War of Hearts(21)

The big bad wolf had just pushed open the fire door that led out into the parking lot when he went rigid. His grip on her became painful as he stared out into the shadowed lot.

“Someone’s here. A threat.” He glared down at her. “You felt them.”

She shrugged.

“You could have warned me.”

“I could have.”

“Brat,” he muttered under his breath as he stepped carefully out into the lot. He kept a hold on Thea but positioned her partially behind him.

That’s when the first shot fired.

Conall was a blur of movement as he turned to cover her body with his. She felt him jerk and grunt seconds before he pushed her behind a car.

Shocked, Thea stared at his strained features as he slumped against the wall. He’d taken a bullet for her.

What …

More bullets punched through the wall above them as Conall growled. He tried to get up but pain darkened his eyes as he collapsed.

Okay.

Maybe he took more than one bullet.

“Stay,” she ordered, turning toward the gunfire.

Two different directions.

Two gunmen.

“Dinnae.” He grabbed her wrist, his hold still strong. “Dinnae even think about it.”

She wrenched her arm away as he struggled to stand. “We’re sitting ducks.”

Conall slouched over, the color draining from his face. “Silver.” He winced in agony. “The bullets are silver. Know … know I’m a werewolf.”

Thea had read books on supernaturals and in some, they stated silver was poison to a werewolf. She’d always wondered if it was true and if so, why? Guess this was proof. But she still didn’t understand the why.

Not that it mattered.

It just meant it was up to her to deal with the shooters. Whoever they were.

Peeking around the car she saw a shadowed fighter behind a white sedan less than a hundred yards away. Thea pulled back as he fired again.

She braced herself, one hand to the wall, one to the car. And then she pushed off, a streak of movement so fast, not even the quickest supernatural could hit her.

Although Conall had certainly been fast enough to grab her, she remembered, disconcerted. But that was a worry for another time. She had more immediate problems.

One second Thea was behind the car.

Next second, she was behind the shooter, ripping the gun out of his hand and pressing it to his temple. She used his body as a shield against the other gunman somewhere on the opposite side of the lot. She peered around him, searching, and found a woman with a gun pointed at her.

“You’re both human.” Thea dug the gun into the man’s head.

She felt him tremble. “Don’t kill me.” He was English. Huh.

“Weird request coming from a guy who just tried to kill me.”

“Not you. Silver bullets won’t kill you. Our client said so. Those were for the wolf … to get him out of the way.”

“Willis, shut up!” the woman yelled.

Sirens filled the air in the distance.

Thea bit out a curse. “Looks like we don’t have a lot of time. Who sent you?”

“I can’t. They’ll kill me.”

Frustration ripped through Thea. The sirens were getting closer, and she had no time to interrogate the humans. With a growl of anger that would have impressed even Conall, she took the butt of the gun and cracked it across the back of the shooter’s head. He crumpled to the ground.

The female fired at Thea as she dashed across the parking lot, but no one could hit a target that moved as speedily as she did. Thea snapped the gun out of the shooter’s hand and threw a punch with enough strength behind it to knock out a guy Conall’s size.

After, she wiped down the gun and left it by the unconscious woman’s side, deciding to leave the shooters there as a gift for the Polish police. It would give Thea time to get out of Dodge.

With those sirens growing steadily closer, Thea glanced back at the car where Conall laid injured. The facts were that the wolf was trying to deliver her to her greatest enemy.

However, he’d also put himself in front of her when bullets began flying.

She knew it wasn’t because he cared.

He needed her alive.

Still … if she left him, he would die.

“Not your problem,” Thea said through gritted teeth and started to walk away.

The guilt stopped her three strides in.

“Oh, fuck!” She spun around and raced back to where he was lying, eyes shut, beads of sweat rolling down his temples. “Wolf Boy?”

His eyes snapped open. They were mostly icy gray except for the rim of dark gray around the edge of the iris. Wolf eyes. Compellingly vivid. “I told you … dinnae call me that,” he grunted.

“Can you get up if I help?”

Conall’s expression was suspicious. “Why would you help?”

“Do you want to die here or not?” she snapped, bending down to slide an arm around his wide, strong back. His shirt was wet with blood. She pulled him up to his feet, and he grunted, sounding surprised.

“Fuck, you’re strong,” he grunted, clinging onto her.

She got him across the lot and opened the back door of his car. When she pushed him in, she winced at his blood-soaked shirt as he sprawled on his front. His legs were way too long. She searched his pockets for the car keys and as she wrenched them out, she said, “You need to bend your legs to fit in the car.” Thea pushed at them. “Now, Conall!”