Page 20 of Shadow Hunter

He lowered his gun.

“Look, Damon,”she said, testing his name carefully, like she didn’t trust it. “The kiss was great and all, but I—”

Before she realized what he was doing, he slung her over his shoulder. Tiffany let out a startled shriek, kicking her feet and slamming her fists into his back, but he barely noticed. With quick agility, he hoisted her over his shoulder, jogging down the alley as if she weighed no more than a feather. A feather from a very pissed-off, profanity-ridden eagle, but a feather all the same. His black 77 Monte Carlo—once his father’s now his—sat parked not far from the mouth of the alley. Let her hate him for all he cared. He just needed to get her out of here.

With the way Caius had been fixated on her, it wouldn’t be long before he questioned where she was, and he wasn’t going to be so happy about his dead bodyguard, either.

When they reached the Monte Carlo, Damon wrenched open the door and dropped a still kicking and screaming Tiffany into the passenger seat, before he slammed the door shut behind her, the sounds of her yelling instantly muffled. She shoved herself against the door frame and beat against the window until he slid into the driver’s seat. Thank God for automatic locks and bulletproof glass. He’d tried to keep the car as close to its original condition as possible, but it’d been a necessary upgrade from Headquarters, and at the moment, he was grateful for it.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she shouted as he slid into the car next to her.

Within seconds he was turning the key in the ignition and easing on the pedal.

“What is wrong with you?” Tiffany yelled as the car rumbled to life and they started to pull away. “Stripping me of myweapon and then throwing me over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes? What are you? A caveman?”

Damon ignored her, pulling the car away from the curb until they were barreling down the street. The entrance to Club Fantasy soon becoming nothing but a speck in his rearview mirror.

“Uh, hello!” She banged her fist on the dashboard. “This is the twenty-first century. This is called abduction, and in case you didn’t know, it’s illegal in every state!”

He tried to tune her out, but it was no use. Damn him, he’d just sucked face with Mark’s little sister, and now he’d had to throw her over his shoulder and haul her away like some kind of monster. Though if he admitted it to himself, how many times had he wanted to do exactly that as he’d read her letters? He fought hard to stifle the grin that curled his lips.

Yeah, he’d wondered, all right.

“What are you some kind of sick freak?” As she caught his expression, Tiffany’s jaw dropped. “You think this is funny, don’t you?”

He cast her an annoyed look. “I can promise you this, Shortcake. I think this situation is anything, but funny.” Infuriating. Frustrating. And fucked up were more like it.

Eyes narrowing, she looked between him and the Monte Carlo’s wheel.

Damon growled, so low and throaty he surprised even himself. “Don’t.”

The tone of that one word stopped her short.

“Like it or not, I’m trying to keep you safe. So, sit back and put your seat belt on.”

She scowled. “I wouldn’t listen to you even if—”

“Tell me something, Shortcake,” he said, instantly cutting her off. “Would you have come with me if I asked you nicely?”

She wrinkled her nose, like the thought disgusted her. “Not if your life depended on it.”

“Exactly,” he said, making his point.

She fell silent for a long beat, staring at him as if the fury in her eyes could burn him up like a vamp in the sun. Finally, she said, “I don’t know you.”

“You’re right. You don’t,” he said, echoing his words from earlier.

Silence stretched between them for a long beat, before finally she settled into her seat, defeated, at least temporarily. Damon glanced toward her. Normally, he wasn’t a man of many words, he craved the quiet implicitly, but something abouthersilence made him uneasy. Like he’d been cut off from the one lifeline she’d given him.

“You said your last name is Solow, right?”

The question was out before he could stop himself.

The words stirred her instantly, having the exact affect he’d intended.

“What’s it to you?” she whispered, her expression filled with weary curiosity.

Damon didn’t deign to answer, instead allowing the silence to speak for him. Watching him from the corner of her eye, she relaxed into her seat and clipped the seat belt into place.

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