Page 46 of Strictly Forbidden

Another flash of lightning.

Another hard thudding of my heart.

And another growl followed by a whine as Max rushed from the room.

Oh, fuck. Oh, God. What was I supposed to do? With the flashlight in one hand, the knife in the other, I carefully moved from the kitchen, finding Max sitting in front of the door.

“Come on, Max. We’re going to go call the police.” My whisper was harsh and low pitched and had absolutely no effect on him.

He refused to budge.

“Max.”

His tail thumped.

And all of a sudden, a hard pounding occurred on my door. I was frozen in time all over again, uncertain what I should do.

Max wasn’t barking any longer, but I sensed he was ready to lunge if necessary. It was the half German Shepherd in him. I adored the combination with the Golden on the flipside. That’s why he could work the two personalities perfectly.

“Okay, Max. We are not allowing anyone to hurt us. Never, ever again.” I carefully placed the flashlight on the hall table, the beam pointing at the door before gingerly unlocking. After two quick breaths, I swung it open with a significant amount of force, the knife raised high over my head ready to hammer down the blade if necessary.

A dark form stood on my doorstep, the huge body soaked from rain. There was no hesitation on the man’s part as he snapped his hand around my wrist a split second before I managed to drive the blade into his chest.

As he lifted his head, his eyes were dark and cold.

And I couldn’t help but issue a blood-chilling scream.

CHAPTER 13

Kage

Shit.

I’d scared the fuck out of her but at least she was still breathing.

“Don’t. It’s going to be fine,” I said, trying to have a comforting tone.

Noel’s high-pitched scream almost prevented me from taking the knife from her hand before she became a danger to me and to herself. I pushed her inside, immediately closing the door. If she recognized me, it wasn’t apparent at first by the way she was now beating her fists against my chest. I was wearing a dark hoodie, which hid my face.

I knew I’d been right to come here, my protective instincts having kicked into high gear. I’d tended to my wound, thankful I’d been right the bullet had grazed the skin, doing nothing more than taking out a chunk. Then I’d grabbed a few things, including some food and liquor, clothes and all the weapons and ammunition I had along with other tools I could use if necessary. The dead fucking bodies would need to wait. I had to get the fuck out of the place and I needed to get Noel to safety.

With Domingo getting away, even though he was injured significantly, I knew it was only a matter of time before reinforcements picked up where he’d left off. He’d obviously convinced Saldono that I really had killed his son. Memories could be persuaded with enough bullshit driven into a man’s ears.

“Stop. It’s me. It’s Kage.”

Why did I have a terrible feeling that didn’t add to her comfort? After she tried to smack me across the face, I pushed her against the wall, crushing my weight to hers.

“Stop,” I growled.

This time she finally listened to me, her breathing slowing after thirty seconds. “Kage. Oh, God. Why are you here? Did you cut my power?”

“No, but I think the storm did. There are two trees down close to your house.”

She was blinking nonstop. That much I could see since the flashlight had spun around on the table, the beam now directed at the two of us. “Oh. I… No. I can’t believe it.”

“Did you see something? Is someone here?”

The fact she was so rattled couldn’t have been because of the storm. At least in its entirety.

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