The shot is silenced, but the force of the recoil still jostles me. “Twenty-one.” I mutter, moving to my next target hiding behind the trees as I pull back the bolt, the sound of the empty cartridge ejecting oddly comforting as I reach for another round. The moonlight reflects off the water, but because of the design of the house, the roof casts the lawn in shadow.
Luckily, I have a night-vision scope. Declan never holds back on the goodies when it comes to weapons.
For my first shot, I chose one in the back of the group, so the chance of someone noticing them drop dead would be minimal. For my next shot though, I pick the singular man who has aradio attached to his outer carrier. I might not have noticed it if he wasn’t constantly fiddling with it. It’s an older one, with the earpiece connected to the radio by a single spiraling cord. It makes him stick out like a sore thumb. Idiots.
I adjust my aim, my sight lining up with the head of my next target. They really are equipped with top of the line gear, minus the radio. Too bad it can’t save them from a headshot.
My finger pulls the trigger, and through the recoil I watch with satisfaction as he drops to the ground. “Twenty.”
Hayden groans quietly behind me. “Sorry, your ass just jiggled in the best way.”
I grin, my focus still on the enemy. They seem to realize they’ve been found out, because they charge towards the house in an uncoordinated mess. I see Hayden fist-pump out of the corner of my eye, but I can’t focus on him too long. I’m reloading, and fixing my sights on another asshole who is trying to take me from my family.
The rest of the world fades away as I pick them off, until there are only ten left. Then they’re too close to the house for me to aim properly, but that’s when I hear Sam’s M4 going off. One, two, three men drop, and the rest dive out of the way, trying to use the house for cover.
“Jo?” Hayden sounds worried, but I stand, shaking myself off and pulling a pistol out of the waist band of my leggings. Not the best place to put it, but I have limited options.
“Come on, Fire Demon. Let’s go help out the rest of our pack.”
“Sam said to stay on the roof,” he hisses. “Jo, I need to keep you safe, I need—”
“Hayden.” I level him with a look. “Do you remember meever agreein’ to stay on the roof?”
He wracks his brain to remember the exact conversation. He won’t remember me agreeing, because I very intentionally did not answer Sam when he said that. “No.”
“Listen, Darlin’,” I reach out and run my hand down his arm, “the only reason the bond went dark was because of that pesky medication. Not because I got injured, or killed, or anythin’ like that. It’s not goin’ to happen again, okay?”
He swallows, throat bobbing, before nodding once. “Okay.”
“Okay then.” I grin. "You ready to get some practice in on some live targets? Maybe make a couple of blocks of Swiss cheese?” Hayden lets out a soft snort, following me to the hatch. “What?”
He snickers, shaking his head. “Swiss cheese is my favorite.”
thirty-two
Kole
My heart pounds in my ears as I open fire at the doorway from behind the kitchen counter. I am unsure how many men we started with—maybe fifteen, but probably more. I do know, however, that Jo must have taken out the majority of them from the roof.
I should not be surprised that it turned me on to see her holding that sniper rifle, even though the timing had been wildly inappropriate. But my Little Fox is just continually catching me off guard.
It makes sense that she would be trained in every weapon imaginable, but the reality of Jo makes my soul sing. Even without the scent match, I would want her.
Need her.
West calls from his spot in the kitchen where the video feed monitors for the security system are. “There are five men left! They’re using the wall to the right for cover.”
“Time to draw ‘em out, boys.” Jo’s voice has me whipping my head around and I spot my wet dream come to life sauntering into the room, hips swaying as she holds a pistol at her side.
“Dammit, Jo!” Sam looks pissed. “I told you to stay on the roof!”
“I don’t remember agreein’ to that Sammy-boy,” she huffs. “In fact, I remember pointedly ignorin’ that dumbass request.”
“Wait.” Hayden looks at all of us. “Why did the gunfire just stop?”
“They’re moving.” West mutters. “They’re moving around to the back of the house.”
Jo gets a determined look on her face, and runs to the sliding glass door.
