“What exactly are Reapers?” she asked.
He didn’t know how to tell her that, either.
They were almost upon the alley. His nerves scraped beneath his skin, but with a warning. Palming his silver knife, he drew his revolver. The attack was imminent. He just didn’t know from where. A glance back showed Reese equally ready. But there was no sign of the Cameron men. The derringer report might not have been loud enough to carry. Or worse, they might’ve put the shot down to the revelry.
“This would have been my first dance with a beau,” Addy whispered.
He didn’t know what else to say but, “I’m sorry.”
He could see her hand working inside the pocket of her skirt. Her worry stone.
Rub on me instead.
Another mistake. “I’ll get you through this.”
He blinked as her lips drew back in what, in a Reaper, would have been a snarl. “They have no right to ruin my evening.”
“No.”
Reese tapped his shoulder and pointed ahead to a balcony that hung over the street.
Isaiah nodded. He’d already spotted the Reaper crouched there, a darker shadow within the shadows. Death waiting. He looked across the street. More shadows. More death. He didn’t have to look over his shoulder to know what was behind him. These Reapers hunted in packs, with a pack’s skill at isolating its prey.
Tapping his thigh with his hand to get Reese’s attention, he told Reese how many and where. Reese dropped back and stepped out, separating himself from them.
“Isaiah?” Addy whispered.
He held his finger to his lips. She bit her lips, coming to a stop when he did, just short of the alley. Her hands fluttered against his back in silent inquiry.
“I need a gun.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Reese stepped close again and handed her one of his revolvers. “Aim for the heart or it won’t be worth it.”
Isaiah thought the gun looked ugly in her hand, which was so much more suited to bringing pleasure. At his frown, she explained, “I don’t want to be a target.”
Reese jerked his chin in the direction of the street. “Too late for that.”
While he’d been distracted, the Reapers had been getting into position. Their focus was on Addy. Their eyes burned red in the dark. Isaiah scented Addy’s fear. Reese’s anger. The wolves’ lust. Son of a bitch! The Reapers didn’t have her marked for death. They wanted her for sport. He’d never let that happen.
He caught Reese’s eye. The time for softness was over. “No matter what, don’t let them have her.”
Addy gasped, Reese swore, but he nodded. Addy looked at the gun, at the giant wolves slowly staking closer.
“Those are Reapers?”
He couldn’t hide it anymore. “Yes.”
“But you’re—”
“Yes.”
She shook her head and stared at him, unable to absorb what he’d just told her.
“Goddamn it, Addy, this isn’t the time to fall apart.”
Her “I’m not” was shaky.
Son of a bitch, he should never have given in to the beast. Never touched her. He should have kept her safe. When Addy met his gaze, however, it wasn’t fear Isaiah saw in her eyes, but determination.
“I’ll hold one bullet back.”
With which to kill herself.
Hooking his fingers on the back of her neck, Isaiah pulled her close, pressing a hard, hot kiss on her trembling lips.
“It won’t come to that. I promise you.”
He’d deliver the killing blow himself before he’d put that burden on her soul. The smile she forced broke his heart.
She touched the spot on her shoulder. “I know.”
Guilt flayed him anew. With all he’d done to her, she still believed in him.
Because she can’t understand, the voice inside whispered.
And she never would. For as long as he drew breath, she wouldn’t know the truth of the man she cared for.
Isaiah held her for a second more, breathing in her scent, imprinting it in his memory. “Thank you.”
For giving him peace. For giving him normalcy. For giving him her heart.
He took a step back. Before she could realize what he intended to do, he grabbed her around the waist and bolted across the alley. Her scream trailed behind him. The revolver thumped against his side. He only had time to open the shed door and toss her in before the Reapers were upon him.
Claws dug into his back and legs, raking with lethal efficiency, shredding his skin. His beast howled a challenge, and raged forward, claiming sinew and muscle for itself, changing him from man to animal in the blink of an eye. Rearing backward, he slammed the Reaper back against the wall with enough force to break through. They fell into the livery. Horses neighed and stomped their feet. The Reaper lost his hold. In the split second he fought to regain it, Isaiah ripped out his heart. From the street there came the sound of more snarls, Reese’s curse, which sounded more like challenge than surrender, and the faint melody of a waltz.
