Walker (Bowen Boys, #1)(45)

He didn’t much care for them talking about his brother’s mate that way. He didn’t like her either, but no one messed with his family. He started to raise his head when he smelled cat. Panther.

The door opened with a bang and there she stood as if brought to life simply by talking about her. Khan didn’t want to be impressed by her, but she looked like she could kick ass and still want to know where to go for dinner. She looked over at him and winked. He nearly looked behind him to see who she was looking at.

“Hello, honey. Are you all right?”

Khan nodded, not sure what else to do when she asked.

“Good. These nice men are going to let you go and then we—”

“I don’t think so. You stay away from him.”

Khan hadn’t realized that she’d been moving toward him until the fatter man had stopped her.

“And he isn’t going anywhere until you’re right where we want you.”

At first, Khan tried to ignore the touch of his mind. He was too busy trying to figure out how to save the dumbass woman in front of him and get them both out alive. When he realized it was Walker, he snarled at him to leave him the f*ck alone.

“She’s trying to help you, you jackass. Now listen to me.”

Khan told his brother she was going to get them killed when Walker laughed.

“Not likely. She wants to know if you have anything wrapped around your ankles or feet. She can’t see them.”

“Plastic strips like at my wrists. I can’t shift.” He waited for Walker to say something like he was coming to get him when he spoke again.

“She said when she comes toward you not to snarl at her, but to act like you’re me. Those men think that they have her lover and they told her that they’re going to trade you for her.”

“She’s not thinking she can take these two on, is she? She doesn’t even have a gun on her, and they have…” He counted. “They have five guns on them that I can see.”

“You may not like her, but she’s the only hope you have of coming out alive. And when she helps you, she said not to move until she tells you to. She said to tell you that she doesn’t have time to make sure you’re not killed while she’s taking care of the bad guys.” Walker laughed. “Actually, she said humans, but I didn’t want to piss you off.”

He was pissed. Pissed to think that she of all people thought she could save him. When she started toward him again, he saw her body move and knew that she wasn’t armed at all. She leaned to him and her mouth was a breath away. “Don’t move.” Her hand moved along his wrist and he felt the pressure of the plastic let go. Then she slipped something into his freed hand. When she moved her mouth close to his, she whispered again. “For you.”

The kiss was brief and he felt her slip something into his mouth. He didn’t know what it was, but it had a metallic taste. Khan put it in his cheek and waited. When she stopped in front of him, he looked down at the small knife under his hand.

She’d cut his tie and had given him a way of getting free. When she didn’t move but continued to talk to the idiots in front of them, he reached over and cut the other strip. He wasn’t sure how to cut the ones at his ankles when she moved from out in front of him.

“Caitlynne said to tell you to not move. She said if you do, you could get both of you killed.” His brother sounded terrified. He didn’t blame him; so was he.

“Where are you and when are you coming in to save us? She can’t possibly think that she can do this on her own.”

Walker laughed. “She does and she will. We’re close, but not inside the building. She doesn’t know how to tell if someone is human or not. I can’t tell from here.”

Khan felt the hair on his arms dance and his cat snarl at him when the men aimed their guns at her. “They’re going to kill her. I have to do something.”

“No.” His brother wasn’t there; he couldn’t see the danger she was in. “Khan, you’ll get her killed.”

He watched them speaking and reached down and cut the strips from his ankles. When they were cut, he put his hands back on the armrests and waited. When Lynne turned to look at him, one of the men raised their weapons and pointed it at her. Khan moved just as she did.

Khan hit the floor when Lynne’s body slammed against his. He looked at the two men and saw that one was leaning against the wall with blood trickling from his forehead and the other man was lying down as well. Neither of them moved when he dumped Lynne off him.

“What the f*ck were you doing? I told you to stay still.”

He walked over to the two men and checked their pulse as Lynne continued to berate him.

“You f*cking bastard, you were told I had this under control.”

He turned to look at her and saw she had been shot. “Christ. What the hell happened?”

“What the f*ck does it look liked happened? I had to move so you wouldn’t get your dumb ass killed. You couldn’t die.” He looked at the two dead men and back at her as she loaded another clip into her gun. “They were going to kill you when you moved and I promised your mom I’d bring you back.”

The blood was pouring from her chest. Her abdomen too. She’d leapt in front of him, he remembered, and not behind him like he’d screamed at her to do. The one in her chest would have caught him in the heart had she not—