Page 75 of Don't Bait Me (Nora Jacobs 3)

I start to run. I’ve got a very bad feeling. It’s not my intuition; I’ve got no sixth sense telling me something’s about to happen. This is just normal anxiety. Something is wrong. “It has to be them. Why don’t I feel anything? Why didn’t I get a warning?”

“Don’t go alone!” Terrance barks.

“I just put a shield on her, and I’m not letting her out of my sight,” Oliver promises.

I hurry across the casino floor toward the hotel lobby as fast as I can in my stupid heels. Oliver meets me there. “Stay right here,” he says. “I’ll check the men’s room.”

I dash into the women’s room, not really believing Rook’s in there but desperate to be doing something. As I push open the last stall, shouting erupts over the com link. Rook growls, and I can tell he’s shifted. “Rook!” I scream just as gunshots start going off.

People in the lobby start screaming. I race out of the restroom. It’s pandemonium now, with people running everywhere, but I don’t see Rook or the shooters. “WHERE IS HE?”

I whirl around, looking for anyone or anything that will give me a clue. An emergency exit door across the lobby opens, and two people wearing gas masks come charging in. “Here!” I shout. “In the hotel lobby!”

I race toward them, and one of them throws something my direction. Seconds later, I’m blinded by a flash so bright I’m knocked to my knees. I cover my eyes, but it’s too late. All I can see is bright spots.

“Flash bomb!” Parker shouts. “Nora! Oliver! Are you guys okay?”

“I can’t see.”

“Me either.”

“It’ll pass in a second—shit!”

My heart skips a beat. “What?”

“Tear gas. You guys have to get out of there.”

“I’m coming,” Nick shouts.

“Me too,” Terrance says. “I’m—wait. There’s an SUV waiting near the east entrance. I’m going to—”

He’s cut off by a shout and then the sound of an explosion. It’s so loud that I cry out and cover my ringing ears. “Terrance!”

I get no response.

“Nick! Go find Terrance!”

“I’m coming to you.”

“I’m okay. Go help Terrance.”

My sight is slowly returning, and thanks to Oliver’s shield, I’m not affected by the tear gas. I head toward the emergency exit the two masked men came through. I burst through the door into the freezing night air, and the first thing I see is Rook’s lifeless figure lying in a pool of blood on the sidewalk. “NO!”

I race to him, crashing down on my knees hard. I ignore the sting. Rook is still in wolf form, so I can’t see all the damage, but he’s bleeding everywhere. My guess is multiple gunshots. His chest is moving, though, so I know he’s alive. Tears spring up in my eyes. “Hold on, Rook. We’ll get you some help.”

As I say this, I run my fingers through Rook’s fur. The second I touch him, I’m sucked into an imprint.

The two hunters are dragging Rook through the emergency exit. He’s slumped in their arms, head drooped forward, but his eyes slowly open as if he’s waking up from a deep sleep.

“To the left,” the father says. “Sacha’s waitingwith the car by the east entrance.”

They turn to the left, and Rook groans. The two men stop. “What the hell?” the son asks. “He should be out for hours, considering the dose I shot him with.”

“So, we were right. He’s not human.”

“Then what the hell is he?”

In answer to his question, Rook yanks himself out of their arms and shifts to his wolf form. “Werewolf!” the dad shouts.

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