“Gave you a bit of indigestion, did I?”
Isaiah leapt through the opening to see Reese standing in the street, surrounded by Reapers, including one writhing on the ground in front of him, vomiting profusely. Blood poured from its eyes and nose.
The other wolves backed off a step when Reese stepped forward, holding up a bottle. “Anyone else want a taste? “He took another step into the street. The Reapers followed. Reese smiled as he lured the wolves away from the shed. Away from Addy.
Isaiah rushed up silently behind the Reapers, driving them toward Reese, away from Addy. He went for the weakest, the one thrown by the other wolf’s spasms. A snap of his jaws at the base of the wolf ’s skull severed its head. Isaiah’s beast howled its victory, an alpha in its glory, before plunging through the ring of wolves to take a position at Reese’s back. Lifting his head, he issued an age-old challenge to the bravest.
“You’ve got blood on your mouth,” Reese observed.
Isaiah could only rumble a warning. His beast was unpredictable. Even around friends.
“Just thought I’d point out that Addy’s not going to find that attractive.”
Addy wasn’t going to find anything attractive about him after this. Isaiah knew that, but the beast didn’t, and they couldn’t afford anything that would distract the beast from the battle.
Reese feinted forward with a lunge toward a wolf that had got too close. The wolf stepped back but not as far as before. “Well, one thing is for sure, you’re a big son of a bitch, whatever form you take.”
Yes he was. And he was a Guardian, too. A Reaper with special powers and above-normal strength among beings who were already above normal. And if he was alone, he could probably take them all, but he wasn’t alone. He had Addy. It changed the dynamics of everything.
A wolf lunged at Reese. He tossed the bottle on the ground. Glass shattered. Liquid sprayed. The wolf dropped, its body seizing in a grotesque spasm. The Reapers in front jumped back, but the ones behind closed in, cutting Reese and Isaiah off from the shed.
Fuck that. Isaiah spun. Reese was right beside him, another bottle in his hand. It hit the ground. The Reapers sprang back before it exploded, creating a hole that Isaiah leapt through. Despite holding his breath, the fumes burned his eyes. Behind him, Reese swore. Ahead, there was the sound of cracking wood, Addy’s screams, and a single gunshot.
Addy!
16
HE THREW OPEN THE DOOR. BLOOD WAS EVERYWHERE. A small unstained section of Addy’s blue gown peeked out from beneath the body of a rapidly changing Reaper. More wolves were pouring through the back entrance of the shed, stopped by their own mass. Behind him Reese called, “You got her?” In his mind he said, “Yes,” but it came out a rough bark. He had to get control. He couldn’t take her out like this. The wolf was hampered by his form. He needed hands. He needed feet. He needed Addy.
Closing his eyes, he did something he hadn’t done in
ages. If ever. He prayed to whoever or whatever was out there, ruling this hell.
Give me the power to change. Please.
It started slowly, but built in momentum as he nuzzled Addy’s limp hand with his nose, breathing her scent, which was tainted with the foulness of blood and fear and gunpowder. Something hit his side as he covered her body with his. He held his ground. He took another blow on his back. He didn’t move, focusing on his human form, remembering how it had been to be in Addy’s arms. Wild. Whole. Human. For Addy he needed to be Isaiah. There was no other option.
Setting his jaw, Isaiah braced his shoulders as blow after blow rained down on him. It will happen, he told his beast, fear driving conviction. Fear for the woman they both loved. And then, between one blow and the next, it did. Half-morphed, with the jaws of the wolf and the hands of a man, he grabbed the gun from the floor. It wasn’t as smooth as it would have been had he been fully changed, but it was enough. He pulled the trigger. Heart shots each. One. Two. Three. Four. The Reapers went down. Three more stood outside the door. A glance over his shoulder showed Reese going down under the Reapers out there.
