Then a shriek, and a man ran up the stairs, fur in his mouth. White and black fur. Was that a skunk?
“Whoa, buddy,” Tace said, trying to see his eyes. “You okay?”
The guy wore a black suit jacket with bell bottom jeans. Sparkles decorated down one side. His hair might have been brown at one time but was now a dirty black. Dirt and blood covered his face. He spit out the fur and screamed.
“Shit,” Raze said. “Shut him up before every Ripper in the vicinity comes running.”
Tace swallowed. “Buddy, be quiet. Okay?”
The guy shrieked louder. He was definitely insane and definitely a Ripper.
“Shut up,” Jax snapped. “I don’t want to just blow away an unarmed guy, so stop screaming.”
The guy quieted. Then he sucked in air and wailed. Tace squeezed the trigger. The bullet impacted the Ripper between the eyes. He stilled and then fell backward down the stairs.
Jax turned to look at Tace.
Tace shrugged, his heart rate remaining calm and steady. Okay. That was a bad sign—shouldn’t he feel slightly bad about killing the guy? “He was going to get us killed.”
“Probably did the bastard a favor,” Raze said, moving forward to look down the stairwell, his steps sure and graceful. “He was alone.”
Jax motioned them forward, and Raze fell into line next to him.
Tace turned to see Sami staring at him, her face white. “What?” he asked.
“Only a month ago, you would’ve been the last one to shoot that guy,” she said. Standing in the dirty alley with her hair in twin braids and freckles across her nose, she looked more out of place than the sparkles had.
“You don’t belong in darkness,” Tace said. Then he shook his head. Focus, Justice. “I mean, you’re right. I wouldn’t have taken the shot.” Yet he wasn’t the same guy, was he? “Sorry.”
She blinked. “Why are you apologizing?”
Because he wasn’t the guy she probably could’ve liked. The darkness in him was too strong and apparently getting stronger. He motioned her forward, where he could cover her back.
She ducked her head, hurrying behind Jax and Raze, her steps making no sound on the cracked concrete.
He followed her, trying not to notice how nicely her ass fit in those worn jeans. They were so old the fabric on the bottom of her butt was white instead of blue. Man, her butt was tight.
His body hardened at the thought of the night before. He really wanted another night with her, but after spending hours zoned out drawing her face over and over again, he had to keep away from her. What if he went really dark and lost any sense of humanity? Would he actually hurt her? How could he think about her, about sex, three seconds after he’d taken a life? Yeah, he was fucked up.
Gunfire pattered ahead, and all four of them froze.
Jax half turned and gave hand signals for them to take each side.
Tace nodded and kept to the right, following Sami to the back of what had been a bank. Another shot echoed from inside.
Tace glanced down to see the blood trail end at the back door to the bank. The door was green and metal . . . and slightly open. He hustled up to the side. “Plan?”
Jax eyed the overhead sun. “Raze and I will go in the front. Wait until the count of twenty, and you two go in the back.”
“Copy that,” Sami said.
Jax and Raze ran along the building and past two more stores before turning at the corner and disappearing from sight.
Tace counted in his head. Dizziness smashed him in the face. He dropped to one knee. His right arm shook and trembled, and his forehead went numb. That was fast.
“Tace!” Sami grabbed his vest and shoved him against the wall. “What’s wrong?”
He couldn’t see her. He blinked several times, and she slowly came into focus. “I’m okay.”
