Page 10 of Wed Or Dead

Me.

Shit. Kayla gulped and stopped struggling.

Gage had pulled her in front of him, and he was using her as a human shield. His claws were back at her neck.Again with that?And a growl rumbled from his throat. Her husband was definitely showing the beast-like tendencies that he’d kept so carefully hidden for weeks.

He sure wasn’t so easygoing any longer.

“Stand the hell down,” Gage ordered, voice cold and deadly, “or watch her die.”

The masked man in front lifted his left hand immediately in a signal she knew meant the others should freeze. She couldn’t see the hunter’s face, but she didn’t have to. She’d know Jonah anyplace. The tall build, the wiry strength. He was the lead on this mission, and the others would do whatever he commanded.

“Let her go,” Jonah said, and his own voice matched Gage’s in arctic chill. The perfect hunter. Cold and emotionless. Jonah hadn’t always been like that.

But then again, she hadn’t always been a killer, either. They’d both been more, before.

Before a night of blood and screams. Death and hell. And monsters.

“Let her go?” Gage repeated, sounding surprised. He actually laughed, then said, “I don’t think so,” as he began to back up—with her still clutched tightly against him. His slow, deliberate steps eased them across the room.

Oh, sonowhe was heading toward the window? Kayla kept her movements timed with his and made sure to use her body to shield him as much as possible. At least he was fleeing now. Better late than never. He’d drop her before he made his exit. He’d be safe. She’d be?—

Um, well, something.

Jonah took a step forward.

Gage’s hold tightened on her. “Move again,” he told the masked intruders, “and you’ll find yourself walking in her blood.”

Kayla’s breath froze in her lungs. Were the vicious words an idle threat or the real deal? In that moment, she wasn’t sure. Claws were at her throat. A shifter at her back. And guns waited in front of her.

Hardly the perfect morning-after that most brides experienced.

Jonah holstered his weapon. He gave a quick hand-motion to the two silent men behind him. They lowered their weapons.

“Why isn’t he dead?” Jonah asked her.

Did he really want her to go into thatnow?

Gage stopped the backward walk they were doing. He lifted his hand and slammed it into the window. Glass shattered and rained down around their feet. Wow. Shifter strength. Humans would never be able to break the reinforced glass so easily.

“I’m not dead because she loves me,” Gage told him, voice clear and loud. And definitely with aduhedge. “And that’s why she’s leaving you assholes behind and joiningme. ”

Kayla’s jaw dropped, but before she could speak, Gage spun her around and pulled her flush against his body.

“Put your arms around me,” he ordered with glinting eyes and a locked jaw. “And hold the hell on.”

She put her arms around him but shook her head. No, he couldn’t mean to take her with him. Notthroughthe window. While he’d easily survive the fall and quickly heal from any broken bones, she wouldn’t. As a human, she didn’t have that amazing healing luxury. A fall from the third floor could kill her.

Probablywouldkill her.

Gage brought his head in close to hers. His lips feathered over her cheek, and he whispered, “Trust me, I’ll keep you safe.”

On a three-story fall? The hell, no, he?—

Gage leapt through the remnant of the window, holding her tight, and Kayla screamed.

Wind whipped past her.I’m dying.So this was the way she was going out. Better than getting slashed apart by a vamp or incinerated by a demon but?—

They were on the ground. Gage’s knees had barely buckled. And...she was fine. Still held tightly in his arms.

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