She craned her neck, desperate for air as his grip tightened, and caught sight of the other gargoyle as he silently climbed onto the hood of the vehicle. Her eyes widened as she watched him press his palms against the glass, lift his wings, andleap.
The only warning she could offer was a choked cry, but it was enough.
Kazimier swung his gun up and had fired two shots before the gargoyle even cleared the back of the SUV. He landed hard on the roof and then slid off to make a grotesque, headless heap on the asphalt.
Dan didn’t even seem to notice. She’d heard that gargoyles made up tiny, close-knit packs, but clearly her captors weren’t one of them. He didn’t even pause when the corpse hit the ground with a sickening, fleshythwap.
Atria stopped registering her bumps and bruises, the way her naked heels dragged on the asphalt as he pulled her along. Her vision began to blot out. Her legs were useless as the gargoyle started to run with her, using his forearm under her chin as leverage to keep her pinned to his chest.
Oxygen became increasingly scarce even as the spots floating in front of her eyes multiplied. Her struggles diminished.
They’d spun around and were heading toward the dark corner of the parking lot. Normally turning one’s back on someone with a bolt gun would be a terrible move, but a gargoyle’s wings were the toughest part of their bodies. Folded against his back, the orc’s gun would never be able to penetrate them.
She could just make out the sounds of his boots slamming against the pavement again as he rapidly closed the distance between them.
Perhaps sensing that she was finally becoming more trouble than the money was worth, the gargoyle snarled and tossed her to the side. Her body bounced as it hit the ground and what little breath remained in her lungs wheezed out in a rush. Her head smacked a tire, but she managed to throw up her hands to stop the worst of the fall.
Eyes watering, she slumped onto her side and lifted her abraded hands. Struggling for breath, she had just enough presence of mind to make a curling motion with her fingers andyank.
The gargoyle went flying toward the asphalt as his feet were swept out from under him. His head cracked against the ground, giving Kazimier precious few seconds to leap over her and descend on his back.
Atria watched, horrified, as the massive orc pinned Dan’s wings down with his knees. Wrapping his claws around the man’s short horns, he wrenched his head up and back.
She could just make out the shape of his gun tucked into the back of his jeans as he knelt on the gargoyle’s back and dipped his head to whisper something. The orc’s long fall of black hair shielded the rest from view, and she was too far away to make out what he said. Instinctively, she reached out to feel him — only to recoil just as quickly.
He might have looked calm and in control, but he feltwild.Never in her life had she felt so much aggression, that kind of pure, ice-cold rage that sprung from a fear so deep, it seemed endless.
The gargoyle was speaking quickly, pleading, trying to negotiate, but Atria didn’t hear the words. An animal kind of fear saturated the air. Shaken to her core, she could only hear the ringing in her ears as she forced herself back onto her hands and knees, then onto her feet.
She turned away from the scene completely just as a hideous, wet crack cut Dan’s begging short. Her mind shied away from speculating about exactly what the orc was doing. A hoarse scream rent the air and was quickly followed by another, and then another as more grisly cracks made her gorge rise.
Then… silence.
Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.
Atria tried to walk fast, but her body resisted all her efforts. She was bruised, cut, and falling into the abyss of an adrenaline crash. One of her eyes was beginning to swell and she felt more than a little woozy. It was all she could do to simply hobble toward that warmly lit paradise that was the elevator bank.
She made it past three cars before he caught up with her.
There was nothing in her left to fight him when the orc swept an arm behind her knees and lifted her up, clutching her to his chest. Her aching head lolled against the hot skin of his throat.
Tears welled when she rasped, “Please let me go.”
His chest rose and fell rapidly as he jogged across the parking lot, back toward that old car and their abandoned bags.
Still, he had the breath to reply, “Never.”
ChapterEight
The carhe stole was old, needed new brakes, and wasn’t the best fit for his long legs, but it got them out of Denver well enough.
He just wished it wentfaster.
He’d chosen it deliberately, seeing as it appeared to be abandoned and old enough to not require time-consuming modifications to its security and identification systems, but it couldn’t even touch the speed his cars or bikes could. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure even his precious Bugatti could go fast enough for him now.
Kaz tried to get his breathing under control as he drove them down a long stretch of dark road. They carved a swath through farmland, but even the relative peace of the countryside couldn’t seem to calm his heart rate.
He flicked his gaze back to his mate for the ten thousandth time. She was curled up in the passenger’s seat, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms curled around herself. She hadn’t so much as looked at him since he bundled her in the car and hauled ass away from the airport.
