I tossed the keys in the air and caught them with my hand. “Why did you follow us?”
Panicked, he looked at me and held up his hands. “My friend. It was all his fault. He had this harebrained idea that you were hiding something valuable inside. I thought it would be an easy robbery. I didn’t know you were Breed.”
“Taking advantage of helpless humans?” Christian asked. “Tsk-tsk.” He hopped from the roof to the hood of the car, leaving a solid dent.
The man cringed. “Come on, man. I didn’t plan to hurt anyone. I just wanted to see what was in the back.”
“Is your friend psychic?” I tossed Christian the keys.
Something shifted in his expression, and like a bullet, he flashed toward the front of our van. I chased after him and grabbed his shirt. It ripped at the collar, and a struggle ensued as he tried to climb into the driver’s seat. Before he could do something stupid, I reached beneath the steering column and pulled the keys from the ignition.
Afraid the man would drive away with the van, I flung the keys as hard as I could over the edge of the building. Instead of fighting me, he got inside.
“Christian, he’s climbing into the back!”
I couldn’t get a firm grip to pull him out, and he slipped through my fingers. I went after him. The last thing I needed was this idiot getting into a box full of weapons.
I tackled him, and we fell over the boxes. As we scuffled, I kept waiting for the rear doors to burst open, but they never did.
The yuppie crawled away and knocked me off with his legs, but he lost his shoe when I grabbed his foot. My fangs punched out, but the only target within reach was his ass, and that was a road I wasn’t about to go down.
Frustrated, I punched through the box beneath me. The tape pried away from the cardboard, leaving an opening between the flaps. I slipped my hand inside and felt around for something—anything—before the Mage could escape through the rear doors. When my fingers touched what felt like a blade, I pulled it out and impaled him in the butt cheek.
A groan rattled his lungs, and his body went limp.
Out of breath, I took a minute to savor the victory.
Christian slowly clapped from the front seat. “Nowthatwas the finishing touch.”
I sat up and realized I’d stabbed the man with a crucifix infused with magic.
“Great,” I muttered. After scooting onto a bench, I glared at Christian in the driver’s seat. “You’re a real fanghole, you know that? Why didn’t you help?”
He arched his eyebrow. “Since when do you need rescuing? Besides, you were handling things quite well. I enjoy a good performance, especially when I get to admire your arse in those shorts.”
“I just assumed you were going to open the rear doors.”
“You’ll never win a fight if you’re expecting someone to save you.”
I stumbled over the boxes and shoved at him. “Get out.”
“Are we going to quarrel over whether or not I should have rescued the damsel in distress?”
I followed him out the door and then stared down at my bleeding leg. “No, but we’re a team. If I tell you he’s getting in the back, you’re supposed to head him off at the pass.”
“I couldn’t break the doors. You tossed the keys over the side, remember? How the feck would we transport all those bloody weapons with the rear doors swinging wide open?”
I leaned against the van and caught my breath. “Point taken. What do you think we should do with these guys?”
Christian had a wicked sense of humor, and something was spinning like a carnival ride in that twisted head of his. “You leave that to me.”
With my hand held out, I captured the rays of the sun on my fingertips and pulled in healing light. It entered my body like hot water, and the long gash on my calf mended together, leaving behind only a smear of blood.
Christian hurriedly snaked his arm about my waist and whirled me around. His lips pressed a kiss to my neck. “I get hard watching you in action.”
I nipped his earlobe. The feeling was mutual. Despite his lack of chivalry, I liked that he let me fight my own battles. Most men wouldn’t. Christian had spent years working as a bodyguard, so it couldn’t have been as easy as he made it seem to stand on the sidelines. It proved he respected me as an equal.
I leaned back and ran my fingers across his nape. “Do what you want with these guys, but hurry. We’ve gotta go.”
