Into the Lair (Falcon Mercenary Group #2)(30)

“Want me to drive?” Katie offered. “I have the most rest of any of us.”

Ian shook his head sharply. “Get in. Let’s go.”

She said something unintelligible under her breath but walked around to the passenger side. As she settled in, Ian remembered that they still hadn’t gotten food, and Katie had to be hungry. It wasn’t like she could afford to miss many more meals.

As soon as he had the thought, he shrugged it off. She wouldn’t starve, and right now, safety was more important than food.

He gunned the engine and drove back onto the highway. They still had several hours to go until they hit their rendezvous point, and the sooner they were in the air, the less antsy he’d feel.

“How uncontrolled is yours and Braden’s condition?” Katie asked.

He glanced over in surprise until he remembered the whole bit about the seizures. She sure didn’t pull any punches.

“We manage,” he said shortly.

“Look, I have a right to know what I’m dealing with,” she said. “You’re offering me protection. Well, you can’t very well protect me if you’re constantly freaking out and having to be medicated to the point of passing out. What the hell am I supposed to do if both of you freak out on me at the same time?”

“You shoot whoever’s after you,” Ian said calmly.

She snorted. “With what? You haven’t exactly been generous with contributing to my own self-preservation.”

“That’s because I can’t be sure you won’t shoot me or Braden,” Ian muttered.

“At least tell me what the hell I’m supposed to give you if you wig out,” she said.

Ian sighed. “There are syringes already filled in the back. Give us one of those and get the f**k away from us. The guns are back there too,” he said after a brief hesitation.

It was true she deserved to know what she was dealing with, particularly since she needed to stay away from them if they shifted. They could kill her in shifted form. But if he told her that now, she’d not only think he lost his mind, but she’d never agree to leave the country with them. Better to fill her in on the kitty details in the air.

Every once in a while he caught Katie glancing over her seat to check on Braden. It amused him only because she went to such pains to make sure it didn’t look like she was concerned.

“He’ll be fine,” Ian said. “He’ll sleep it off and wake up a little muzzy-headed.”

She scowled and focused her attention out her window.

For an hour, they drove in silence. A few of the roads they took were barely ribbons snaking through the rough terrain. Ian flexed his hands around the steering wheel and worked his head back and forth to stretch his neck.

“You sure you don’t want me to drive?” she asked as she stared balefully at him from across the seat.

“Nah, I’m—”

The world went crazy around him. A sickening crunch. A jolt so severe that his hands left the steering wheel as his body backlashed. He vaguely registered that they’d been hit. Broadside. Before he could react, regain control of the steering wheel as they careened sideways, they were hit again.

Glass shattered and sparkled in his vision like rain. They rolled and then rolled again. The SUV came to a shuddering stop and bounced hard as it righted itself. They had spun completely around and were angled in the ditch with the driver’s side mashed against the ground.

Katie moved slowly, reaching groggily for her seatbelt.

“No,” Ian said harshly. “Stay where you are.”

Before she could respond, her door was wrenched violently open. A large man loomed over her. He glanced briefly down at Ian, but apparently discounted him as a threat. He slashed at Katie’s seatbelt with a knife and then grabbed a handful of her hair. She cried out in pain when he yanked her from the truck.

A pulse of adrenaline rocketed through Ian’s system, making him forget about his possible injuries or the pain that ricocheted through his head just moment ago.

He had to get to Katie.

He tried to move his legs and swore when he realized the dash was caved in around him. He wiggled his toes and was relieved that he didn’t seem to suffer any pain or loss of motion, but he couldn’t get free.

Goddamn it.

He twisted and tried to maneuver his upper body along the seat to get a different angle with his legs, but they didn’t budge.

A low snarl simmered through his throat. Feral. Animalistic. His breaths came in short bursts. Pants. His vision blurred, and pain began deep in his bones as they started reshaping.

For once he didn’t fight. He didn’t concern himself with what might be because if he didn’t make it to Katie, they’d kill her anyway. She’d have a better chance against the cat.

So he let go and surrendered to the intoxicating power surging through his veins. Warm and heady. The pain diminished as soon as he relinquished control.

“Braden!” he cried out with the last vestiges of humanity.

Where a moment before a man had lain trapped, a great cat arose and scented the air. Another growl rippled from his throat as he leaped from the vehicle.

Chapter Fifteen

Though every part of Katie shrieked in outrage, she forced herself to go limp until she could mentally examine herself for injuries. Her feet hit the ground with a resounding thump as one of Ricardo’s henchmen yanked her out of the vehicle. He obviously wasn’t concerned over potential injuries, which just told her she was going to die at Ricardo’s hands shortly.