Page 100 of The Predator
I didn’t know which way was north. “We have to find him. Ray is going to kill him.”
Webb’s face twisted as he pressed a finger to his ear. “Sam, come in.”
I wasn’t waiting. I took off in Ray’s direction once again just as the helicopter approached.
“Layla, come back!” Jo yelled at the top of her lungs. “We’ll get Ray.”
I couldn’t give a shit about my uncle. I needed to find Sam. I pumped my legs as hard as I could as that rainy night when I was running to save Sam flashed before me.
We would never be able to live freely, not with my family around.
I kept up my pace, searching the open landscape in all directions. Not a person in sight. Not even Ray. He’d probably darted around the hangar building.
That damn helicopter was annoying as hell as it lowered a basket as though they were about to rescue someone.
I stopped cold.Or capture someone.
My heart rammed against my ribs.Holy fuck!Maybe Sam wasn’t the target. I was.
I started to turn around and retreat when a voice that awakened those butterflies shouted my name over the whirr of the helicopter blades.
My gaze darted ahead and slightly to the right.
Sam jogged toward me as the helicopter seemed to chase him.
Then that pounding in my ears blasted as though I was standing next to a bomb. I rushed up to Sam just as the basket swung behind him. It was like the jaws of life were about to capture him.
“Run, Sam!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
But he didn’t. He stopped, turned, and raised his arms high above his head. Then he lowered one arm and closed his hand into a fist.
He was about to unleash his elemental powers. That was the same move he’d done to Roman that night on the naval base. But when Sam opened his fist, nothing happened. He quickly tried again. No fire. No wild weather. Nothing.
He looked at his hand a little too long.
I was about to bolt over to him when someone grabbed me from behind.
Ray laughed in my ear. “You’ll never see your vampire lover again.”
I screamed like a banshee, and when I did, Ray collapsed. I was ready to kick him in the throat when I noticed blood coming out of his ears. He wasn’t moving, but I couldn’t worry about him.
I sprinted toward Sam, only it was too late. A guy dressed in full SWAT gear was shooting at Sam from the helicopter while another propelled down and shot Sam several more times.
“Noooooooooo!” I was about to run into the fray until another set of hands came around me.
“It’s too dangerous,” Steven said in my ear.
Jo came to a halt beside me and raised her arms, ready to use her elemental powers, but when she whipped her arms around, nothing happened. “My powers aren’t working.” She tried again but failed. “They must have something stopping us,” Jo said.
Steven tried to use his powers, but he failed too.
Sam stumbled to his feet and roared. The men just kept shooting and shooting and shooting until he became a rag doll. Then one of the men in the helicopter aimed his gun at us while his partner loaded Sam in the basket.
I shrugged out of Steven’s hold.Screw this.I pulled out my gun and started shooting at the man on the ground. It took me three shots until he fell.
I rushed over to Sam, whose limp body was sprawled inside the basket. I reached in to drag him out when the helicopter lifted. If they were taking him, then they were taking me too.
I was about to hop in with Sam’s lifeless body, but fate had other plans. The basket’s door snagged the sleeve of my sweater, and I tried frantically to get free as the helicopter took off. But my fucking sweater wouldn’t come loose. I scrambled to climb in, but the wind was too strong, and the helicopter was moving faster now. I grabbed onto the grated door, hanging on for dear life.
But the higher the copter climbed, the more the wind thrashed me around. My fingers began slipping as pain careened up my arms. It felt as though my shoulders had popped out of their sockets.
Oh God. The baby. We’re going to die. I promised Sam I would protect our child and me.
My heart beat wildly as my sweater ripped, and I lost my grip. “I love you, Sam. I’m hopelessly in love with you too.”
Then I was free falling, and as gravity took the wheel, I prayed and prayed and prayed that fate was on my side.
To be continued…
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