Page 80 of Flare
It hurt like hell, but she heard a satisfying pop as his joint buckled. Andrew staggered and collapsed with a deafening roar of pain.
She bolted from the breakfast nook and sprinted for the kitchen, where her new gun sat on the counter, next to her purse.
The living room—and front door—lay on the other side of the kitchen, through an arched opening.
Behind her, Andrew heaved himself to his feet and gave chase. He was limping badly but still moving way too fast.
Emily didn’t slow down as she ran through the kitchen. She snatched up the gun and kept going.Just a few more feet…
Something huge and heavy passed her in a blur, shoving her aside. And then Andrew was standing in front of her, blocking the way to the living room… and escape.
“Emily,” he rasped from his hideous, half-transformed muzzle. The words were distorted by his misshapen mouth.“How could you betray me like that? With him?”
Her hands trembled as she raised the gun and aimed it at Andrew, and her breath came in ragged gasps—but she had a chance now.
In the distance, she heard a siren. Help was on the way. She just needed to protect herself for another few minutes.
“Get out of here,” she quavered, desperately bracing her quivering elbows against her sides.“Or I’ll shoot you.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” he snarled.
She didn’t think. Just squeezed the trigger like she’d practiced repeatedly yesterday and Monday.
Her first shot missed him and shattered the living room window.
But it made Andrew freeze. He stared at her as if she’d suddenly grown an extra head.“Emmie, what are you doing?” He sounded weirdly bewildered.
Then she heard a vehicle screeching to a halt on the street outside.“EMILY!”
Ward!Relief rushed through her like a tsunami.
“Ward, I’m in the kitchen!” she shouted, keeping her weapon leveled at Andrew.
Andrew roared, a bestial sound that made her ears ring.“You whore! I gave youeverything!” he growled.“I’m your mate! Youbelongto me!”
Then he lunged forward, his long, curved talons reaching for her.
Cursing her shaking hands, she aimed and squeezed the trigger again. The gun jumped in her hands, and a thick line of blood welled up across his upper arm.
He stopped and clapped one paw over the wound.“Bitch, I’ll make you pay for that!”
A heavy tread sounded on the front porch an instant before the front door flew open.
Andrew whirled around, just in time to meet a wall of snarling, furious grizzly.
Ward’s bear was massive, with thick dark-brown fur, blazing amber eyes, and massive paws tipped with curved black claws as long as her fingers.
The two bear shifters slammed into each other, claws slashing, fangs snapping.
Ward fought with disciplined precision, his movements economical and purposeful. Andrew attacked with erratic savagery, driven by rage rather than skill.
Emily’s finger tightened on the trigger, but she couldn’t risk shooting with the two massive forms tangled together. What if she shot Ward by mistake?
The living room coffee table splintered beneath their weight. A lamp crashed to the floor. The sofa flipped backward asWard drove Andrew into it, his massive paws pinning Andrew’s shoulders momentarily.
For one heartbeat, Emily dared to hope.
Then Andrew twisted suddenly, his horribly deformed, clawed feet coming up to rake across Ward’s exposed underbelly. Emily heard the wet, terrible sound of flesh tearing open. Saw the shock in Ward’s amber eyes. Watched in horror as dark blood immediately soaked his fur.
