Dage turned and fired at Zane. Zane hissed in pain, his body shuddering.
Janie reached for him, panic fuzzing the day. She had a moment to feel the hard warmth of his palms around her biceps before the world spun away. No sight, no sounds . . . nothing.
Chapter 7
Liquid fire rippled through Zane’s blood as he teleported through dimensions. He kept a tight hold on Janie, and within seconds, they landed on frozen ground. Ice shards slipped up the back of his shirt. He tucked himself around her fragile body as they rolled across rocks.
Sharp points ripped into his damaged shoulder, but he kept Janie off the jagged rock edges.
Finally, they slammed into a massive pine tree and sent snow spraying.
Zane lay on the ground with Janie on top of him, his wound bellowing, his heart racing. “Belle?” he asked.
She slowly lifted her head. Wide blue eyes focused on him. Shock, fear, bewilderment, all raced across her expressive face in seconds. Her pink mouth opened and closed.
“Are you all right?” he asked, sliding his hands down her arms. She smelled like fresh peaches, sweet and wild. Even through their clothing, he could feel her heat. Her toned body fit against him perfectly, her softness a comforting contrast to his hard angles. He’d wanted her for so damn long. “Belle?” he asked again.
That quickly, fury darkened those spectacular eyes. “No!” she exploded, lifting her head and dropping her forehead sharply on his nose.
Agony zipped through his face, and his eyes watered.
She scrambled off him, kicking snow and debris.
“Wait—” He reached for her, only to receive a boot planted hard in his gut. “Oof.” He leaned up toward his stomach to sit, grabbing his nose. “Jesus, Belle. You broke my nose.”
She slid in the snow, trying to find purchase with the large parachute still on her back. Her anger vibrated on the wind. So when she shifted her stance to kick him again, this time he was ready.
He caught her small boot in one hand right before it connected with his ear. She hopped on her other foot to keep her balance.
“No more kicking.” He gently placed her foot on the ground and stood to maneuver into her space, forcing her to lift her head to keep eye contact. “Get your bearings. Teleporting takes a few minutes to get used to.” Although the woman had launched into fight mode in an impressively short amount of time.
“Where the hell are we?” She shrugged out of the yellow chute and dropped it on the ground.
He cleared his throat and mentally popped his nose back into alignment. “Alaska wilderness . . . weeks away from any civilization.”
Red spiraled across her classic cheekbones. “Take. Me. Back.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Into the war zone? Hell no. This rescue took me all night to arrange.” The tone came out more irritated than he would’ve liked, but right now, his nose hurt, his gut hurt, and he was bleeding from a bullet wound inflicted by the King of the Realm. Plus, Nick had helped him plan, which would get his friend killed if Suri found out.
Janie gasped and reached into her waistband, only to frown.
“Weapons don’t teleport.” Thank God. Zane didn’t want to deal with another wound. His nose repaired, he sent healing cells to the shoulder injury.
Janie glanced around at the forest of snow-covered trees. “So you can teleport.” Anger rode every consonant. “That’s a rare talent.”
He shrugged. “About twenty percent of demons can teleport.”
Janie stepped away from him. “My uncle Dage is the only vampire I know who can do so.” Hurt slid across her face. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you had the gift?”
He didn’t like the sudden blue tinge to her lips. “The less you ever knew about me, the safer we both were.” Sad, but true. He gestured toward a trail between two trees. “The cabin is that way. I would’ve landed in there, but the bullet wound threw me off.”
She shuffled her feet in the snow. “Are you all right now?”
Her unwilling concern warmed him. “Fine.”
“Good. Then fucking take me back.” She put both hands on her hips, challenge in every line of her human body even as she shivered in the cold.
He did love a good challenge. “No.”
