Page 22 of Ignited

Karisma tensed. “How do you know that?” she demanded.

Boomer’s brother fixed his eyes on her, his gaze flat. “Recognized the commander’s voice on the radio. I used to know him. Back when I was in Special Forces.”

Boomer said, “Those guys are Special Forces? Fuck.”

“Doubtful,” his brother said. “He went rogue. Didn’t expect to see him again, honestly.”

“Why not?”

“Because I slit his throat and left him for dead.”

Whoa. Everyone went silent.

“Okay then,” Boomer said finally. “So where is this cabin?”

“I’ll give you the coordinates. But we have to hurry. Besides the potion, there’s some stuff there that those guys can not get their hands on. Magic stuff.”

Fuck. More magic. Boomer bit his lip, then looked at his brother. “You don’t have to get involved,” he said. “I can take her in the truck.”

His brother was silent for a long moment. Finally, he gave a little resigned sigh. “Superior balls, great responsibility.”

Karisma had no idea what that meant, but Boomer grinned and slapped him on the back. “That’s the spirit. And if we do get ambushed again, maybe you’ll get the chance to kill that commander guy for good. That should make you feel better.”

His brother just gave a tiny headshake, and turned to Karisma. “You’re riding in the back. I’m not having you go tiger in my cab.”

Chapter 11

As Boomer helped Karisma into the back of the truck, Bro added, “And you’re riding back there with her.”

He was planning on doing that anyway, but still. “So I’m there when she goes tiger? Thanks a lot.”

“Yeah. With any luck, she’ll claw you to death and I won’t have to deal with either of your bullshit.” Bro stalked off toward the cab of the truck.

Boomer climbed into the cargo area after Karisma. She whispered, “He’s grumpy.”

“All the time,” Boomer said. Like this was his fault? How the hell was he supposed to know they were going to get attacked by fake Feds and get stuck with a tiger shifter who couldn’t figure out which shape she was supposed to be?

He slammed the tailgate and the back window shut with possibly more force than necessary, and then moved up to the back wall of the cargo area, joining Karisma where she was leaning against the tool locker.

Bro opened the pass-through window between the cab and the cargo area. “Where the fuck is this cabin?”

Karisma gave him the location and he programmed it into the GPS. As they started off, Boomer felt Karisma’s tension ratcheting up. “How likely are they to beat us there?” he asked.

She shook her head, biting her lip. Fur sprouted around her eyes, and receded. Shit. She was barely holding it together.

“Anything from Cisco?” he called to his brother.

“Making contact now.”

Cisco’s voice came through the speaker. “Where are you?”

“On the way to the tiger’s cabin for a retrieval,” Bro said. “She thinks the agents may be heading out there, and I concur—I heard the commander give the order to find it. We’re hoping they haven’t determined the location?”

“Not yet,” Cisco said. “But you better double-time it. They found her stuff here at the club, and they’re backtracing her phone’s GPS now.”

“Dammit,” Karisma muttered.

“Acknowledged,” Bro said. “Keep us posted?”