There was only one way out and that was forward through the three that remained in the building with him. Hauling Addy up, he threw her over his shoulder. Her blood soaked his skin.
I’ll hold one bullet back.
Guilt flayed his conscience until he remembered the dead Reaper on top of her. She hadn’t held it back. She’d used it immediately. She’d fought back. He should have known she’d fight back. She was a Cameron. They were fighters to the last. So was he.
His beast howled a challenge. The Reapers hesitated and then closed in. Confident in their superior numbers. Reese backed through the door, pistols firing in a rapid burst.
“You know we’re fucked,” he called over his shoulder as he dropped one gun and palmed a second.
“Not yet.” It couldn’t be yet. It wouldn’t be. Isaiah grabbed the gun from the other man before pushing Addy into his arms. He pointed toward the three Reapers, the lesser of the two evils.
“Run.”
Reese didn’t make it two steps before they had him, but Isaiah was on them, fighting with every skill he possessed, tapping his beast for the primitive drive to succeed beyond anything, ignoring the pain, ignoring the odds, fighting for Addy. He didn’t need to win. No, he just needed to buy Reese enough time to get Addy free. Blood dripped into his eyes, filled his nostrils, spilled onto the ground. The blows kept coming and he kept fighting, buying Reese and Addy’s freedom one inch at a time, striving to make that split-second opening they’d need to escape.
A new sound broke over the fray. A hoarse war cry pierced the snarls and grunts. The first was joined by another. And another. A wild Celtic cry rose above it all.
“Cole,” Reese groaned, holding tightly to Addy and dropping to his knees, his breath soughing in and out of his lungs.
Isaiah threw back his head and howled an answer. A challenge to his enemies. A call to battle for his allies. A Reaper leapt onto his back. He staggered under the weight. Something hit the wolf on his back, spinning them both around before it slid off. Free of the wolf, Isaiah was able to grab the one in front, taking him by surprise. A simple twist of his head and his neck broke. A snap of Isaiah’s jaws and his throat was ripped out.
Isaiah dropped the Reaper and looked around. The Camerons were making a dent. Wiping the blood from his eyes, he saw Cole caught between two Reapers. He should have been dead but he wasn’t. Any other human would have been, but Cole’s reflexes were lightning quick. Those reflexes, combined with his smaller form, gave him an edge. He fought like a Reaper in the body of a man. He fought for the same reason Isaiah did. This battle, they wouldn’t lose. Another Reaper came barreling up. Isaiah turned and blocked the blow. Shit. How many were there? Why were they here?
The next time Isaiah turned, there were no more enemies to fight, just bodies on the ground, some human, some in the process of changing back to human. Everywhere was the scent of blood. Cole threw his head back and released that warrior cry. Isaiah’s wolf answered, releasing his own frustration. It was crazy. It was wild. It was what it was. To the victor went the spoils. And the Camerons and Isaiah had won this battle.
Isaiah headed for Addy and Reese. So did Cole. The beast snarled a warning, but Cole got to her side first, taking her hand as Reese laid her on the ground. The anguish on Cole’s face as he knelt by her side told Isaiah all he needed to know. Cole brought the gun up, and centered it on Isaiah. This time the beast’s howl was of pain.
Reese shook his head. “No. No.”
Isaiah stepped forward, ignoring his wavering vision, ignoring the gun leveled at him.
Cole cocked the gun. “You son of a bitch, you did this to her.”
Isaiah didn’t argue. Even if he was capable of coherent speech, there was no point in arguing. But if Cole thought he was going to keep her from him, he had another think coming. And if Addy was dead already, then what did it matter if Cole pulled the trigger? Her head rolled to the side. Tears streaked the blood on Cole’s face, incongruous against the usual sternness of his expression. The barrel didn’t waver from Isaiah’s chest. In the background drifted music from the dance. Lively. Happy. Hopeful. And the crickets began to chirp.
“They were going to the dance, Cole,” Reese said. “He didn’t do anything.”
“They came because of him.”
Reese shook his head. “They came for Addy.”
