Tricked: A Dark Protectors Novella (8 page)

He glanced down at her hand, and hunger flared in his eyes. Not for pizza. He looked like he could eat her whole, and right then and there.

She swallowed and started to move way. His palm flattened over hers, he sat back down, and he held her in place. Heat from his thigh warmed her palm, and then he clenched his muscle.

Her breath caught.

Her jeans became too tight. As if the dinner wasn’t uncomfortable enough, now her skin was sensitized and needy. “This is all just too weird,” she muttered.

“Tell me about it,” Jared said from the corner of his mouth.

She coughed out another laugh.

“Eat,” Jared said, pushing her bread plate toward her. “I want you healthy.”

Why? So he could push her up against the wall again? Or so he could get a virus and then go on to mate the pale beauty staring at them? That twit couldn’t make him happy. Ronni bit into the breadstick, and the taste made her hum in pleasure.

Jared cleared his throat. “What do we know, Theo?”

Theo kicked back in his chair, his shaggy hair around his collar. “Saul Libscombe has popped back into circulation. He’s in South Africa running a refuge right now.”

“Is he a threat?” Chalton asked, sliding his arm over Olivia’s shoulder. “I did kill his brother the other day.”

“In self-defense,” Theo murmured.

Chalton nodded. “Yeah, but do you think he’ll come after us?”

“Not at the moment,” Theo said. “He could be preparing for an attack, but it doesn’t look like it to me.”

“He’s always been a decent guy,” Jared said thoughtfully. “Let’s keep eyes on him.”

“Done,” Theo said, reaching for his beer.

“What about the poison in Ronni’s blood?” Jared asked.

Theo shook his head. “Our labs haven’t identified it yet, but they will. The more interesting question is how was she poisoned?”

“I don’t know,” Ronni said. “Could be a number of ways.” She’d gone over it so many times in her mind, and no answer came clear.

“It had to be somebody close to you,” Chalton said quietly.

“Not necessarily,” she said. “I’ve thought about it. Anybody could’ve spiked a drink at the club or even at work. And some poisons are deadly enough that one dose is all it takes to attack a heart.”

Jared nodded. “True. We’ll get you underground until we figure it out.”

Ronni reared up. “Not a chance in hell.” As her temper stirred, she caught a small smile crossing Ginny’s face from across the table.

Jared leaned in. “We’ll discuss it later, Mate.”

Chapter 7

Jared ignored the daggers shooting from Theo’s eyes as they escorted the women into the parking lot. He had his hands full with getting Veronica healthy, and Theo could just cover Ginny until she headed home to her family. She was smart and obedient and easy to protect.

Which was the exact opposite of Veronica. Oh, she was intelligent, but she truly didn’t realize how fragile she was. It was his job to teach her that, no matter how much he admired her spunk.

Ginny cast him a longing glance, and he tried to give her a reassuring smile.

At the moment, he had to focus. He’d made a commitment to Veronica, and he wasn’t the type of guy to put his mate in danger, convenience or not.

Plus, he wasn’t the youthful man he’d been centuries ago when he’d fallen for Ginny. Odd that he hadn’t realized that fact until meeting Veronica. His emotions jumbled, and he cut through them with hard logic. Veronica was his responsibility, period. A niggling voice in the back of his head laughed at him. At his cold logic.

Wind whipped around them, and he pivoted to shield her the best he could. Lovely color had filled her face after eating the delicious pizza, and her movements were smooth and graceful instead of the cautious and shaky she’d shown before the mating.

She was on the mend.

Every once in a while, out of the blue, it hit him how close the world had come to losing her forever. To having her light and energy disappear. He growled.

She glanced up, snow on her long eyelashes. “You okay?”

“Fine.” He scouted the quiet street alongside the parking lot. Whoever had poisoned her would beg for a quick death.

The air changed just enough to give him pause. His body tightened instinctively. “Chalton—” he started, just as his brother pivoted toward the street.

Tires screeched. A car careened into view, the weak moonlight glinting off the barrel of an assault rifle. Pattering instantly filled the night. Jared leaped toward Veronica, flattening her on the ice and covering her with his body.

Her breath whooshed against his throat.

