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Teeth chattering, she snuggled into the warmth. “Malgor’s got a gun and a knife and he’s activated a bomb at the Mountainview Inn where Rosalie’s family is. It’s wired to blow in a few minutes.”
Shit.Annie and Grady were there too. “I’ll kill that motherfucker.”
“God, I hope you do, but be careful. He’s got a detonator with a kill switch that will blow the inn immediately.”
Wulf pressed Anya’s knife into Cannon’s hand. “After you stop that bomb, do me a favor and shove this in his heart.”
Rosalie held her breath.Tuning out Malgor’s ramblings about being called a coward, she listened for more gunshots and prayed that the ones she’d heard had come from Cannon’s gun and not Malgor’s host of snipers.
Vodka-infused spittle spurted from Malgor’s lips as he approached. “Who do you think you are questioning my manhood?”
“A real man doesn’t stab and rape women.”
“And Ford is a real man?” He cocked his head to the window. “Didn’t you hear those shots? He can’t even stay alive long enough to rescue you.”
“He’s not dead.”
He couldn’t be.
Surely she’d know if the man she loved stopped existing.
“I assure you that Ford is good and dead by now. Tell me, how did it feel all this time knowing I was watching you? Did you feel safe? Happy? Loved?” Malgor laughed at his questions. “I scared that out of you for good, didn’t I?”
“You failed. Cannon makes me feel all those things.”
And so much more.
Malgor leaned forward and traced a circle around her breast with the tip of the blade. “I’m going to enjoy beating out what Cannon makes you feel and filling you with everythingIhave to offer.” He trailed the knife up to her throat. “When we get to my headquarters in Europe, I’ll give you a matching reminder of our bond. Right now, I have a few minutes to admire the mark I left the last time we met before we watch the inn blow to pieces.”
“It’s not your mark anymore. It’s Cannon’s.”
Malgor pressed the knife into the puncture wound on her neck. “We’ll see about whose mark it is. On the cot. Now.”
THIRTY-NINE
Cannon sprinted across the narrow clearing and pressed his back to the side of the little stone shack. Sharp rocks embedded in gaps in the wall dug into his skull. He twisted and found a hole barely big enough to peer through.
Squinting to see into the dimly lit room, he growled.
Malgor pinned Rosalie face-first down on a cot as he ran a knife over her scar. The need to drive a knife into the monster’s throat slashed through Cannon.
Hang in there, Snow Angel.
He searched the wall for a gap big enough to shoot through. A sweep of the rest of the shack’s exterior didn’t reveal any other chinks in the stone, and he didn’t dare try and shoot through the tiny peephole. If he missed, Malgor would have plenty of time to stab her.
Or press the button and blow up the inn.
Christ, Cannon didn’t even know how many minutes were left on the timer.He had to let Rosalie know he’d arrived so she’d be ready to react.
As if Mother Nature sensed that he needed silence to figure out how to solve the biggest life-or-death situation he’d everfaced, the wind stopped. He pressed his head against the stone and fought to regulate his breathing.
Shit. Think.He bunched his fingers into a fist. Since he couldn’t punch the wall and risk giving away his position, he ground his knuckles against the stone. Crumbling rock tore his skin and skittered down the uneven wall. Dropping his head, he stared at the rocks in the fresh snow like they were etched with mystical runes. He bent and picked one up. A memory of another time on this mountain slammed into his mind with such force he teetered. Gripping the wall for support, he smiled and thanked God for summer camp pranks.
Malgor draggedthe tip of the knife from Rosalie’s scar to the unmarred side of her back. “I hacked into your files and saw pictures of the memory I left you with, but they didn’t do it justice. I’m going to enjoy marking you in many more places.”
“Go ahead, but you don’t hold power over me any longer.”
As she’d hoped, he sneered and dropped his head closer to her ear. She took a deep breath and readied to slam her skull back into his nose. If she moved quickly enough, she might be able to get the gun before he pressed the kill button on the detonator. The plan was risky, but the inn could blow at any minute, and she was out of options.
