“Watch your step.”
“You’re getting too old for this,” Jonah replied. “Never thought about retiring to a private island with Alec?”
“Believe me, I have.”
When they got close to the couch, Jonah caught the toe of his shoe on the rough-hewn wood floor. They stumbled again, but this time Jonah was ready.
He lifted his arms as high as he could before bringing them swiftly down. Pritka yelped at the sudden pressure on his arm, and when the plastic tie snapped, freeing Jonah’s hands, he brought his right immediately around to grasp Pritka’s wrist just as he squeezed the trigger. The shot landed somewhere in the ceiling, and Jonah’s leg gave out again. He flung his left arm around Pritka’s neck, dragging him to the ground as he fell.
“Down!” Jonah yelled to Cas as Pritka caught Jonah by the shoulders and grappled his way up his body. His knees dug into Jonah’s sides, and Jonah caught his wrist again, trying to keep Pritka from swinging the muzzle of the gun at his face. It cracked across his cheek, and Jonah’s vision blurred.
Thrusting upward blindly, his forehead met skin with a grotesquely satisfying crunch. Pritka yelled as Jonah collapsed backward.
When the shot pierced the air, Jonah registered it from a hazy distance, confused at first. Then Pritka’s weight landed on top of him like a bag of bricks.
Jonah turned his head, barely avoiding Pritka’s face smashing directly into his. Something warm slid over his cheek and down the side of his neck. Jonah heaved in a breath, then another, struggling to get out from under the man.
A cool hand touched his forehead, then the weight on his chest was gone and Jonah could breathe again. Cas cradled Jonah’s head in his lap, face pale, eyes dark and deep and serious as his lips moved.
It took Jonah a second to understand what those lips were saying. “There’s a doctor on the way, just hang on.”
“Who…you shot Pritka?”
Cas smiled. “See? All that target practice wasn’t for nothing.”
“I didn’t teach you that fucking well.”
“I spent a couple of months in Istanbul once with an ex-military guy, honed my skills there.”
Jonah winced and lolled his head toward the door. “We need a plan. The building’s surrounded.”
Cas shook his head. “Madi and Sadie are on it. Sadie’s got the car you were in. Madi’s taking care of the exterior. It’ll be a while before anyone else comes. Rest, okay?”
“I’m really fucking tired.”
“I can imagine. So rest. Relax. It’s okay.”
Jonah supposed he could close his eyes just for a second. Cas’s lap was warm but his touch on Jonah’s cheeks blissfully cool, and the combination was strangely hypnotic. “The guy in Istanbul…was he a boyfriend?” he murmured groggily, but was out before he heard Cas’s answer.
29
Caspian
“Son of a bitch,” Jonah ground out through clenched teeth.
Cas swept Jonah’s hair back in a soothing gesture as the muscular, russet-haired man, Dr. Osfield, stitched up the second gash in Jonah’s side where the rusty crowbar had left deep wounds. The doctor had agreed to come to them at Wired, but that meant he’d come with limited supplies. Apparently, that included the bare minimum when it came to numbing agents. “He’s almost done, baby. Aren’t you?” Cas said, putting an edge into his tone so the man knew he wasn’t afraid to hurt him if he hurt Jonah more than necessary.
“Don’t look at me like that,” the doctor muttered. “I’ve taken shits bigger than you. You think you’re the first guy who wanted to threaten my life?”
Madigan snickered from where he sat spinning in Red’s old office chair, watching the proceedings. Cas couldn’t tell if he was enjoying Jonah’s pain or the view of the man on his knees patching up Jonah. Cas supposed the doctor was good-looking if you could bypass his surly demeanor and poor bedside manner, but Madi didn’t seem too discriminating.
Cas glared in his direction. “Shouldn’t you be helping Sadie or something?”
“Nope, she said she had it under control. I’m supervising.”
“Uh-huh.”
Osfield scoffed. “I’d like to see you do this.”
