Page 61 of Marked

“Hang on. It might get loud and scary,” he said softly into Bella’s hair. If she’d heard him, she’d chosen not to reply.

Voices hollered outside. Tension radiated through Cole’s body. Christ, not yet. They had too much distance to run before they’d reach cover.

Dallas skidded to a stop at the next corner of the barn—the last one before they’d make their trek across the open field to the woods.

“Clear,” he barked. Instead of running ahead, he waved Cole on. “Move. I’ll cover you.”

“There!” A man’s shout broke through the stillness of the night.

A shot fired.

Cole lowered his head and held tightly to Bella. Her body curled, impossibly small against his, and her soft, terrified whimper reached his ears and tore his heart.

Another shot, followed by more yelling.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Dallas would be outnumbered. Where the hell were the rest of his idiot brothers?

He sprinted across the field. Every pound of his boots on the dirt made the trees and shrubs ahead shake in his vision. Two silhouetted figures burst out of the forest as if the woods had spit them out.

Nash charged toward Dallas, and as soon as he passed Cole, he fired at the oncoming men.

Dare hovered near the forest entrance, waving him on. “Move, dammit!” he bellowed.

Cole’s lungs heaved as he leaped over a fallen log. Bushes scraped against his pant legs, but he didn’t slow. Between the darkness and the tall grass and weeds, he couldn’t see much. One large rock would take him out.

The forest rushed toward him, and Dare held a branch aside so Cole could dart into the cover of the trees.

“How many are behind us?” Cole asked, his breath slightly wheezy. Dare ran beside him.

“Hard to say with the shoot-out going on. I saw six still coming toward us.”

“Fuck,” Cole breathed.

Bella’s body stiffened.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. Great. Now he had to be mindful of his language. As if this shit weren’t hard enough.

Bella stayed tucked against him. Her little heart thudded against his sternum, but she sure as hell wasn’t acting as agitated as she probably was. Good thing too because he sure as shit wouldn’t have known how to deal with a frantic kid.

Bella was a tough cookie.

The beam of a flashlight hit the trunk of a tree in front of him. Panic clenched the walls of Cole’s throat. He ducked and dodged to the right. Dare let out a curse.

Crack, crack!

The sharp sting of a bullet seared the flesh beneath his arm. Cole grunted and pressed his back to a tree.

Warmth coated his side, and his body temperature dropped.

“Bella?” His voice trembled.

Please let that be my blood.

CHAPTER 16

Gunshots blasted through the night. Sophia’s heart plummeted to her feet with the speed of a broken elevator.

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