He didn’t answer but instead twisted around, reaching behind him with one hand as he looked over his shoulder. She gasped at the sight of the two darts the size of jumbo Magic Markers sticking out of his back. Her blood ran cold. Oh God. Those were tranquilizer darts, just like the ones used on her father. As she watched, another heavy dart slammed into Remy’s back, shoving him forward and almost sending him to his knees.
“Pull them out,” he growled when he couldn’t reach them himself.
Cursing herself for standing there like an idiot, Triana grabbed one and tugged, but it was stuck. “It’s too deep,” she said. “If I yank any harder, I’m going to hurt you.”
The growl he let out this time was closer to a roar, and she stared wide-eyed as his fangs extended farther. “It hurts already. Rip them out!”
Heart pounding, Triana wrapped her hand around the one closest to his shoulder and pulled hard. The end of the needle was barbed like a harpoon, ripping his skin and leaving a bloody, gaping wound in its wake. The sight of it was enough to make her feel sick.
“Do the same to the others,” he ground out, his face contorted in pain.
She yanked the other two darts out as fast as she could, tossing them on the ground. Her stomach plummeted as she realized they were empty. She remembered Quinn telling her the hunters had used tranquilizer drugs to slow down her father for the kill shot. They had to get out of here—now. She opened her mouth to warn Remy, but he’d already grabbed her hand and was running toward the parking lot near Café du Monde.
They didn’t get more than ten feet before two more darts slammed into Remy, one in his lower back, the other in the thick muscles of his upper left thigh. Crap. Without being prompted, Triana immediately pulled the one out of his back while he did the same to the dart in his leg. It didn’t matter though, because both were already empty.
Remy took her hand again and dragged her across the train tracks toward the parking lot. On the far side of the street, she could see a few patrons and waitstaff moving around inside the café. Once she and Remy reached it, they would be safe.
They were almost there when Remy suddenly slowed, then stumbled, the yellow glow dimming from his eyes. Whatever drugs had been in those darts was taking effect.
“Come on!” she urged. “We just have to make it across the street.”
Remy growled and nodded, shambling forward.
Triana tugged on his hand, fearing another dart—or worse—would come at him any second. But they were moving too slowly. They weren’t going to make it across the parking lot, much less all the way across the street to the café.
“Help me!” she shouted, waving her free arm wildly in the air, hoping someone would see them.
She was so focused on the people across the street she didn’t see the van careering through the parking lot until it screeched to a stop in front of them. For half a second she thought whoever was inside was there to help, but then the side door slid open and she saw men with guns.
Remy lunged at them with a savage growl, but the guns popped a few times and he immediately went down.
“Remy!”
Triana tried to keep him from falling, but he was too heavy for her, and she couldn’t keep him from tumbling all the way to the pavement. Then she saw a dark stain spread across the front of his shirt. She’d thought the men had dart guns, but they’d been pistols with silencers.
Three men jumped out of the van, rushing at her and Remy. She tried to shove them away, but one of the men got his arms around her from behind and tossed her in the van. A moment later, the other two flung Remy in beside her. With the amount of blood he’d already lost, there was no way he could still be alive. The thought that he might already be dead tore her heart in two. All she could do was pray the werewolf who’d refused to let Remy die so many times before would allow him to survive now.
The side door slammed and the vehicle took off with a squeal of tires, throwing Triana toward the back of the van. Rough hands caught her and jerked her to her knees. She turned, ready to take a swing at whomever it was. Her eyes went wide when she saw Quinn.
He blocked her fist with his hand. “Well, shit, girl. Long time no see.”
Triana screamed and launched herself at him. She’d rip him to pieces with her fingernails if she had to. But he only grinned and caught her by the throat like she was a toy, slamming her head against the inside wall of the van. Stars exploded in her vision and her body went limp as she collapsed to the floor beside Remy.
Oh God, not again.
The last thing Triana heard before losing consciousness was Quinn’s arrogant laugh.
Chapter 19
Remy knew he was still alive because his head was pounding like a drum. He stifled a groan, grimacing at the pain. Shit, his mouth tasted like he’d been eating dirt. He took a breath—or tried to, anyway. Damn, he could barely breathe. Or move. What the hell was wrapped around him?
As he fought to open his eyes, memories rushed back—being in the park with Triana, kissing her, getting shot with frigging tranquilizer darts, and running. Then a van screeching to a stop…and men with guns. They’d shot him and grabbed Triana.
The image of Quinn knocking her unconscious snapped Remy out of the haze he’d been trapped in. Lifting his head, he lunged forward.
He didn’t make it very far. Actually, he didn’t make it anywhere.