Cole spat the blood out of his mouth. “They didn’t even know she existed.”
Reese wiped his sleeve across his eyes. “Are you sure the reason she was taken the first time had nothing to do with the attack tonight? How do you know this isn’t a part of that?”
“Because there weren’t any Reapers there last time.”
Isaiah staggered a step forward, blood loss taking its toll. He grunted, “No.” It sounded incomprehensible to his ears, but Reese understood.
“There was a Reaper, wasn’t there?”
Isaiah nodded, keeping his gaze locked on Addy, forcing back unconsciousness through sheer force of will.
“What the hell are you doing talking to this fucking monster?”
“Watch it, Cole. This one’s my friend.”
“Since when?”
“Look at him. He gave his goddamn life for Addy. And maybe you’ve forgotten who we are, but I’m a Cameron, and I know where my loyalty belongs.”
Cole didn’t lower the weapon. “If he takes one more step, I’m killing him.”
Isaiah took another step, catching himself on the wall. Addy shouldn’t be lying in the dirt. She hated dirt.
“I’m warning you, nothing would make me happier than pulling this trigger.”
Isaiah understood that. He just didn’t care. He just wanted Addy, with her quirky ways and big heart and angel-soft hair. He had to touch her one more time. Just once more. On the next step, he staggered and fell to his knees.
“Jesus Christ, Cole, can’t you see he loves her.”
“The love of a monster.”
“The love of a man,” Reese countered.
The argument swirled around the perimeter of Isaiah’s mind, significant but somehow not. He coughed, blood spattered his hand. Shit. He was hurt.
“That’s not a man.”
No. He was more. Or was it less? He couldn’t remember what They’d made him.
“What do you know, Cole? You’re so blinded by your guilt, you can’t see what’s real.”
“I know an abomination when I see one.”
Yes, Isaiah thought, I am an abomination. Only an abomination would bring this down on Addy. Only an abomination would have ignored the rules. Only an abomination would’ve been so weak.
Reese put his fingers to Addy’s neck. With a curse, he reached for the upper left pocket of his jacket. His hands shook as he pulled out a small hand mirror.
“What the hell do you keep in that coat?”
“Whatever I need.
” No one, including Isaiah, breathed as he slipped the mirror under Addy’s nose. Reese swore and dropped his head.
No!
“She’s still with us, Isaiah. Barely, but she’s hanging on.”
Alive. Isaiah closed his eyes as a wave of blackness rode the relief. Addy was alive. It wasn’t too late.
“Remind me never again to tease you about that coat of many pockets,” Cole drawled.
Reese opened what was left of Addy’s dress. The wounds were extensive, gruesome. Mortal.
“She didn’t shoot herself.”
Isaiah could have told them that. Addy was a fighter.
“Never thought she would.” Cole reached out with his free hand and touched a clean spot on Addy’s cheek. “Addy’s not the type to give up.”
“Damn it, Cole, sometime I’m going to have to introduce you to Addy.”
“Let’s get her home.”
“No.” Reese shook his head. “She’ll never make it.”
Yes, she would. She’d make it if he had to carry her the whole way. Isaiah made it halfway to his feet before dropping back to his knee.
“Neither will he.”
The beast growled. The man vowed, I’ll make it.
“We can’t leave her here, lying in the dirt among all this.” The sweep of Cole’s arm blurred out of focus. Isaiah swallowed back his gorge as the world spun.
“This mess is going to be hard enough to explain to people,” Cole continued.
“I don’t give a shit about explanations.”
Neither did he.
“But being found amidst a bunch of dead, naked men isn’t a tale she’ll want following her.”
No, she wouldn’t. Isaiah forced himself to his feet. Addy was alive. Her future had to be protected. He stumbled sideways, not forward. Catching himself on the wall, he gritted his teeth and willed the dizziness away. As he stood there, the hairs on the back of his neck rose. Holding perfectly still, he listened. The music still played but crickets were silent.
Reaper.
He shouted it in his mind, but the warning never made it past his lips.
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