Page 54 of Property of Legend

“What the hell were you thinking?”he growls into my hair.

I don’t answer.I can’t.Because I’m too busy finally letting myself tremble in his arms.

But we both know what I was thinking.

I had to know what I’m up against.

And now… I do.

A branch snaps.Not behind me this time, closer.To the left.Legend’s still holding me, but his head lifts, nostrils flaring like a wolf catching scent.Then…

And then someone grabs me from behind.

Chapter 31

Legend

I’m tearing through the woods when I hear it.Sophie’s scream.Faint but fuck me if I don’t know Sophie’s voice like I know my own goddamn heartbeat.

“South line!”I bark into the wind, yanking my handlebars hard and ripping down the trail like the devil’s snapping at my heels.

Trees blur past.If she’s hurt…if someone touched her…

I see her in the clearing.

She’s on the damn ground, kicking like hell at some bastard cloaked in shadows.Not the creature.A man.

Doesn’t matter.

I see her eyes, wide with fear, but still burning with that fire I fell for.She’s fighting.Always fighting.I launch off my bike before it’s even stopped moving.But then he’s gone.Taking a frightened Sophie in my arms, I try like hell to make sure she’s okay, but something, someone takes her right from my arms.

The fuck?

But I’m on him like a duck on a Junebug.Slam into him, knocking Sophie free.We crash hard, fists flying and dirt flying harder.He’s wearing camo.Smells like sulfur and death.Ain’t one of ours.Ain’t from the Sinners.

He throws a punch.I duck, come up swinging.My knuckles crack against his jaw and he drops like a sack of shit.

Sophie’s on her feet behind me.Blood on her shirt but thank Christ it ain’t hers.

Rage surges through me, black and blinding.

I grind my boot into his chest and lean in.“Who sent you?”

He grins, blood on his teeth.“Hell’s got room for all of you.”

Wrong answer.

Bullet and Derby hit the clearing, guns drawn, looking ready to end this prick.Oaks rolls up right behind them, cockin’ his gun.

“Take him,” I bark.“Put him in the hole.I want him alive.For now.”

Then I turn to her.

Sophie’s pale, trembling, but on her feet.Strong.Always too damn brave for her own good.

I cup her face, fingers checking for wounds I can’t even see.My voice lowers.“You gonna be okay?”

She nods, barely.“I had to see.I didn’t wanna be protected anymore.”

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