“Oh,” Dianna said, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, she just looked so ... serene.”
“That’s because she’s knocked out,” Alby said, and I realized the whiny tone was actually his voice and not a form of expression. “The hospital’s right here, though, so maybe we can carry her inside?”
With a growl that made me almost yelp, Mack snapped, “Why should we concern ourselves with a fuckinghuman?” He spat the word as if it was the most derogatory insult he could think of. “Leave her, andlet’s fucking go.”
Unfortunately for Mack, I had a different plan for the three of them; I refused to let them disappear before Lucien could make his strike and complete the hunt.
So I mumbled unintelligibly and moved slowly, stretching leisurely, as I opened my eyes. “What ...,” I then mumbled, attempting to sit up and falling back on the ground with a grunt, my hands going to hold my head.
“Shit,” Dianna murmured, and suddenly she was crouching next to me, her hand waving over my face. “Hey, you. Are you okay?”
I blinked slowly at her. “Where ... am ... I?” I asked, slurring my words.
She made a face but answered nonetheless. “The parking lot outside Lane Medical Center. I recommend you go inside and get checked.”
“Or at least get off the road so we won’t run you over,” Alby added.
After a few more grunts and pretending to be incapacitated, I finally “managed” to sit up, with the kind help of Dianna and Alby, whosupported me. Mack, on the other hand, remained standing, looming over me like a huge shadow, tree-trunk arms folded and face twisted into that sinister, bloodcurdling expression from his image.
Suddenly, I felt like I was the prey, and they—or rather, he—the predator.
But I refused to give in to my fight-or-flight instinct—which told me to run away, by the way—and, through the dread I was feeling, I croaked, “Please help me inside.”Anything to stall you until Lucien arrives.
Mack didn’t seem to want to, but Dianna and Alby complied, helping me up to my feet.
Unfortunately, the movement caused the contents of the back pockets of my jeans to fall out.
I couldn’t help but tense just then when I saw the burner phone falling to the ground.
Shit.
Unaware of any change, Dianna picked up the burner phone and scrunched her nose. “Who uses this crap anymore in today’s day and age?”
Panicked, I was about to come up with an excuse when Alby scowled. “Don’t pry, Di,” he admonished Dianna. “Just give her the damn phone and let’s get this over with.”
But before I could breathe a sigh of relief, Mack’s quiet voice said suddenly, “No.”
I whipped my head up to see, to my utter horror, Mack snatching the phone away from Dianna’s hands. “This is not a regular phone,” he said, his dark eyes filling with rage as they met mine and saw the hysteria I wasn’t able to hide. “This is a burner—”
Before he could complete the sentence, however, a huge beast appeared seemingly out of thin air and, in one quick blur, latched its giant teeth onto Mack’s jugular, forcing the big man to fall down on the ground with a yell.
Then Mack suddenly screamed, “Run!” and Alby and Dianna, who’d just been beside me, took off at a sprint without a second glance.
But I wasn’t going to let them run. So I let the beast, with its pretty bronze fur and furious arctic-blue eyes, take care of Mack, trusting him to get done what he needed done.
A few thoughts raced through my head in the span of a second. First, I thanked God that the parking lot was empty of other living beings. Second, I hoped Enoch would get rid of any video evidence, since I was sure there must’ve been security cameras around.
And third, but most importantly, I couldn’t let Alby and Dianna get away.
So for the first time in my life outside the shooting range, I took out my pistol, turned around, aimed, imagined the target dummies instead of the actual living, breathing people who were running, and pulled the trigger.
I released six shots one after the other without pause, my heart drumming in my chest with every shot that vibrated through my arm and the noise tearing my ears. My mind was reeling with a cluster of contrasting emotions—a horrible coldness, along with a rising hysteria, fear, and looming anxiety.
Only two out of the six bullets hit their targets. One hit Dianna right in the back of her knee, making her scream and fall down. The other pierced Alby’s shoulder. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to bring him down, too, and he continued to run like a man possessed.
So, with a hand that was now shaking as it held on to the pistol, I let out a few more shots that cut through the air, my body jerking at the loud noise over and over again, until finally a bullet hit his back and he crumpled to the ground, unable to keep standing and bear the pain, if his grunts and curses were anything to go by.
“What deal did you strike with the Syndicate?”
