Reed bent over Hannah to whisper to them both. “Camera.”
“Don’t worry about them now. We have about ten more minutes and then we’d have to worry.”
They both looked curious with a similar tilt of their heads but didn’t say anything, merely nodding.
“Who are you?” Reed whispered, leaning closer.
“Josh.” Why the hell had he said his name? He was never a name, just a presence, on any other mission. Why did he want them to know his name? Know him? “I’m no one. Just a friend.”
“You’re human.” Hannah’s surprised gasp was still whispered.
Exhaustion overwhelmed her features, and Josh couldn’t take it anymore. He picked her up and cradled her to his chest when he stood. She felt warm in his hold. Right. An instant heat flooded his system as desire rocked him. That annoying connection flared, but he tamped it down. So not the time.
Reed let out a soft growl, pulling Josh to a stop.
Shit, she’s his mate. And here he was holding her to his chest and liking it.
Josh cleared his throat. “Sorry, man, I’ll let go of her soon. But we need to leave, and since you’re stronger than me, I thought you’d be better at the front, protecting her.” And he really liked the feel of her curves, even if this was the first and last time.
Reed look perplexed. Huh?
Josh didn’t know what to think, but he still felt that connection to both of them. What the hell? He nodded at the other man, and they both left the room cautiously, Hannah still barefoot in Josh’s arms. They hurried down the empty hall, past the shadowed corner where the unlucky guard lay dead, and to the window without a hitch. Reed pulled himself up and out of the small gap in the cement walls, and Josh lifted Hannah through. She looked back with a small smile, and his cock hardened again. Fuck, he was going to need therapy once he left these two. Hannah jumped into Reed’s arms as Josh pulled himself through right behind them. With a possessive nod, Reed handed her back to Josh, and they all started walking quickly to the surrounding forest.
The hair on the back of Josh’s neck rose at how easy it all had been. Something wasn’t right, but he couldn’t worry about everything all at once. He needed to get the two lovebirds out of here and away from him. That way he didn’t have to think about the two ever again.
Right.
Josh could practically taste their nervousness as they reached the tree line. Barefoot and shirtless, Reed had to be cold as hell, but they didn’t have time to get him properly dressed. They needed to get the fuck out of here.
A howl spilt the night, freezing them in place.
Oh hell.
Reed looked around, his nose on the wind.
“Josh, take care of Hannah; I’ll watch our backs.” Reed’s deep voice resonated calmness. Not what Josh thought he’d hear from the man.
Hannah cleared her throat and elbowed Josh in the gut. Ouch.
“I can take care of myself. I’m a witch, you know. An earth witch at that. I’m in my element.”
Josh let her slide down his body to the ground.
“I hope so,” Reed said unenthusiastically. “Because we’re surrounded.”
Chapter 6
Hannah could feel the vibrations from the earth beneath her bare feet. The soil tickled the skin between her toes. She inhaled the woodsy scent, relishing the fact she was now connected to nature, not the stone walls holding her in. Relief spread through her at being part of the earth again. She’d spent too much time behind walls in chains. Her body was weakened, but soon, after time and fuel, she’d be at her peak. A true witch. She could smell the wolf scent of Reed, the human male scent of Josh. Wetness seeped from her core at the thought of both.
Hannah shook her head. Not quite the time to be drooling over two prime specimens of man. Well, wolf and “special” man. But whatever.
She took a deep breath and struggled to find her strength. They might die here, fighting together. But for some reason she had never felt as safe as she did right now, surrounded by these two men. Reed, who’d protected her with his body against the onslaught of lead bullets and held her through the night for warmth. Josh, the stranger who’d risked his life for two prisoners. He wasn’t completely human; he held something else along the ridges of his aura, but she couldn’t discern what.
But it wasn’t just that they both protected her. No, usually she could accomplish that herself because she hated feeling weak. No, for some reason, an unknown force pulled her toward the two men, who at the moment stood on either side of her, blocking her from an outside enemy. There was a tingling sensation, a connection between her and each of the men.
Oh goddess.
What kind of person wanted two men at the same time? Two strangers at that. Not to mention the fact that who knew how many dangerous werewolves were about to attack them? Not the greatest of timing.
Reed let out a growl. “They’re coming. Try to get away and be safe.” He looked into her eyes, pleading, before doing the same to Josh.
Reed planted his feet, his fists clenched. Josh did the same on the other side of her, yet with a gun in one hand and a blade in another. As a human, he would need all the protection he could get. A gun wouldn’t necessarily kill the beasts, but it would slow them down. And frankly, he looked damn sexy all armored up. Reed looked sexy, too, with his natural charisma and powerful werewolf body.
And, this was totally not the time again to let her thoughts wander.
But what a place they would go.
