feet, and swung him toward the woman. The woman took a startled step back, raised her crossbow, and fired. The bolt slammed into the center of the man’s chest.
Mike crushed the Savage’s windpipe before he could scream and threw the vampire at the woman. The woman’s shot hadn’t been a killing one, but it injured the man, and his inability to breathe slowed him. When the Savage fell into the woman, she was shoved backward and almost knocked off her feet.
The man hit the ground as the woman staggered into a tree. Before she could recover, Mike pounced on her. When she swung the crossbow up, Mike seized the end of it and shoved it back at her. It caught her under the chin and snapped her head back. Mike drove his fist into her chest, gripped her heart, and yanked it from her before tossing it aside.
The other Savage was rising when Mike lifted the crossbow, pulled a bolt free and plunged it into the man’s heart. The man’s mouth parted on an O of surprise, and his fingers scrabbled at the arrow before Mike pulled it free. The vamp staggered toward him but collapsed on top of the woman.
Lifting the woman, Mike removed the pouch of bolts hanging from her side and attached it to his belt before sliding the crossbow onto his back. The scent of apples alerted him to Mollie’s approach. Turning his head, he spotted her slipping through the woods as he pulled the rifle from the man.
Adjusting the man, Mike searched him for more supplies. He found a handful of bullets in the man’s front pockets along with a butterfly knife. He slid the knife into his pocket. Stepping out from behind an oak tree, Mollie approached him.
“Which rifle would you prefer?” Mike asked as he hefted the gun he’d taken from the Savage. “I’m good with an arrow, not so much with a gun.”
“This one,” Mollie said, touching the strap across her shoulder. “I already know how it shoots, and they’re both the same caliber. Are there any more bullets?”
Mike handed her the ones he’d removed from the vamp. Then she took the rifle from him and emptied the ammo into her hand. Feeling better prepared to continue, Mike rested his hand against her cheek as he sought to reconnect with her. He wasn’t sure she wouldn’t turn away from him or slap his hand aside, but he hoped she’d gotten over their disagreement.
She couldn’t hide her uncertainty, but she still turned her head into his touch and closed her eyes as her lips brushed his palm. Unable to resist, he brushed back a strand of black hair and caressed her cheek with his other hand.
“Let’s find Aida,” he said, even as the vampire within him screamed to take her from here, but he couldn’t tolerate having her hate him.
Her eyes flew open, and she smiled at him. “Yes.”
He lowered his hands and was about to turn away when a shadow slid from the trees behind her. Mike pulled her back and stepped in front of her as he lifted the crossbow and aimed at the chest of the vampire who emerged.
“Whoa!” Doug blurted, throwing his hands up.
Unable to believe what he was seeing, Mike blinked before he lowered the bow and grinned at his friend. Doug cautiously studied the two of them before approaching.
“I thought you were going to shoot me,” Doug muttered.
“I almost did,” Mike admitted as he swung the bow onto his back and strode toward his friend.
