“Almost,” I said, my voice rough. “You have terrible timing.”
That earned a shaky laugh from him, but it didn’t last. He grabbed my hand, tugging me up. “We have to go. Now.”
“What?” I asked.
“I have a plan,” he said, eyes scanning the darkening trees. “I managed to slow the other hunters down, but not for long. They’ll wake up soon.”
The world was spinning, the reality of what was happening sinking in like ice water. Still, I let him pull me along toward the back gate. His grip was firm, grounding.
But as we turned the corner of the garden, a figure stepped into the path.
“Marcus,” Kit muttered under his breath.
He looked grimly at Kit, his eyes narrowing when they fell on me.
“I can’t believe my eyes,” Marcus said. “You really are protecting a monster.”
Kit shifted instantly, placing himself between us. “Get out of the way, Marcus.”
Marcus’s expression turned ugly, the grin twisting. “What did you do with the others, you traitor?”
“They’re fine,” Kit said evenly. “I only knocked them out.”
Marcus sneered. “You’re choosing this leech over us? Over the Guild? Over your family?”
Kit’s voice went low, dangerous. “The Guild’s not my family.”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Kit stepped forward, hand still behind him, brushing mine as if to reassure me.
“Now let us leave,” Kit said, “before I have to hurt you too. Because Simon’s the most important person to me and I’ll do anything for him..”
For a moment, even with the tension in the air, the words landed like sunlight. My chest tightened, throat aching.
Marcus’s eyes flicked between us, his jaw tightening.
“You’ve lost your damn mind.” His hand slipped under his jacket.
“Kit,” I warned.
Too late. Marcus pulled the gun free, the barrel glinting. He fired. The sound split the air. One deafening crack that tore through the stillness. Kit shouted, and instinct took over.
I grabbed him, pulling us both down into the dirt. The bullet hissed through the air above us, slamming into the fence with a sharp, splintering crack.
Marcus cursed and fired again, but we were already moving. I rolled, dragging Kit with me toward the side of the house. My body screamed in protest, but I didn’t stop.
Kit was already drawing his knife, eyes narrowed, every muscle coiled.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
“No chance,” I snapped.
Marcus came after us, stepping over the broken stones of the garden. The expression on his face was no longer smug. It was a grimace, pure and raw.
“Last chance,” Marcus growled, voice rough and low. “Move aside, Kit.”
Kit didn’t move. He didn’t even blink. He looked like the Kit I first met, the one who’d been all fight and fury, but there was something new beneath it now. Something raw.
“No,” Kit said finally, voice steady despite the tremor of danger hanging in the air. “You’ll have to go through me.”
