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Azaiel stared directly at her, the bicolored swirls in his eyes hypnotic. “I will not harm you.” The words echoed inside her head though he’d not opened his mouth to speak.
She felt the world falling away and clung to him desperately. She knew
she needed to protect the fallen until Julian could complete his mission. She had to protect her mate at all costs, even if it meant giving her life.
“Move away from him.” She turned to the side and looked up at Ethan Crane. His face was grim, and a deadly machete was held firm in his hand.
“I will not,” Jaden hissed, barely able to get the words out. “You will not harm him.”
The wolf eyed her as the madness continued all around them. “We came here to take him out, and I’ll put another one of these special bullets through your other shoulder if you don’t get your ass off him.”
Ethan Crane was a singularly focused operative. He meant what he said.
Crimson bled into her line of vision, and she shook her head, feeling the world tip once more. An edge of panic threatened and knew she needed to focus.
She looked across the room and locked eyes with Julian. The rage she saw in the depths of his was startling, and he yelled as he leapt over the dead carcass of one of the hounds, his dagger swinging wide as he cut the head off another.
His mouth was moving, the words were there, but she couldn’t hear a thing.
He charged Crane and slammed into him before the wolf had time to react. The two men rolled across the concrete, and Crane cursed loudly as his foot touched the edge of the etching that lay there.
It was enough. Julian flipped him over and pinned him, his hands going around Crane’s neck, the fingers digging deep.
Her head rolled back, and it was Azaiel who caught her against his chest, held her carefully as the poison circulated through her system. She saw Cormac and Declan locked into a fight to the death, and her soul cried out at all the violence.
She shuddered, and whispered, “Why?”
Because I was weak. Azaiel’s words slipped into her mind, and she heard the world of pain that colored them. With her last bit of strength, she pushed herself up, leaning heavily against Azaiel’s body for support as she looked to the right.
Declan was crouched over a body. He stood, but a deadly dagger remained behind, embedded deep within Cormac’s chest.
Libby was at his side as they stared down at the writhing man who was their father.
“You are pathetic. I will not let you win.” He spit up at them, his voice hoarse, filled with hatred.
Libby looked down at Cormac and pointed the Glock she held in her hand. “Beat this, asshole.”
And then she emptied the entire magazine into his body.
Cormac’s body spun over as the force of the shots hit him hard. The floor still shook, and an unearthly scream fell from his mouth as he crawled several feet away. Blood spewed from his wounds, trickled from his nose and mouth. He clutched his chest, ripped the dagger from within and tossed it aside.
“I will not end here . . . at your hand.” Cormac’s voice was raspy, vibrating thickly.
Declan took two steps, his hands turning in the air as he spoke. “That would be the wrong answer.”
Cormac’s body rose in the air, a grating scream falling from his mouth as his body trembled. His form stretched and twisted in a macabre dance, and Jaden, turned away, horrified.
Silence fell, and when she chanced a look, Cormac was no more.
Julian’s warmth was around her, his hands cupping her face as his dark eyes bored into hers. He pulled her from Azaiel, deep into his embrace as he cuddled her against his chest.
“Why did you . . .” He couldn’t finish his sentence.
“It’s not that bad,” she whispered and smiled, though the lie was blatant. She knew the wound wasn’t fatal. Not for her, but, still, the pain was killer. “I couldn’t let him die. He’s your only chance at finding the portal.”
She rested her head against his shoulder, wanting to drink in his smell, his warmth. “I’m so tired.”
“I say we separate the bastard’s head from his body and be done with it. He dies, and the location of the portal goes with him.” Ethan was breathing heavily, his eyes filled with anger as he challenged Julian.
