My Nana O’Shea would kick him in the balls for this. “She likes you, too. Thus, I strongly suggest you don’t kidnap her granddaughter.”
He shook his head. “I’m not kidnapping you. We’re just going to talk somewhere safe, away from here, where they can’t find me.”
“Why would they look for you here?”
He gestured. “I’m not kidding.”
I could read the truth in his eyes. “Fine.” Keeping my hands free, I walked ahead of him and down the stairs. I didn’t think he’d shoot me, but I wasn’t entirely positive. His hand shook on the gun as I passed, so I took several deep breaths and tried not to make any sudden movements. I walked out the back of the building toward where the cars were parked, wishing Aiden would pull in. But it was still probably fifteen minutes too early.
Snow fell lightly to cover the vehicles, and Lenny nudged me in the arm, coming up beside me. “Over there. The brown truck.” A battered brown truck sat closer to the alley. I stepped over a patch of ice, wincing as my knee protested.
“This is a really bad idea, Lenny,” I said.
“I agree,” came a dark, deeper voice from the shadows.
Lenny and I swiveled as one to see the lead Cupid, standing from where he was crouched behind an SUV to walk around to the front, his arrow nocked and pointed at us. He wore the tight black shirt, showcasing his cut biceps and ripped abs. Lenny yelped and dropped the gun, raising his hands.
I slowly turned my head to look at him, my eyes wide. “What are you doing? Gun beats arrow.”
“Dang it.” He scrambled for the weapon. The Cupid let his arrow fly, and it embedded in Lenny’s neck. He flew back against his battered truck, coughing wildly, his hand scrabbling to grab the shaft. Blood spurted in every direction, coating his chest and dropping onto the snow as he fell. I ran to him, crouching to try to cover the hole.
His eyes widened. “Framed,” he sputtered, blood spitting from his mouth. “I…”
Tears filled my eyes. “You were framed? By the Cupids?”
His eyes closed, and his body went limp. Panic engulfed me, and I stood, turning. I scrambled in my purse for my gun, but the Cupid already had another arrow nocked. Shrieking, I turned to run. A projectile whizzed by my head. I pivoted and tried to move around the truck toward the alley, my knee protesting.
I grabbed my gun just as pain ripped through my entire right side from the shoulder down. I flew forward and landed on my torso, sliding across the ice and bumping my head on the icy wheel of a snow-covered blue truck. Pain lanced through me, and I whimpered, trying to lever up onto my knees.
Headlights pierced the alley.
“Fuck,” the Cupid yelled.
I turned, my hand on my gun, and barely saw him run in the other direction. The headlights came closer. Darkness swirled around my vision, and I tried to concentrate.
“Anna?” Aiden asked urgently, the sound of his boots hitting the icy ground echoing through my head.
Relief filled me just long enough to relax before the darkness took me.
Chapter23
Icame to in a hospital room with a quiet beeping above my head.
“Anna?” Aiden asked.
I blinked open my eyes, careful not to move my head. So far, I felt okay. I looked down at my shoulder. “What happened?” My throat felt dry.
“You were shot with an arrow,” he said grimly. “You also have a lump on your head.”
I belatedly realized that he was holding my other hand. “How bad?”
“Not bad. The doctor removed the arrow. You needed ten stitches. It went in clean and didn’t damage any tissue other than at the surface. You were lucky, there. The bump on the head isn’t bad and is already going down.”
I shifted. “I want to sit up.”
He hit a button, and the head of the bed slowly rose.
“I’m okay?”
