“Perhaps that is the whole point.”
“You, my dear Hanna, are a puzzle I am going to thoroughly enjoy solving.”
“Hmm” was all I said to that—mainly because anything else would have been dangerous. There was a smoky huskiness in his voice that set me aflame, and when combined with my own raging need...
You should have taken the man’s offering while you could, Atticus cut in with a growl.At least then I wouldn’t be forced to listen to your hormone-inflamed inner commentary.
Feel free to keep out of my thoughts any time you desire,I muttered silently.
If I don’t hear, I can’t complain. Where is the fun in that?
I snorted, grabbed a jean jacket, then slung my handbag over my shoulder and once again left the room.
“Here, take this.” He tossed me a protein bar. “Not the bacon and eggs I was planning, but better than nothing.”
That was debatable, but I munched on it anyway as we headed into the lift and down to the parking area. His car purred to life, the big engine echoing loudly through the shadows and hopefully scaring away any lingering critters. I did have to come back here, after all.
It didn’t take us all that long to get across to the private hospital, thanks to the early hour and the near-empty streets. Once he’d parked, I tucked the earwig back into my ear, activating it as we headed in. The receptionist greeted us cheerfully and, after I’d flashed my badge, gave us directions to Monica’s room on the second floor.
We took the stairs then strode down the corridor, following the signs to her wing. Two guards remained stationed out the front of her room, and both looked our way as we approached.
The older of the two said, “One of you Hanna Kang?”
It was an extremely odd question to ask, given only one of us was female, but I nevertheless dug my badge out and showed him. “Has anyone been inside Monica’s room since you were contacted by the Society?”
“No, and you won’t be, either.”
And with that, he produced a gun from god only knew where and fired.
ChapterTwelve
Before I could react, two things happened—one, René’s big body hit mine, his arms locking around me, pulling me close as he once again rolled in midair to take the brunt of the fall. He grunted as we hit, and warmth splattered across my face. Blood, I realized, spotting the red staining his shirt sleeve.
Two, Atticus appeared from absolutely nowhere and launched at the gunman, climbing up his body and slashing sharp claws across the man’s face, shredding cheek, nose, and mouth before leaping away from the man’s blows.
People ran into the corridor, their confusion and shock turning to horror when they saw the gunman. I yelled at them to get back, then cast a leash spell at the man, who continued to swipe his free hand at the fast and furious black shadow still attacking him. Even as the spell wrapped around his body, pinning his arms to his waist, another gunshot rang out. I hunkered closer to the man still holding me, still protecting me with his body, but that shot wasn’t aimed at either of us. Instead, it took out the man who’d shot at us. A thick mass of blood, bone, and brain matter sprayed the wall even as his body fell lifelessly to the floor... revealing his partner, not only holding a gun but raising it to his mouth.
“No,” I shouted, and quickly created and cast another leash spell.
I was far too slow and far too late to stop him.
The shot echoed, and more gore sprayed across the pristine walls. Further down the corridor, people screamed, but the sound was almost overwhelmed by the shrieking of alarms. I tapped the earwig, told Betty what had happened, and asked her to get a team, the police, and Gerard here ASAP.
“I do not need his services,” René said.
“Like hell you don’t,” I replied savagely. “Your arm is gushing blood.”
“Gushing is an extreme exaggeration—it’s not spurting out rhythmically, so no major artery was damaged.”
“You can still bleed to death with a venous wound.” I rolled off his body, allowing him to push up into a sitting position, then took off my coat. “Hold that against the wound until the docs get here. I need to go check on Ginny.”
“I’m thinking she and Monica are not going to be there.”
“I’m thinking you could be right.” Especially given Ginny would have absolutely gotten involved the minute the first guard took a potshot at us. Of course, there could be a darker reason for her not responding, but I really didn’t want to think about that right now. I rose. “By the way, in case I forget later, thanks for saving my life again.”
The sexy smile flirted with his lips again. “Well, I can hardly have my wicked way with you if you’re dead, now can I? Even I won’t go that far, pretty woman or not.”
Movement to the left had me looking around. Several security guards warily approached. They weren’t armed—security guards in Australia weren’t allowed to carry unless they had a special license, and hospitals generally weren’t on the inclusion list—but they had vests, batons, and what looked like pepper spray.
