Page 95 of The Hunted
The shifter took off like he was going to find the juiciest prey for his meal that night.
My uncle lunged forward and grabbed the blade with his bare hands, but Roman was quicker. He angled the sword upward, slicing off Uncle Ray’s thumb, laughing as the body part flew through the air.
I came to an abrupt halt near the flagpole, and I lost my breath.
If Uncle Ray was in any pain, he didn’t show it. Instead, he advanced toward Roman once again. Roman continued to laugh as he dropped the sword and, faster than I could track, pinned Uncle Ray by the throat against the SUV.
I thought Roman would suck my uncle dry given that Uncle Ray had just lost a thumb and was bleeding. But Roman didn’t. Instead, with his back to me, he growled. “Layla, try anything, and I will detonate the bomb. Now, here’s how this is going to go.”
An animal yelp ripped through the air, and Vera pushed Jordyn farther out from under the portico as she scanned the grounds.
“He’ll heal,” Roman bit out to Vera. “Your job is to make sure she doesn’t run.”
As if Jordyn would run with a bomb strapped to her.
“Let the human go,” Sam said from somewhere nearby. “You wanted me. Well, here I am.”
I spun around, looking for the gorgeous vampire, but I didn’t see him until I turned toward Roman. Sam strutted around the SUV, hands up as if he were getting arrested and wearing an expression that could have a whole city of humans running in the opposite direction.
Call me nuts, but I was in awe of him, and dare I say turned on as hell in spite of our circumstances.
He stalked forward with a sense of purpose, his silver eyes seeming to glow. His fangs were front and center, and he gave me the impression he was ready to snap necks and drain the blood from humans or vampires.
At the thought of blood, I was licking my dry lips and salivating to taste Sam’s blood.
What the fuck?I swallowed as shivers racked my body. When this was all over, I seriously had to see a psychiatrist.
Layla.Sam’s husky voice was in my head.Don’t move.
I hadn’t planned on it, although I wished I had a grenade right about now. I could throw it at Roman or somewhere close by so I wouldn’t kill my uncle. Anything to create a distraction.
Roman flung my uncle to the side and faced Sam head-on.
Uncle Ray scrambled to his feet, rushed over to me, and grabbed my arm hard. “Let’s go.”
It wasn’t the time to argue with him, but I wasn’t about to leave without Jordyn. “We need to get Jordyn.”
Uncle Ray ripped off part of his flannel shirt and wrapped it around his thumbless hand. “This isn’t our fight.”
I bared my teeth at him. “Oh, it certainly is. I’m not leaving my sister.”
Suddenly, the earth began to shake. The SUV moved as though a stampede of bulls were running at us. Uncle Ray gaped. I did too. I’d witnessed Sam’s powers but not of that magnitude. The wind whipped around like a category three hurricane. Swirls of dead leaves and snowflakes churned around us.
Sam raised his arms high above his head as Roman pushed forward, seemingly struggling to get closer to Sam.
“Remove the bomb from Jordyn!” Sam’s voice boomed.
“Not a chance in hell,” Roman replied. “Unless you want to turn over Abbey.”
Sam lowered one arm and closed his hand into a fist. The SUV slid toward Roman.
“I could crush you,” Sam announced, staring at Roman as he continued to hold his ground.
“This is impossible,” Uncle Ray said. “No vampire can do shit like this.”
I had no retort for him. Actions always spoke louder than words and made skeptics believe. “He’s not your normal vampire, or at least not the ones we’re used to hunting,” I mumbled.
I understood why Sam was in high demand, and if he had powers like those, then Jo and his father did as well. I didn’t even want to think about Abbey, and I wasn’t about to dwell on her prediction of my future.
