Page 34 of The Hero Within
Adrenaline pumped through her veins. Eden jerked the shotgun up and narrowly avoided pulling the trigger as one of the creatures launched from the boulder above her across the clearing. Colton had been right. Shooting a stationery target when you weren't in a fight for your life was a vastly different beast to trying to aim when your heart was fit to pound out of your chest.
And she might not have time to reload.
But....
It materialized out of the darkness as the glow from the embers in the fireplace lit it. She caught a glimpse of thin fur that seemed to ripple through a dozen different shades of black and gray, as if its fur absorbed the light.Don't miss. Her heart rabbited in her chest, and Eden focused down the line of the barrel as it launched itself at Colton's unprotected back.
She pulled the trigger.
The butt of the shotgun kicked against her shoulder like a mule, and the creature jerked and slammed into Colton's back, screaming in pain.
Easier now to breathe. Eden reloaded as Colton rolled to his hands and knees, her movements mechanical, even though a fist of nausea bloomed in her throat. The cat she'd shot twitched on the ground, but didn't move, a gaping hole in its ribs.
"You all right?" she yelled.
"Fine. Thanks," Colton snapped, and darted forward to drive his knife into one of the cubs. "Stay out of this."
"Trying to!" If she had the chance. Eden turned, jerking the shotgun around to cover both sides.
CJ went down with a scream beneath a pair of shadow cats. All she could see was a writhing mass of darkness. Stepping forward, Eden pumped both rounds into the chambers, but she couldn't gauge what was CJ and what was the predator.
"CJ!" she screamed.
A shadowy limb lifted and moonlight flashed off the curve of his knife. He plunged it into the mass atop him, and a high-pitched squeal of pain erupted.
The other cub leaped off him, landing lightly atop the boulder ten feet away from her and Eden turned on it.Don't shoot unless necessary. She hesitated.
But Colton didn't.
He pulled the trigger of his own shotgun, and the shadow jerked and tumbled out of view.
Hell. Gasping for breath, she lowered the shotgun. Had she been too late? Was he moving, or was that just her imagination? "CJ?"
CJ lifted his head as if to examine his abdomen, then collapsed back on the ground, breathing hard. "Son of a bitch."
"Got your back covered," Colton snapped, the back of his legs bumping into her as he fired in rapid succession into the darkness. Reloaded. Fired again. "Check him out if you can, angel."
Another feline scream. And something deeper; a low rumbling of pure fury lifted all the hairs on her arms. Eden had been about to kneel at CJ's side, but her gaze stalked the darkness, and she swallowed as she straightened. No time.
"That's two of her cubs down. Mama's not dead yet. You loaded?" Colton barked. "We've got mama and one cub left, and she's pissed."
She steadied her shotgun. "Ready."
Eden settled her back against his, searching the darkness for anything that moved. "CJ, are you okay?"
The young warg rolled onto his side, clutching his abdomen. "It was trying to rip my throat open, but my gun was in the way, so its claws barely glanced me." He sounded breathless as he staggered to his feet and looked at his hand. "Sorry. I lost the gun. It was faster than I expected."
Colton tossed him a shotgun and CJ snatched it out of the air.
"We need to drive that bitch off," Colton said. "You two stay here and guard each other's backs. I've got this."
Then he was gone, vanishing into the night like a wraith.
"Damn it! Colton!"
No sign of him.Shit. CJ's body trembled against hers. Eden swallowed. Without Colton they'd be sitting ducks out here.
How were they supposed to drive off a pissed-off shadow cat and her one remaining cub? Eden's mind raced. She was Wastelander born and bred, so she knew the rules.
