“You’re not getting out of here alive, little girl,” he whispered coldly.
“And neither will you, Master of Shadows. Do you want that pristine record to remain so? You’ll lower your gun, allow me to deliver my message, and we’ll all walk out of here in one piece. If my heart slows or stops, you’re all coming with me to the afterlife, Knight.”
The tic in his jaw only made the prick hotter. His darkly intense eyes slowly lowered to my mouth before lifting to hold my stare. The sound of boots moving over the floor echoed through the now empty bar, and my pulse rocketed as I felt a ripple of power slithering through it.
“Kieran, I’m calling in my debt. Do not kill her,” Enzo’s voice was death incarnate. Kieran’s lips tipped into a wicked smile. But there wasn’t anything pleasant about it.
That intensely visceral stare slipped from me to where the footsteps had paused, seeing the situation unfolding. Slowly and methodically, Kieran lowered his gun, still looking at Enzo, before glancing back at me. The bastard looked pleased about something, and that sent warning bells ringing in my mind.
Turning my attention to Axton, I grinned smugly. “If you ever order a hit on my people or me again, I will fucking end you. I don’t care if I go out five seconds after you. Do you understand me? You’ll finally get that date you keep asking for, but we’ll be having it in the afterlife. Look me in the eye and tell me you comprehend what I am saying. I won’t give you another warning. The next time you do something like this, you won’t see me coming. It won’t matter who the fuck is guarding your back, either. No one, and I mean fucking no one, threatens my team or me,” I snarled, pushing the gun against his chin.
“I get it, Xari,” he whispered, anger pulsing through him.
“Good.” I stepped back, lowering my guns and placing them in their holsters.
I braced for impact, but it never came. Instead, I turned on my heel to discover Rhys, Cole, and the twins, Ezekiel and Enzo, standing behind me, loaded to the teeth with weapons. I didn’t stop for conversation because I sensed Kieran’s need to murder me. It pulsed through the room, slithering around me as I walked toward the gaping hole in the door.
A flash of light flew at me, and I smirked, using my abilities to stop it cold. It slammed into the decorative wall of water, slowly sliding through it, bursting into flames, and turning to ashes before it touched the floor. I rippled with raw, unfiltered power that begged to be released. The problem was, if I played with it too much, it would call to others like me, and then we’d all be damned.
Ducking through the rubble to exit the club, I ran at full speed to reach the Ferrari, getting in quickly and backing out of the parking lot. Hitting the side street, I heard Kieran’s car before I saw it in my rearview mirror. It figures that he would own the freaking Bugatti. I removed the bomb from my waist, placing it on the seat beside me as I entered the highway, pushing my foot on the gas pedal, and gunning it. I couldn’t outrun him; that much was a given. But I needed to get him on the interstate, further from civilization.
A mile out of town, another sleek sports car pulled out ahead of me, but it didn’t stop me or block the road. He must have had the same idea of getting far away from the city. Suddenly, the vehicle slowed, forcing me to do the same. The Bugatti didn’t let up, making my stomach roll and churn with unease.
The car in front sped up, and I followed suit. They were fucking playing with me. I glanced out the side window, slowly trying to gauge the distance to where I needed to be. Swerving into the other lane, I barely escaped a head-on collision by jerking the wheel, moving back into my lane.
I did the maneuver several more times, fighting the urge to vomit as I looked for a way out of being entombed in the sports car. The sound of horns blaring distracted me for a moment, pulling my focus from the mile markers. The driver ahead of me began decelerating, and I slammed the brakes when I noticed the marker number I’d been trying to reach. I jerked the wheel, turning off the highway, looking over my shoulder to see them pass by me.
Smiling, I peered in the rearview mirror as Kieran reversed his sports car to follow me. I grabbed the remote and began entering the gate code as I flew down the street. I’d never driven over ninety, but the engine opened up, and the countryside went by in a blur as I raced blindly down the winding road.
My father’s mansion came into view, and the sleek sports car following me sped up the moment Kieran saw it, too. I pushed the Ferrari to its limit, knowing that if he caught up, he would do whatever it took to keep me from entering the gates.
My blood thumped loudly in my ears, and everything around me seemed to stop as I reached for the one button that would ensure I made it to safety. The nitrous hit the engine, and I shot forward at a dangerous speed. Closing my eyes, I prayed hard that I wouldn’t get onto the property, only to end up exploding or something insane.
Kieran’s car came up beside me when I got close to the gate, forcing my attention on the driver as fear ripped through my mind. His glare promised pain, but the Ferrari jerked forward and entered the last leg of the nitrous before it began easing up.
“No. No. No, come on,” I pleaded, holding the shaking steering wheel as the Bugatti slowed, sensing that I was losing control.
I saw a police cruiser at the mansion, and it made my gut twist into knots. I could make out Jeffery’s form leaning against it as he witnessed the race to the estate. My body was trembling, and fear consumed my mind as I glanced in the rearview mirror. Kieran bumped the back of the Ferrari, causing it to swerve, threatening to send me rolling into the field in front of the property.
He backed off, allowing me to correct my vehicle as it crossed the threshold of the gates. Once I was inside, I pushed the control, engaging the tire spikes that would prevent Kieran’s car from entering. Then I exhaled in relief, slamming on the brakes and sliding sideways as I squealed to a stop.
I opened the door and rushed to close the fence, reaching it at the same time as Kieran, who stopped short, sensing the spell protecting the boundary of the land. He paused at the barrier, glaring at me through narrowed slits. I grabbed the gate, walking toward him with my body quaking from the power I felt rolling off him in angry waves.
“You think you can hide from me? I am everywhere, hunter. I am in the shadows and the one thing that will get to you. The spell protecting you has a time limit, doesn’t it? And the witch that placed it here, she isn’t inside. I can only hear two hearts beating right now. That means eventually you will be unprotected. No one fucks with me and walks away unscathed.”
I swallowed past the threat and gripped the iron bars of the fence, staring him down, un-phased that he could tell that I was terrified. Fear made creatures unpredictable. Add to it that I was a woman, and you had a bad combination.
“I don’t doubt that you will do as you say,” I admitted, shivering when he clasped my hands, holding them to the iron. It told me he wasn’t willing to touch it, and that my imagination hadn’t played tricks on me. A shiver ran up my spine as his hand caused electricity to rush through me. “But I just walked into a club you were protecting. I did it with you standing by and unable to stop me. Adding to the insult, I’m not even at my best, having been weakened by your girlfriend’s cheap shot with the arrow last night. You’re not as terrifying as I thought you’d be. In fact, I’m not afraid of you at all.” I was, of course, lying through my teeth, but I had his attention. “I did what I set out to do, and you looked the fool while I did it. Kill me if you want, but heed this, asshole. The moment you end me, you inherit my curse. You would never be able to hide your secrets or suppress your true nature from anyone or anything ever again.”