The car slid to a stop, and the driver half leaned out the window, taking aim. A mask covered his face.

Shit. Jared rolled Veronica around the nearest SUV, taking cover. Ice slid down his shirt. “Status?” he bellowed.

“Not hit,” Theo snapped from behind a blue truck.

“Help, Jared,” Ginny cried out, her voice high and frightened.

“She’s covered,” Theo yelled before Jared could reply.

Veronica shoved against him, and he crouched to his knees. Bullets pinged off metal, and he ducked his head, keeping her between him and the car taking the assault. “Chalton?”

“We ducked back inside,” Chalton returned, slowly opening the back door, hunching low.

Good. Olivia must be secured inside.

A bullet ripped into Chalton’s shoulder, and he dropped, blood bursting from his shoulder. “That asshole dies tonight.”

Jared leaped for his brother and yanked him down behind the car. “How bad?”

“Bad enough to piss me off.” Chalton clamped a hand over the wound, fury sizzling along his hard face. “We’re pinned down.”

“There might be more coming,” Jared muttered, ducking again when more bullets pinged over his head. “I think a full frontal assault would be best. You stay here and cover Veronica.”

She grabbed his arm, her eyes widening. “What in the world? You’re not rushing a guy with a gun.”

But he wanted the fucker’s neck in his hands. Jared sighed. “Fine.” He grabbed a gun from his boot. “Then I’ll just shoot him.”

“Good plan,” Veronica sputtered, reaching down and removing a small caliber pistol from along her calf.

Jared’s mouth dropped open. “You’re packing?” he growled.

She rolled her eyes. “Somebody wants me dead. Of course I’m packing.”

He couldn’t help it. In the middle of a firefight, in the midst of a temper, he smiled. God, she was perfect. “Just keep your currently human head down, woman. A bullet could still kill you.”

“Understood,” she said, angling toward the front of the vehicle to aim her weapon.

She apparently didn’t understand shit. His grin widened, even as he jerked her back with his fingers curled into her waistband.

She slid toward him on her knees, her back to him, unable to fight him on the ice. “What are you doing?”

“Keeping you safe.” He pressed a hard kiss to the back of her head. “Let me.”

Did she just growl?

Another car slid into sight.

“Second gunman,” Chalton muttered, tugging a gun out from beneath his jacket.

Jared angled up and fired several times over the hood. The first driver ducked back behind his door, while the other slid out the far side of his vehicle to shoot over his own hood.

“Livy, stay down,” Chalton yelled as the back door of the building started to open.

It instantly closed.

Bullets came from Theo’s direction, as did a woman’s high-pitched scream.

“It’s okay, Ginny,” Jared hissed. The woman needed to stay quiet, damn it. She’d just given Theo’s location away.

“Can’t she throw fire or something?” Veronica muttered, crouching as more bullets cascaded above their heads.

All witches threw fire. It was too bad Ginny didn’t know how to fight. “Right now, she just needs to stop screaming so we can get rid of these guys. I need one of them alive,” he said.

Chalton nodded. “Affirmative.” He reared up and fired a volley of shots toward the attackers.

A human male screamed in pain.

Good enough. Jared launched himself over the hood of the car, zigzagging on the ice and firing toward the closest car.

The other car zoomed off with the smell of blood in its wake.

Bullets whizzed by his head, and he increased his speed. The rancid smell of fear hit him right before the asshole shooting at him dove into his car and slammed the accelerator down. The car fishtailed, zooming down the icy street.

Jared turned to make sure everyone was all right. Bullet holes lined the brick building behind them.

A quick survey showed everyone getting to their feet, nobody bleeding.

Fury swept through him to turn colder than the ice beneath his feet. “Stay here.” Turning, he barreled into the street, turning and launching into a run after the speeding car. It was icy, and the driver was sliding up ahead.

Oh, fucker. You’re gonna die.

* * * *

Ronni gasped as Jared dodged bullets and the gunman drove off. Her hands shook, and her body ached from being pummeled to the ground. She took a deep breath. Okay. They were all safe.

Then Jared lowered his chin and ran full bore after the fleeing vehicle.

 “Jared,” she yelled, shoving around the damaged car and running after him.

