“Ranger—on her,” Ryker commands as he steps closer.
Trevor’s legs have stopped scrambling. His color mottled and sick looking.
Light catches on Ryker’s pistol. His arms bulging with muscle as he aims at Trevor.
“Call June off.”
Clearing my throat, voice quivering, I say, “June. Out.”
She hesitates. Lips drawing back as she holds Trevor to the ground.
“June. OUT.”
The break is clean, she immediately retreats to my side, her muzzle covered in blood, as her chest pumps in short, tight bursts.
Trevor’s throat is gushing. Soaking his shirt, the ground, causing me to tear my eyes away.
“Want an ambulance?” Thane asks.
“No.” Ryker’s reply is cold, crisp. “He’s not going to make it.”
The first tears since this started shove past my lashes.
“Get her inside,” Ryker tells Ranger without shifting his death-glare from Trevor.
A muscular arm bands around my shoulders. Another scoops under my legs. “Tell June to come with us,” Ranger rumbles as he strides toward the building.
“June, come.”
Over his shoulder, I watch her deciding.Is her job here done?
“Come on, girl.”
With a low woof, she sprints to catch up with us.
“Is Ryker going to… kill him?” I stammer between choppy breaths.
“No. He’s just waiting on the bite to bleed him out.”
I squeeze my eyes closed. “It was horrible.”
“Won’t take long,” Ranger adds. “Not with wounds like that. Shit. June’s better than most bite dogs I’ve seen.”
I dissolve, my head falling against Ranger’s shoulder. “I didn’t know she was trained for that.”
“That was probably pure instinct,” he says as he shifts me to grab the door. An instant later we’re inside the cool, silent haven of the office building.
I don’t say anything else. Neither does he as he takes me to Ryker’s office and settles me on the couch. He doesn’t leave the door.
June curls by my feet.
I never hear sirens. It’s at least an hour before I hear Ryker’s familiar boot-strikes in the hallway.
CHAPTER 31
The building is stone quiet when I return, with most of the team still outside. Except for Ranger who is guarding the door to my office.
He bristles, hand going for his holster when he realizes it’s me.