Hannah gave a nod and closed her eyes, calling to the earth. She might be a healer, but she could still go on the offensive with the earth and kick ass if she had too. Well, at least she hoped he could. She’d trained with her mother—Hannah held back the sharp pain of loss at the thought—but she really hadn’t used it. Plus the last few days and her tiredness caused her bones to ache.
Another wolf’s howl echoed in the not-too-far-distance. Hannah concentrated and moved her arms like an orchestra conductor to take a large pile of soil, rocks, and roots in her hold. The resulting mass looked like a crested wave and slammed into the wolves trying to come from behind in a sneak attack.
Power surged through her as she lifted up the dirt and felt the connection to the earth deep in her tissues and tendons. When she used this power she always felt like she was on top of the world and could stop anything. The rough wave looked like a cresting peak of control that she alone had the knowledge and capability of. It smelled of earth, nature, and home—everything she held dear. As wave hit the wolves, her power fluctuated back and shocked her body. Hurting any living thing forced her to pay a price, but in this case it was worth it.
Stupid wolves. Didn’t they know she could feel them when they trampled too heavy-footed on her earth?
Josh and Reed each granted her a look of pleasant surprise then a sexy smile.
They’d underestimated her. They wouldn’t do it again.
But she was glad they approved of her. She wasn’t some weakling needing help, however soft she might be inside and out. And she certainly didn’t need a strong man to hold on to, though it couldn’t hurt. And if there were two strong men...
And going away from that subject.
Josh fired into the mass of fur and flesh coming down on him. A sharp cry followed. Good, he’d hit one. The smell of seared flesh hit her nose, and she was grateful for Josh’s weaponry.
Reed stood by her side, apparently determined not to leave her. Rather than changing into a wolf, he fought as a man, hand to paw. An ugly gray wolf jumped toward his face, and he crushed its skull. With his bare hands. Geez. She figured he was fighting as a man because the lack of food had cost him some energy. But apparently he wasn’t lacking in strength. And Reed thought he wasn’t Alpha enough. He was plenty for her. And then some.
His slender, lithe body packed heat and strength. Lickable.
And enough of that.
She sent another wave of earth towards a group of wolves. With a flick of her wrist, she burie
d another wolf and it yelped in pain. She balled her hand into a fist and grabbed a large rock with her powers and hurled it at another wolf, leaving it in a furry mass on the dirt floor. With another movement of her arms, a mound of soil fell on two more wolves. They yelped a bit louder than before. Apparently the sexual tension from her and the men increased the force of her magic. Interesting.
More wolves came from every direction. She concentrated and used the roots of the trees around her to trip them up by reaching out and grabbing their paws and tails. But she could only use a few trees. She wasn’t strong enough to do more than that. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Josh throw his empty gun to the ground as a wolf jumped on him. He pivoted, took out another blade and stabbed his opponent in the flank.
She pulled deep within for more power, knowing she would need rest and food once they made it out of here. If they made it out of here.
Over her other shoulder, she saw that Reed continued to fight, though blood seeped out of various nicks and claw marks. He growled before pulling the fur of another wolf to use for leverage as he broke its neck. The crack barely made a sound over the loud, vicious sounds of the battle at hand. Blood and fur littered the ground in an abstract pattern, mingling with the soils and snow.
Both men’s backs were turned from her, and her attention lay on the two wolves coming for her. She braced herself for their attack, arms ready to pull at her magic to bury them in earth. Her concentration was focused on them so intensely she didn’t hear the footsteps behind her until it was too late.
A hand gripped her hair and pulled her backwards. The wolves that crouched in front of her turned their backs, shielding her from Josh and Reed. The man that held her turned her toward him.
Caym.
The demon.
He fisted one hand in her curls, and the other came to stroke her face.
Shudders racked her body, and fear took hold. This was it. She’d die by his hand. If she were lucky. Bile rose in her throat at the thought of what else he could do.
“Hannah!” Reed shouted behind her, trying to reach her. But then he grunted, and she could only guess something had stopped him.
She looked into the demon’s dark, fathomless eyes.
Pure evil. But not callous like Corbin. Who was the true master? And why did she care?
“Get your hands off of her.” Josh’s fist connected with the demon’s face, forcing Caym’s head to snap back.
The demon laughed.
He laughed. What kind of evil was he?
Caym stopped stroking her face then shot out his arm in a blink of an eye to grab Josh’s.
No.
Josh struggled to get free, but the demon smiled and bit into the meaty part of Josh’s forearm.
Dear goddess.
Hannah screamed, but Josh didn’t. He looked at the demon then punched him square in the face, before ripping his arm from the demon’s sharpened teeth. Caym gave an odd smile then, after, letting Hannah drop to the ground, walked away.
They reached for each other, and Josh helped Hannah to her feet. She bent down, tearing a piece of fabric off her skirt to try and stop the bleeding. Jagged tears surrounded the bite. Blood flowed freely down his arm, and tears filled Hannah’s eyes. The wound looked horrible. And what did a demon bite do? Did it turn him into one? Would it infect him and make him sick? Or kill him? Shudders slid down her spine.