“Ronni, wait—” Chalton reached to grab her, his fingers scraping along her arm.

She lifted her gun and ran after Jared, her feet sliding on the ice. Her boots skidded across the asphalt, and her arms windmilled to regain her balance. She turned, her breath panting white into the freezing air.

Several yards ahead, Jared reached the Buick and grabbed the trunk, using the leverage to flip himself up on the roof.

What the holy hell was he doing? “Jared, damn it!” Careful not to fall, she tried to find traction along the side of the road to keep moving forward. A sound behind her caught her attention, and she partially turned to see Chalton on her heels, blood flowing from his chest.

“He’s crazy,” Ronni bellowed, turning again for the road.

Jared crouched on the roof of the speeding vehicle, his body stiffening as he lifted his arm back to apparently punch through the metal.

The driver hit the brakes.

Ronni yelled again as the car turned into a wild spin. Jared grabbed the windshield wipers, and his legs flew out from the car. The vehicle crashed into an abandoned brick building, throwing him across the road.

He bounced three times, leaving huge divots in the ice and asphalt.

“Jared,” she breathed, reaching him and sliding on her knees. “Oh, God. Are you okay?” She leaned in and grabbed his face. “Jared?”

He clasped her hands and stretched to his feet, giving her no choice but to follow. Blood flowed from a cut above his left eye, and his cheekbone was turning purple. “I told you to stay put.” Pushing her behind him, he advanced on the now silent car.

A gun appeared through the driver’s window.

“Fuck.” He jumped forward, kicking the gun back into the car.

A man howled in pain from within.

Growling like an animal, Jared ripped off the door and sent it spinning through the air. It fractured in the center of the street and slid several yards back toward the restaurant.

Holy crap, he was incredible. Her stomach warmed, even as she kept her distance. How out of control was he?

He manacled the man inside by the neck and lifted him from the car, smashing him back into the metal several times. Metal crunched, and the guy cried out in pain.

Finally, Jared stopped beating on him, and the guy hung limply, his body heaving.

Jared ripped off his face mask. “Who is he?” Jared growled.

Ronni inched forward as Chalton took position next to her. The guy had blond hair, a series of tattoos down his neck, and cloudy brown eyes. “I don’t know,” she said softly, looking him up and down.

“Who were you shooting at?” Jared asked, his face an inch from the blond’s.

The blond swallowed, and a snot bubble dropped from his nose. “It was just a job,” he stuttered.

“Who?” Jared asked, smacking him back against the car again.

The guy wheezed. “Please let me go.”

“Talk before I break your neck,” Jared snarled.

Next to the injured man, Jared looked like the pirate he’d once been. Deadly, pissed, and lacking in mercy.

Tears filled the guy’s eyes. “Her. I was hired to shoot her.” He jerked his bleeding head toward Ronni.

She winced. That was going to get the guy hurt, without question. “Who hired you?” she asked, keeping her distance. His eyes pleaded with her for help, and she steeled herself. He’d tried to kill her.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Marcel asked for my help. He got away.”

“Marcel who?” Jared asked, shaking the guy.

“Johnson. One-twenty-five Newark Street,” the man said, almost eagerly. “He was a buddy of a cellmate I had in prison. We met up last week, and he hired me for the job—but I have no idea who hired him. That’s all I know. Honest.”

“Okay.” Jared snapped his neck.

Bile rose in Ronni’s throat, and she swallowed it ruthlessly down. Her vision went black. Oh, God. Jared had just killed the guy without a second thought. As she tried to regain her balance, she watched him shove the body back into the car.

Dizziness attacked her, and her ears turned hot. Blood rushed through her veins. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and her body fell. The last thing she heard was Jared yelling her name.

Chapter 8

Jared finished going through the immaculate and organized files in Veronica’s desk. She’d done a thorough job of working her own case, complete with a massive suspect list.

Yet one by one, she’d crossed them off.

She was too sweet to see that somebody had wanted her dead. He looked over to study her sleeping on the sofa. The woman breathed easily, and more tingles cascaded from her as her body continued repairing itself.

When she’d fainted, he’d nearly lost his mind. What had he been thinking, allowing her out of the apartment and into danger when she was still healing? As a mate, so far he sucked.