Page 128 of Kage

Jarvis’ words nearly suffocated my thoughts as I spun the wheels of the truck once I’d floored the accelerator. Juliette wasn’t mine. She couldn’t be. But goddamn, I felt guilty. If anything happened to her, I would destroy everyone who had a part in hurting her.

Driving in excess of eighty miles per hour, I made it to the entrance to the sanctuary within two minutes. As soon as I jerked the truck to a stop and jumped out, two men rushed in my direction.

“What’s going on?” one of them yelled.

“Get back to the barn! Call the police,” I yelled, uncertain if they’d follow my orders. I didn’t hang around long enough to find out, rushing instead toward the corral where I’d found her before. The last thing I wanted was police involvement, but with dead bodies on my property, and more to come, the interference was inevitable.

I slowed as I rounded the fence, sweeping my gaze from one side to the other. Crouching over, I continued the same path, cognizant of every sound. There were voices all around, men from the sanctuary issuing mindless exclamations. I tuned out every sound except for the rapid thudding of my heart.

That wasn’t going anywhere.

Not until she was safe in my arms.

I stalked forward, constantly twisting from one side to the other.

Tank’s bark created an immediate reaction. I bolted toward the sound, hearing her single sharp cry seconds later. Tree limbs snapped against my face, but there was no pain. I was incapable of feeling anything other than stark, vicious anger. Gray hadn’t needed to tell me anything. This entire situation could have been avoided.

If her fucking father had done more than to just pretend he cared.

Maybe she’d been nothing more than a payback of a debt owed.

The perverse thought kept bile in my throat as I jumped over a fallen log, constantly searching the forest.

Tank barked again, the sound much closer. Movement caught my attention as before. Someone was running parallel to my position. I stopped, spinning in that direction, firing off a single shot.

The fucker dropped.

But my weapon hadn’t fired the only shot. A second reverberated in the dense forest, a horrible scream a split second afterwards. Itook off running once again, ignoring everything but the thought of getting to her.

A figure was up ahead. Tank was snarling. There were footsteps crunching down on the remaining dried fall leaves. They were too light to be a man’s. Juliette was here.

Fuck.

More movement. Deep voices. Shit. I was outnumbered.

I rushed behind a tree, peering out to catch my bearings. A figure crossed in front of me. I lunged forward, tackling the assailant just as he’d raised his weapon. A shot rang in the air and Juliette screamed. Tank was right beside me, snarling and growling as I issued several brutal punches to the assailant’s face.

Another rustle of trees grabbed my attention, and I jerked up just as the fallen man swiveled, the weapon pointed at my chest.

Tank leapt off the ground, knocking the weapon from the man’s hand. I reacted instantly, pulling the trigger twice. There was no time to waste. I darted through the trees, catching sight of Juliette’s long hair sweeping back and forth as she ran.

A split second later, I lost sight of her.

She issued another horrifying scream.

Pop!

Rage rushed through me, the tidal wave of fury pushing me forward. Both hands still on the weapon, I burst through another group of trees.

Juliette stood, her body swaying back and forth. Her chest was heaving and she somehow still had two hands clinging to theweapon. Tank rushed to her side just as she slowly dropped to her knees, a strangled sob pitching from her throat.

I snapped my head to the side, catching the sound of another gunshot coming from the direction of my house.

The man she’d shot was down, partially covered in dried leaves. I moved closer, kicking the weapon from his hand. The fucker’s eyes were wide open, the vacant stare indicating she’d hit her mark. I’d bother checking for a pulse after I made certain she was alright.

As I approached, she didn’t seem to notice. Her lower lip was quivering, tears rolling down both sides of her face. Sirens could be heard from a distance. At least two cars had been sent. I had no fucking clue what the hell I was going to say to the officers. Not at this point.

But it didn’t matter. All that did was that Juliette was safe.

---