Page 7 of Shadow of Death
I sighed. “I don’t want to have to kill you all. Not because I think you’re a stellar example of humanity but because there just aren’t that many people left in the world, and I’m hoping a couple of you might be redeemable,” I said, scanning the numbers in the woods. “So this is what I’m going to offer you: walk away now, and you all get to live. Get aggressive, and I’ll have to kill one of you as an example. If you still don’t heed my warning, I’ll kill three in the next round.”
There was a brief moment of silence. Then the leader snorted, taking a step closer. He looked me up and down. “I’m not leaving here unless it’s with all your shit and every woman here, especially you. I bet you’re a great fuck. I like my women feisty.”
A low growl rumbled from behind me. I wasn’t sure whether it was from Rastin or Buddie. Might’ve been both.
I didn’t need them to defend my honor, and I certainly wasn’t interested in letting this situation get any messier than it needed to be. I had plans tonight—a book I wanted to read, plus that pesky little promise to Kicks I wouldn’t do anything stupid while he was gone.
“This your friend?” I asked, gesturing to Mr. Lesser. The man in question shifted uncomfortably under my gaze, clearly confused by the shift in conversation.
“Yes. He’s myfriend,” the leader said, seeming to find some humor in my choice of names.
As much as I disliked this guy, I wasn’t crazy about his number two either. This was going to be a tough one.
“Which one of you has killed more people?” I asked.
The leader smiled, showing off a missing front tooth. “I have.”
Maybe not so tough after all. “Sorry, but I did say this was coming.”
With a flick of my wrist, the leader collapsed to the ground, turning that horrible gray color that happened to my victims. His friend gasped, staring at the ground as if trying to figure out what had happened.
“I killed your friend. He’s dead, but feel free to confirm it.” I waved a hand toward the body.
A flurry of shots were fired, but nothing touched me. I glanced back at Rastin and Buddie.
Rastin shook his head.
Buddie said, “Nope. Didn’t hit me either.”
“What the hellareyou people?” Mr. Lesser asked.
“All you need to know isthatwas your warning,” I said, pointing to his now-deceased gray leader. “Next wave of my hand, I take three. After that, six. Have you had enough yet?”
The blood drained from his face. It didn’t take long for the panic to set in. He ran. They all did, even giving up their hidingspots in order to get out of here faster. They went crashing through the trees and branches in a frantic scramble to escape.
“Feel free to gossip with your friends about this!” I yelled at their backs.
I turned, and Rastin threw up his hands. “Okay,fine. She’s scarier, and we’re her bitch boys. I’m man enough to live with it.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, heading back toward the path.
Chapter Four
I satup waiting in the living room, knowing Kicks would be coming soon. He’d asked me for one thing before he left: don’t do anything stupid or rash while he was gone. In my opinion, I hadn’t done either of those things. That wasn’t how he’d view scaring off those people with only Buddie and Rastin at my back. As soon as he arrived, he’d hear, and then there would be no stopping him from coming here.
I’d maneuvered it so Charlie was having a sleepover at his friend’s house. My childhood had been filled with uncertainty, and now so had his. I wasn’t going to add any more unease or fighting if I could help it. And itwasgoing to be another fight. As soon as Kicks started, I’d be jumping into the ring with both feet. This change in me, it wasn’t just affecting my movements and sharpening my senses—it was making me more volatile. Where once I could keep my calm, now I seemed to have a hair trigger, and Kicks was one of the people who made my trigger finger the jumpiest.
I heard the bike first and then spotted him through the window, talking to Evangeline across the way. He turned his gaze toward the cabin, as if he were looking right at me, our eyeslocking in a battle of wills. The distance did nothing to dim the flame.
He walked through the door minutes later. His movements were stiff, barely restrained power as he shut the door almost too quietly. Every movement was tightly leashed as he walked across the room and leaned an arm on the mantel. It was like he had to force air into his chest before letting out a slow breath.
The moreotherI became, the more I saw things about him that I hadn’t noticed when I’d been simply human. He wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill shifter. There was something more there. There was a sharpness to his movements that I hadn’t seen before, because my own vision hadn’t been adept enough to notice the differences. Was he just a superior shifter, born to be special, or was there more to it? Was that why he led so easily? Did everyone sense it on some level?
“Evangeline told me what happened,” he said.
I nodded, not moving my gaze off him. I’d never feared Kicks, but I’d always been slightly in awe of him. Now, seeing him with these new senses, I could barely smother the excitement I felt in his presence. Whatever was changing in me thrilled to be near him. His presence alone charged the air.
Had it been the recent killing that was pushing me over the edge? Being so close to death that made me thrill to life more? Was it the darkness in me clawing to be free? Or that I hadn’t stopped thinking of touching him again since the last time we’d touched?