Eternal (Shadow Falls: After Dark #2)(96)

Still airborne, she saw Criminal Number Two turn his gun toward her.

Chase dove in front of her.

The gun exploded.

Chase! Her heart stopped, but she couldn’t. She had to save the baby first.

Seconds felt like minutes. She grabbed Damian’s right arm and twisted until she heard it break. He dropped the baby, but the mother bolted over and caught it. Damian’s gun clanked to the floor and Della kicked it and heard it skid across the tile. Then with force propelled by fury, she shoved him to the ground. His head hit the hard floor with a thud.

Another gun went off.

More screams exploded. People started scrambling.

The police rushed forward. Della stepped away as they reached Damian.

Her heart stopped midbeat as she turned to look for Chase.

People were everywhere, falling over each other to try to get out. The cops had the other guy on the ground. Another two were standing over Damian.

She shifted her gaze from left to right.

Right to left.

She couldn’t find Chase.

Tears stung her eyes. Where was he, damn it?

She felt someone step behind her, but her nose said it wasn’t Chase, so she ignored the presence and continued to look for him.

But then the scent hit. Not Chase, but another were.

“Are you here to help? Or part of the problem?” a voice asked behind her.

Turning her head, she saw one of the officers. She’d been so tense earlier she hadn’t picked up on his scent.

But a quick glance at his forehead confirmed what her nose had already told her. He was half were, half human.

“To help. I’m … we’re with the FRU.” Della turned back to look for Chase, feeling her panic climb at frightening speeds.

The officer grabbed Della by the arm. “Then you need to show me your badge.”

Before Della could cut him a sharp look, a growl sounded behind her. “Release her.”

She swung around, pulling out of the were officer’s grip. Her eyes landed on Chase, and only then did air get to her lungs.

“You okay?” she asked. Then she cut her eyes down and saw blood high up on the arm of his shirt. “You’re hit!”

“Just grazed,” he said, still glaring at the officer.

“I still haven’t seen a badge,” the were in the uniform said.

The officer could strip na**d and howl for all she cared. All she cared about was Chase. And not trusting his assessment of his injury, she reached up, found the hole in his shirt, and ripped it open to see for herself. He hadn’t been lying. The bullet had just grazed his forearm.

He’d dove in front of her. He’d taken a bullet for her—put his life at risk. Her heart started pulling in about a dozen different directions, as did her emotions. She wanted to slap him for doing something so stupid, she wanted to kiss him because he was okay.

“Happy?” he asked, looking down at her.

“Yeah,” she said. Only then did she look back to the were wearing the uniform and waiting for answers. “I’m a junior agent, working under Burnett James. He and several other agents should be here in less than ten minutes. We’ll be taking Damian Bond.”

He must have recognized Burnett’s name, because his eyes that had started to brighten faded back to their hazel green. “Well, they’d better hurry. And have the proper paperwork. They,” he nodded to the other officers, “aren’t going to just let him go. And if you two don’t want to be dragged into this, you’d better disappear.”

Chase looked at Della. “I think that might be best.”

Della frowned. “Not until Burnett has Damian.” He was their last link to Natasha and Liam, and Della wasn’t going to risk losing him.

Chase looked back at the officer. “I guess we’ll be staying a while.”

*   *   *

An hour later, they were all at the FRU headquarters. Burnett had arrived at Cooper Airport less than five minutes after everything went down. He was followed by two official cars, and three other agents, who showed off their badges, and their authority, managing to piss off the Oak, Texas, police department.

Face it, this was probably the first time their tiny police department had caught a bad guy, especially two at once, and they hadn’t wanted to lose any of the credit.

However, Burnett, with paperwork in order, wasn’t about to walk away empty-handed.

He also got Della and Chase out of having to go down and give their statements—insisting the local police leave them out of the paperwork and media hype because they worked undercover. But before they left, the mother of the child who Damian had held hostage came up to her and offered a tearful thank you.

A sense of rightness filled Della right then. This was what she wanted to do. But was she willing to lose Chase for it?

Burnett had a doctor waiting at headquarters to look at Chase’s arm as soon as they walked into the building. Of course, Chase tried to get out of it, but Burnett wasn’t taking no for an answer. He told Chase to see the doctor … or leave.

Chase glanced at Della, huffed, and then went into the room to see the doctor.

After the door closed, Burnett approached her, concern etched in his frown. The airport had been crazy, and this was really the first chance she’d had to speak—not that she hadn’t seen him visually checking on her—since he’d threatened her career. She felt an achy sensation, a mixture of hurt and love, right in the middle of her chest.