A trio of young men stumbles into the clearing, and I relax, lowering the weapon.
“Careful there,” Evlynne taunts. “It’s dark out. Can’t have you accidentally shooting our own people.”
I eye her in amusement. “I’ve never accidentally shot anything in my life, in the dark or otherwise. When I fire, I mean it.”
She gives a mocking laugh, her eyes gleaming in the firelight. “That so? How about a demonstration then?”
“What exactly am I demonstrating? You’ve seen me shoot at the range.”
“You’re right. Night shooting isn’t everyone’s strong suit,” she says with a tsking noise.
I tamp down my irritation. “If you’re trying to goad me into—”
“Who’s goading?” she interjects, her tone overly sweet. “I asked for a demonstration. You declined. No need to be embarrassed.”
Godfucking damn it.
Fatal flaw triggered.
The one thing I’ve never been able to walk away from is a challenge.
“All right,” I say in an equally saccharine voice. “I’dloveto demonstrate, but how about we make it a good old-fashioned competition? How’s that sound, Evlynne?”
The muscles in her jaw tighten. She doesn’t like the cutting way I said her name.
Well, I don’t like the shitty way she speaks to me.
“Ooh, a little bit of night shooting,” chirps Karra, mischief dancing in her dark eyes. “How fun.”
Chapter 14
A sense of anticipation hangs in the air as we veer away from the fire toward a deserted section of the clearing, but the excitement is edged with something sharper, a bite of hostility. I don’t like Evlynne, and she doesn’t like me, which probably isn’t the best recipe for a shooting competition. At a party. At night. While buzzed on grange.
“All right,” announces Mako, “this is far enough, boys and girls. Let’s pick our targets.” He’s designated himself the referee or taskmaster or whatever the heck this is as he crosses his thick arms and examines the area for suitable targets.
I’m not afraid of shooting in the dark, but I do worry about firing my weapon during a party. Anybody could be walking through the woods right now on their way to the bonfire.
“Nah, static targets are boring,” I say. “Let’s go airborne.”
Evlynne falters for a second before hardening her expression. “Excellent idea.”
Mako purses his lips in thought. “Well, we don’t have any clay pigeons lying around, so…” He scans the area. “Guess we’ll have to make do with good old-fashioned rocks.”
He crouches and gathers a handful of smooth round stones about the size of a child’s fist. His grin widens.
“Really? Those are huge,” Evlynne says in a bored voice. “This will be easy.”
“Who’s up first?” Henley asks, his posture relaxed as he slides his hands into his pockets.
“I’ll go.” Evlynne gives a dismissive flip of her ponytail and holds out an expectant hand toward Saint, who passes his rifle.
Mako holds up the rock enticingly. “Ready?”
“Do your worst,” she says.
Without warning, he tosses it high in the air. The rock spins as it shoots upward, creating a perfect target.
Evlynne fires and—bang.