Oh goddess.
Hannah looked up into Josh’s face. He’d gone pale, with a sickly green hue. She needed to clean the wound then try and heal him. But she didn’t know the consequences of that. And there were always consequences working with something a witch didn’t know. Not to mention they were in the middle of a fight.
Though she suddenly realized it’d gone quiet. Hannah looked over her shoulder, surprised to see Reed killing the last wolf. A mound of dead fur and flesh surrounded him, but he didn’t seem to care. Bloodied and sweaty, he walked towards them, determination on his face.
Everyone who didn’t lie in the pile of death seemed to have vanished. What on earth? Was this all a joke to them? Why had the others left? And why had the demon bitten Josh?
Something didn’t add up, but pinged on her memory. She buried it back though; she had to think about Josh and Reed. And herself.
Reed finally made it to them and placed one hand on her cheek and the other on Josh’s shoulder. With her hand still on Josh’s arm, the three of them gasped. A spark of electricity, magic, or just a simple connection flowed through them. Josh grunted and swayed against her body. Reed widened his eyes and gave a small smile, while she bit her lip in confusion. The three of them glanced at each other but didn’t speak.
Reed lowered his hands while they all looked at each other for answers. What was that? Are we going to talk about it?
“We need to find some place to go,” Josh whispered as he looked up toward the sky.
Apparently they were going to ignore the spark. Hannah grumbled inwardly.
She followed Josh’s gaze. Oh crap. A blizzard. Just what they needed. Dark clouds moved in overhead and the wind picked up, howling through the trees. Fat snowflakes began to fall from the sky, quickly accumulating on the forest floor. With each gust of wind, the temperature dropped another couple of degrees, chilling her to the bone.
Reed went to Josh’s side and put the other man’s arm around his shoulders. Then he, because Reed was smaller than Josh, leaned in and wrapped his arm around Josh’s waist to lift him slightly off the ground.
“I can walk myself,” was Josh’s disgruntled response.
“I’m sure you can. But we need to get out of here quickly. Let us help you.” Reed’s smooth voice held a hint of nervousness but a calming undertone.
They ran together through the forest. Well, they ran as best as they could with two barefoot people half-carrying an injured human. The snow began to fall around them about twenty minutes into their escape. Hannah panted heavy breaths, praying they would find somewhere to ride out the storm soon. From the looks on both men’s faces, their thoughts ran along the same paths.
But other thoughts threatening to edge out the panic and hope for shelter worried her. What would they do when they got there?
And what would they do about each other? Was she really thinking about a ménage with these two men just because they panted for each other in a few brief moments? How will each of them react? How should she react?
Even as the cold surrounded her, her body warmed to the thought of being loved and touched by these two men. Tingles shot up her body and she didn’t bother to suppress them. They kept the cold from seeping into her bones more than it already had and made her think of a future that she didn’t have before. A future with two men. Could it really work? Did she want it to?
Chapter 7
Jesus, his chest hurt. Reed shook off the burning pain of newly healed tissues and even newer slices and bruises and heaved Josh a bit farther into the forest. He didn’t know why the surviving wolves had left, but Reed thanked whatever the reason. Though he might have been stronger than the wolves that leapt at him with their gleaming teeth and sharp claws, he couldn’t have lasted much longer.
Hannah’s breath came out in fast pants on the other side of Josh. They needed to get to shelter soon. But Reed couldn’t help but remember the way she’d stood and fought by their sides. Dear Lord, she was amazing. He’d never seen magic like that, hadn’t even known earth witches possessed that type of power. Add into the fact she was a rare healer and his Hannah was a force to be reckoned with. And damn sexy when she did it.
And Josh. For a human, his fighting and perseverance rivaled most Alpha’s. When he’d run out of ammunition, he’d gone for his blades and hand to hand without even looking like he was thinking. Thank God for his training, whatever that was. The human that didn’t smell quite human was a mystery to him.
A damn sexy mystery.
Reed lifted Josh a bit more, trailing the human’s feet in the snow. Whatever the demon had done
to him, it didn’t look good. Josh leaned heavily against Reed and groaned with each stumble and time they had to climb over a large hill or rock. His skin had paled enough that Reed didn’t even think he had any blood at all. And scariest of all, though it was freezing, Josh’s body warmed Reed’s side like a furnace.
Snow fell in earnest around them, beauty in an evil nightmare. The trees parted farther up their makeshift path, revealing a hopeful shadow.
Please don’t let me be hallucinating like a man dying of thirst in a desert.
“I think I see a cabin up ahead. The lights are out so I don’t think anyone’s home. But at least it has a roof.” Relief spread through him as he told the others.
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