Jinx had his gun aimed at Cyrus, but he was also glancing around the fort, no doubt searching for the shooter’s position.
“Ali!” Cyrus sat up, but he’d dragged himself partially into the mouth of that tunnel once again. It gives him cover. The shooter might not be able to hit him from that angle. “Ali, you need to get away from him!” Cyrus urged her, seemingly desperate.
Ali had her weapon trained on him. “Are you armed, Cy?”
“I’m shot! That’s what I am! Because your new boyfriend over there set us both up! And if you don’t listen to me—you and I will be dead soon!”
What?
“I’m here to protect Ali,” Jinx snapped. “Not hurt her. You’re the freak who has been stalking her. You hired Louis Grimshaw to take me out because I was in your way.”
“Who the hell is Louis Grimshaw?” Cyrus wanted to know.
He sounded genuinely confused. But the confusion was probably a lie.
A bullet sank into the stone near Cyrus’s head.
“Dammit, Ali! Get your ass in this tunnel! You’re in his range!” Cyrus scuttled back, still holding his shoulder. “I told you that I was in danger! You should have believed me!”
Wait…he was in danger?
She remembered the message he’d sent…
In danger. Meet me now.
She’d thought that Cy meant she was in danger. But he’d been talking about himself?
“He’s been hunting me for over a year!” Cy was inside the tunnel. “You led him right to me! I came down here to help you, I thought I could count on you—but you led him to me!”
She inched forward, then scooped up the jamming device he’d dropped. She hit the button and immediately demanded, “War, Odin? Who is shooting?”
“Not me,” War’s grim response came over the comm.
“Fucking take cover!” From Odin.
“Landon?” Ali whispered.
Nothing.
And—
Gunfire.
But it missed her because Jinx had grabbed her and hurtled them both into the mouth of the tunnel.
Chapter Nineteen
“Get away from her, asshole!”
Jinx raised his head. His body shielded Ali’s, and he had his gun aimed toward the snarling voice.
Cyrus.
“I don’t think so,” Jinx replied, quiet clearly. “But, Ali, how about you reach into my back pocket and pull out the cuffs there so we can make sure this prick is no threat to either of us—”
“I would never be a threat to Ali!”
“The comm has gone out again,” Ali said, voice tight. “I don’t hear War and Odin any longer.”
He’d noticed the same thing.
“Of course, the links have gone out!” Cyrus exclaimed. “Landon took them offline as soon as he realized that he was about to be screwed! His second shot missed me, I’m still living, and I can tell you about all the crap he’s done!”
They were too close to the tunnel’s entrance, and Jinx didn’t know where the damn thing exited. He didn’t have a light on, and Ali’s light had fallen to the ground.
“Ali, get away from that guy!” Cyrus’s voice notched even higher. “I told you, he’s using you! He’s working with Landon!”
Jinx rose to his feet. He pulled Ali to his side. She’d grabbed the cuffs, but she didn’t move toward Cyrus.
“What is he talking about?” she asked Jinx.
Jinx swallowed. “Nothing, sweets. We just need to get the cuffs on him and—”
“Jinx is working with Landon! They had this whole deal in place—Jinx was going to get close to you. Going to do anything he had to do in order to get close—and then he was supposed to use you to draw me out.” The ragged sound of Cyrus’s breathing seemed to fill the air. “You drew me out, all right. Now Jinx gets his prize—his brother gets to stay a free man.”
How the hell did Cyrus know all this? Jinx didn’t dare risk a glance at Ali. He was afraid Cyrus would pull a weapon and attack at any moment.
“Why do you think the raid at Ramsey’s place was called off?” Cyrus pushed.
“How do you know about that?” Ali edged a little closer to him.
“Because I was there! I was trying to get to you! You are trusting the wrong people, and I wanted to help you!”
“Bullshit,” Jinx called. He pulled the cuffs from Ali’s hand. “Keep your gun on him.” He didn’t want Ali getting closer to this jerk. He rushed toward Cyrus. Spun him around so the guy had to face the wall.
Jinx put his gun to the back of Cyrus’s head.
“Ali!” Cyrus screamed her name, and the sound echoed in the tunnel. “I’m telling you the truth! Jinx is using you so he can help his brother! Don’t let him kill me—I’m not the villain! You know me, Ali, you know—”
Jinx lowered his weapon and shoved it into the holster under his arm. He needed both hands free while he cuffed this dumbass. “She knows me, too,” he snapped. He grabbed Cyrus’s hand, and the guy bellowed in agony as Jinx wrenched it—and his shoulder—back.
Oh, yeah, you’re shot, right, buddy? Tough shit.
Jinx clamped the cuffs around Cyrus and patted him down quickly to look for weapons but…
There were no weapons on him. Not a single one.
“You came unarmed?” Jinx asked.
“I came for Ali! I would never hurt her—I’m not you!”
“Yeah, asshole, look, you’ve got it all wrong.” Not that he was going to explain himself to this jerk. But I have to explain to Ali. I can’t have her buying this load of bull. The explanations would come after they were out of that tunnel and safe. After they made sure the shooter was handled. “Ali—” He looked back.
He could see her because his eyes had adjusted to the darkness. She was standing just a few feet away. She still had her weapon up.
“Is he lying?” Ali asked, voice cracking.
Shit. “Ali, we have a lot going on right now.”
“Are you using me, Jinx?”
“Fuck, Ali, I—”
“Of course, he is,” Landon’s voice boomed out. “What did you expect?”
Jinx whirled toward the depths of the tunnel, but it was too late. Gunfire exploded and he took the hit in the chest. It slammed hard into him, and Jinx flew back into the air before he crashed down on the rough, stone floor of the fort.
“Jinx!” Ali shouted.
Landon fired again.
“Ali!” Jinx’s roar. Jinx shoved upward and ignored the burning in his chest. The bullet hadn’t hit him—he’d taken the liberty of donning a bulletproof vest beneath the tactical jacket that he wore. A vest that Landon hadn’t realized he was wearing.
Or you would have aimed for my head, wouldn’t you, you sonofabitch?
Ali hadn’t been hit. Cy had been shot again. He’d heaved his body in front of her. Jinx could just make out their forms. Cy was facing Ali, half on top of Ali and blocking her as she tried to raise her arm and shoot at Landon. Cy’s weight seemed to be dragging her down.
“Always planned to take you both out,” Landon snarled. “What better time than—”