Page 67 of Midnight Hunt
“I won’t—” he started, then hissed out a curse when I sank my claws into his flesh. I tensed when he tensed, his added pain almost more than I could bear. But I had to do this for him.Neededto. Because if even one more person caused him pain right now, I was going to lose it.
“It’s out. It’s out,” I said a few moments later, quickly dropping the bullet onto the ground as it started to eat at my own flesh.
A great sigh shuddered from Griff. “Much better. I think there’s one or two more, though.”
“More like six,” Jagger muttered above me. I glanced up to see that he’d thrown the unconscious one-armed hunter over his shoulder, fireman style. “Sure you don’t want me or Kolton to—”
“No,” I interrupted him, my tone brooking no argument. He lifted an eyebrow at me but didn’t argue. Resuming my work, I focused on the bullet in Griff’s side next. By the time I pulled the final bullet out, I was breathing almost as heavily as Griff.
The second the bullet hit the ground, Griff turned and drew me into his arms. A relieved whimper left me, and I fiercely hugged him back.
“They didn’t separate us. We’re safe now,” he murmured against my hair, soaking up my comfort as I soaked up his. A sharp cracking noise from the house drew our attention, and we both turned our heads just as the second story fell, crushing the floor below it with a loudboom.
“Poor house,” I sighed, grateful that we weren’t still in it.
“Well, that brings back memories,” Jagger murmured as we all watched it slowly burn to ash.
“How did you guys find us?” I asked, resting my head on Griff’s shoulder.
“When I couldn’t reach either of you or Randy, I tracked the jet and found out you’d left early,” Kolton answered. “But when it didn’t arrive, I alerted the pack to begin a ground search. A few hours ago, Buck and several other pack males were scouring the area just south of Lake Placid when they came across a silver-coated trap with your scents on it. Jagger and I followed your trail from there in wolf form. I’m assuming the males we just killed had something to do with the plane crash?”
“Yeah,” I replied, then quietly added, “Randy didn’t make it.”
Kolton sighed. “I know. Another pack member found him earlier today. He was a great pilot and family friend. Buck went to collect his body, but we’ll have to tell his family what happened. Well, some of it anyway.”
“I’ll do it,” I offered.
Kolton glanced down at me. “Vi, you’ve been through enough already.”
“Please, Kolton. Let me do it. I . . . I feel responsible.”
He frowned, but it was Griff who said, “You’re not to blame for this, Vi. You couldn’t have known those bastards would orchestrate a plane crash just to get to you.”
When I didn’t respond, Kolton’s frown deepened. Not ready for a lecture, I forced myself to leave Griff’s warm embrace and pushed to my feet. “We should get going in case someone saw the fire and called the police. There are three other bodies we need to take care of before they arrive.”
“Wait, where’s the fifth?” Griff asked, turning his head to look around.
Wincing, I muttered, “He got away.”
Griff swore under his breath.
“At least we have him,” Jagger said, jerking a thumb at the unconscious male over his shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll sing like a bluebird after a few hours of torture.”
I snorted and corrected, “Like a canary.”
He shrugged. “Whatever. After what he put you two through, he’ll sing however I want him to sing.”
At the menacing tone to his voice, I didn’t doubt him for a second.
“We’ll clean up the area and stash the bodies in the woods; then I’ll go and get the truck,” Kolton said, stepping toward the two males he and Jagger had killed. I moved to help him, but he waved me away. “Griff still needs you. Jagger and I will take care of the cleanup and bodies.”
I turned to Griff again, and sure enough, he was struggling to stand. I quickly moved to help him, slipping beneath one of his arms so I could bear some of his weight.
“Good thing I’m not full of myself, or I probably wouldn’t let you help me,” he teased.
Instead of elbowing him like I normally would, I just rolled my eyes. “Be a good boy, or I’ll carry you like a baby instead.”
He chuckled, then quietly groaned, “I might actually need to be carried like a baby.”
