Page 40 of Deception

Bang!She let off a wild shot that whistled past his ear.

Her eyes went wide, and Christ, he bet his did, too. But he sure as hell wasn’t stopping. Even if she pumped a bullet or two into him, he’d get her with his dying breath.

Must kill her.He burned the thought into every muscle, determined to see this through. He had to put an end to the Blue Blood madness once and for all. If Gretchen fell, her followers would be defeated. None of them were plotters or thinkers — not Mett, and definitely none of her sons. Without their leader, they’d be lost.

Growls sounded behind him, and he could sense the Twin Moon wolves barreling in. An arrow zipped through the air, taking out another of the rogues, and he realized he was blocking Rae’s shot at Gretchen. Well, fine. If he somehow failed, the Huntress could finish Gretchen off. That arrow, meanwhile, took out another wolf.

Fine with him — one less obstacle in his path.

Gretchen’s hands shook with rage as she cocked the gun and aimed.

He held his breath but forced his legs to carry on. Two more steps and he’d have Gretchen. It didn’t matter that he could see down the barrel of the gun. All that mattered was protecting Summer.

Summer. Oh, how he wished he could hold her one more time. He wished fate came with a pause button to give him the chance to say good-bye. To look in her eyes and get it all out at last.

Summer, I love you. I wanted to spend my life with you.

His bear mourned the thought of losing all that — all the things he never even knew he wanted until he’d met her — but he couldn’t stop now. He couldn’t fail.

Drew!Summer yelped, and whoa. Why was she so close? He could sense her right over his shoulder. His job was to save her, not the other way around.

But with half a dozen grown wolves hanging from his coat, he had to admit he didn’t exactly have a foolproof plan.

Gretchen’s eyes narrowed as she clamped down on the trigger. His heart thumped harder, and then time stood still.

He saw the next minute play out in slow motion before it happened in real time, as if fate was giving him a preview of what was about to occur. Like an out-of-body experience before he was even dead.

The bullet would hit him right between the eyes, and he’d drop to the ground an inch short of reaching Gretchen. Summer would race in a moment later, and Gretchen would get another shot off. A wild shot that would strike Summer.

He wanted to scream and wipe the image away, but it hung in front of him, showing Summer’s eyes go wide in pain then regret as the life seeped out of her.

No. No. No!That couldn’t happen. He had to save her.

You can save her,a voice boomed in his head. A deep, earthy voice, like a spirit from times long past.But not with misplaced heroics. There is another way.

He’d have growled at whoever it was that dared doubt him, but shit — what if that was fate, speaking to him?

The bubble of time he was caught in stretched out for another heartbeat, close to bursting, and the voice in his head growled again.

Listen to me, bear. That evil woman has killed enough. There is another way.

What other way? What the hell could he do?

He replayed the scene in his mind, frantic for some clue, some idea. The wolf clinging to his left shoulder was Mett — he could tell from the tobacco-scented breath. But if he dropped his shoulder at exactly the right second…

His focus snapped back to Gretchen, and he saw the bullet shoot out of the barrel, coming straight for him. The silver tip spiraled in slow motion, but he had the feeling fate was about to hit the fast-forward switch.

Last chance, bear,the voice warned.

Every bone in his body rebelled at the idea of dodging that bullet. That was the coward’s way, and he was no coward.

Prove it, then,fate challenged him.Prove it to me.

He wanted to shake his head and insist that facing death was the hard part. That anything could go wrong if he flung himself out of the away.

The hard part is trusting,fate boomed.

Drew!Summer’s voice sounded faint, like she was a thousand miles away.Duck! Get out of the way!

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