I rushed forward, remembering the formations I’d learned, the training provided by Hudson who’d been in the military for years.
We continued fanning out, but I was headed straight for the cabin.
Another noise, a crackle of something in the distance. I took off running, refusing to back down.
She was here. I could feel her.
I could sense her with every ounce of my being.
Nothing was going to stop me. She was here. And she was in danger.
Pushing harder. Moving faster.
More. Run. Now.
Another roar.
Then something else.
A scream. Her lilting voice.
There was no holding me back. She was close, only fifty yards away. I pushed and clawed my way, lunging through the swamp to the other side just as an alligator snapped at my leg.
Fuck. Dealing with them was the last thing we needed.
Although…
Another jolt of current flashed across the sky, the electric powerful enough to bounce across the forest of trees.
Allowing me to catch movement. With a swing of my flashlight, I caught sight of her just as the monster grabbed her by the arm.
The light blinded him but didn’t stop his actions. He grabbed her around the throat, dragging her backward. In his hand was a machete.
“Over here!” I called, keeping the beam in his face.
Steven was confused, but seconds later when both Chase and Hudson came crashing through the woods, flanking my sides, he roared again. His eyes were wild, blood streaming down one side of his face.
From what I could tell, she was safe, uninjured. Just terrified. But I could also see the gleam in her eyes, the same one I’d enjoyed studying night after night.
Yet it wasn’t long enough for me.
Not nearly enough.
If the bastard believed he was going to take the enjoyment of growing old with her away from me, he could go fuck himself.
“You didn’t play by the rules,” Steven called out.
“You should know by now I don’t play well by anyone’s rules. Didn’t you learn that when we worked together?”
A fucking machete.
I glanced quickly at Chase. There was no need to converse about how to handle this. Kendrick and Gabriel remained out of sight. They were already moving to surround him.
Chase took a step away, but Steven noticed, pressing the blade of the machete against her neck.
Movement caught my eye and I took another step closer. “She doesn’t belong to you, Steven. She belongs to me.”
“No! She doesn’t. She’s mine. She’s always been mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.”
