Page 100 of Nikolai (Kansas City Reapers)

I yanked on the passenger side door handle.

It didn’t budge.

“Motherfucker,” I swore under my breath, ducking down as gunfire rained down over the vehicles with renewed vengeance, using Quinn’s vehicle to shield me from the rapidly flying bullets.

Shots rang out above me.

“I got you!” Quinn yelled down to me. I didn’t have time to think or respond. I needed tomove. Skirting around the front side of his car, I pulled on the driver’s door, praising any deity that existed that Quinn didnotlock his car for once.

As soon as the door opened, the window exploded in a shower of glass shards.

I covered my head with an arm as sharp bits of glass hit me, cutting into my skin just enough to annoy the fuck out of me. I hit the deck, crawling under the bottom of the open door to access the interior of the vehicle without taking more fire.

Sure enough, the butt of an M-4 rifle jutted up between the driver and passenger seats like a beacon of salvation. “Thank you, Mercado, you predictable son of a bitch.” I reached inside the car, pulling the firearm down to me as I shielded myself for a moment.

Just as I was preparing to stand up and take these motherfuckers out, the one thing in the world that could stop me rang out through the yard, piercing through me like a white-hot knife.

Maddy screamed.

A blood-curdling, heart-pounding, deathly scream.

I raised my head just enough to see the front door of my SUV fly open and watch Maddy rush towards my position like a bat out of hell, terror etched on her face.

The sight of her, of the woman who I had come to care so deeply about running straight towards me, not paying any fucking attention to the fact that bullets were literally flying all around her, made my heart all but stop in my chest.

Time slowed to a grinding, torturous crawl as I saw everything we had shared, every memory of every touch, every scene, flash before my eyes.. Or perhaps time was racing. I couldn’t tell. Everything was jumbled.

All thoughts left my brain. All except one: save her.Save her, and do it now. Relying on my military training and pure adrenaline, I dropped Quinn’s rifle without a thought and made a dash for her. She was in the direct line of fire. The direct line of fire of a fucking semi-automatic rifle that would eviscerate her in two seconds flat.

Blood rushed through my veins, sounding like a freight train that drowned out even the sound of bullets whizzing past me as I dove at her, tackling her to the ground and rolling until her body was beneath me, just beside my SUV.

“Go! Go! Go!” I screamed, pushing her with all my might under the vehicle. Anything to protect her. We wouldn’t both fit easily, and I still had Quinn to worry about. Not that my pistol would do much from this distance. My aim would be shit, but I might get off a good shot or two if I focused.

Rolling onto my stomach, I pulled my pistol back out of its hip holster and lifted my upper body up off the ground just enough to brace my forearms on the concrete and take aim. I fired off shot after shot toward our assailant, emptying my clip and reloading before squeezing more shots off. None of them landed anywhere close.

Glancing quickly to the side, I checked to make sure Maddy was okay. What I saw stopped me in my tracks.

Bright red blood trickled down her face.

Fuck!

Was she hit?

Was she okay?

“Maddy!” I screamed at her, the sounds of gunfire andscreaming overwhelming me — or perhaps it only felt that way, due to the sound of my heart pounding wildly in my chest and the blood roaring through my ears.

“I’m okay!” she screamed right back. Relief washed over me, and I focused back on the assailants, aiming my weapon once more. I took a deep breath, my eyes laser-focused on the asshole’s head peering just above the armored vehicle’s passenger door to allow me a shot.

But before I could pull the trigger, a shot rang out, whizzing overhead from behind me.

Fuck. Was there another fucking sniper?

Rolling over and skirting around to the front of my vehicle, I peered over to Quinn’s mangled car.

No, it wasn’t another sniper.

It was Quinn.

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