The Wolf Within (Purgatory #1)(48)

The silver collar still circled Connor’s neck, but the silver didn’t glow. Connor paced near the back of the cell, never taking his eyes off Duncan.

Duncan stalked forward. His body bumped into Holly. Move back.

He didn’t want her to watch this battle. She already saw him as enough of an animal, but he couldn’t let the threat to her continue.

Then he heard the crack of thunder. No, not thunder, a shot. He saw the jerk of Connor’s head and knew that his brother had heard the sound, too.

I came in here to save him. He’d heard Connor’s cries, and his instinct had been to protect. But then Connor had turned on Holly. On him.

As he always would. Holly had been right. Connor was psychotic.

Am I?

“Someone else is hunting,” Holly said. Her fingers sank into the fur on Duncan’s back. “Please, we have to go help the others. We can’t stay here.” Her breath rushed out. “And I can’t let you kill your own brother.”

Why not? His brother had made it clear that Duncan was on his hit list.

“Duncan? Are you in there?” Then she dropped to her knees. Brought herself too close to his fangs. That scent—her blood—had him snarling. “Control your wolf. Help me.”

He couldn’t pull back. There was no changing into a man now. The beast was in power, and Duncan didn’t even know how to go back from this point.

But…but he could still help her. Carefully, he put his body between hers and Connor’s. Then he edged back with her, making sure that he protected her with every step as they headed for the cell door.

One step.

Another.

Connor wasn’t following. He was just watching them, with his head cocked to the side.

He told me that I would lose her. That I would lose everything.

Duncan wasn’t in the mood to lose.

He pushed Holly back through the cell door. Then he followed her. Connor stood inside the cell.

“Come on,” Holly said. “We have to find Pate.”

Duncan turned away from the cell as Holly locked the door, caging Connor once again. Then he ran with her toward the exit. For every step that she took, he was by her side.

Connor howled after him. The call was a challenge.

Duncan ignored him. Even the wolf that he was knew some things were more important than fighting.

Holly. She was what mattered.

So he ran with her. He followed the scents that flooded his nose. She’d gone with him to find his brother—a battle that will come again—and now it was time for him to find Pate.

It didn’t take long to find the other man. They went back toward the lab, running quickly, and when Holly saw Pate’s prone body sprawled on the floor, a wild cry broke from her.

Then she was diving down beside him. Both Pate and Shane were on that floor. They weren’t moving, and there was so much blood around them. Too much.

A trap.

A trap that Shane had been caught in as he rushed to Pate’s aid.

Duncan spun around, his strong senses picking up the other presence in that hallway. Then he saw the gun. Aimed at Holly.

He rushed at the attacker. A bullet plowed into his body when he jumped into the air, but there was no burn so he knew that the bullet wasn’t made of silver. Your mistake. The wound didn’t slow him down. The shooter fired again, and that bullet missed Duncan entirely.

His claws sank into the shooter’s shoulders, and he took the bastard down, just as he’d taken the man down when he’d found him near Connor’s cell.

Elias hit the floor with a thud. “I’m doing…what you wanted…helping you!”

No, the bastard was killing.

His claws drove deeper into Elias’s shoulders.

“It’s too late,” Elias said. Then the alarm finally stopped. Silence. Perfect. Deep.

He could hear Holly’s desperate breaths—and the faint hitch that signaled her pain.

Her pain?

His head whipped around. Holly had sagged against the wall. The second bullet. Shit. It had slammed into her.

Her eyes were closed. She slumped to the floor.

A slow hiss slipped from the ceiling. A new scent filled the air. Acrid. Thick.

“Pate had a backup security system in place. Did you know that? Gas…to knock out the paranormals, in case they ever overpowered the humans.” The gas was pumping down now. Choking Duncan. He wrenched away from Elias.

“It’ll…” Elias heaved out a hard breath. “Knock us…all out…when you wake up…they’ll be dead…”

The f*ck, no. He rushed toward Holly.

“All…dead…” Elias whispered behind him, his own voice slurring. “Then you’ll…be next.”

No, he wouldn’t be. His gaze was locked on Holly. Not moving. If the bullet was wooden, then she wouldn’t move until he dug it out of her heart—if it had hit her heart.

“Maybe…you’ll…be now…” Elias rasped.

Duncan spun back to face him. Saw that Elias had that gun of his up again.

No more.

The beast took over totally then. He launched at Elias.

Ripped. Bit. Clawed.

And Elias was dead before his head slammed back into the floor.

***

She…hurt.

Holly tried to open her eyes. She was being pulled—dragged?—by someone, and there was a tight pressure on her shoulder.