Page 81 of Shielding Aubree

Ruben nodded. "Someone. Are you ready?"

Hoyt shrugged his shoulder and settled in behind the rifle. "I'm always fucking ready."

"Who?"How he managed to hold her down and shake her at the same time, she'd never know, but he did it, nonetheless. "Who the fuck is out there?"

His spittle hit her face even though she turned away.

"How did you get someone to help you?"

His fingers clamped down around her throat and let go a few seconds later leaving her gasping for breath.

The next full breath brought back her memories in a heady rush. One moment she had a big hole in her head and suddenly she had all of her memories back.

Total recall.

He couldn't know that, but then again, he didn't care about her, just his own horrifying plans. "Who the hell are you that you're so fucking lucky?"

"Lucky?" She felt a kind of anger... outrage that coursed through her veins. "You left me for dead the last time. Don't you remember that? I remember you now." She was seething, the muscles along the sides of her neck, straining against his fingers. "You left me to die, but I wasn't alone then."

She smiled when his eyes narrowed at her, but she still felt the painful bite of his fingers into her skin.

"You want to know who is out there in the darkness?" She swallowed and gasped as she fought against the pain he was inflicting on her.

Aubree turned her head and looked into the darkness that surrounded them.

She saw the lowered head of the mountain lion padding through the brush. She saw the flex of his muscles under his sleek coat. When his mouth pulled back in a silent snarl, she swore she saw him wink an eye.

Yes, she was definitely losing her mind.

But it was better, she reasoned, than losing her life.

The lion crouched, his body filled with tension like a spring.

Aubree turned to the man who was determined to add her to his list of kills and smiled.

The sudden change in her mood seemed to shock him.

He froze, his fingers loosening just a little.

She swore she could see his mind working, trying to piece it all together.

She wished him luck with that, because she herself had no idea what the hell was going on.

"Say hello to my brother."

He stared at her, several emotions colliding on his face.

And then, she saw the fear.

And the blur of movement across her face.

19

"What the fuck?"

Ruben didn't answer Hoyt.

He didn't have an answer himself.

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