Page 105 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha
I hadn’t known it was possible either, but it had happened. “Look all you want,” I said, moving my hands from my stomach. “But you might want to watch the fireworks instead.”
“What fireworks?” asked Caly, sounding confused.
I waved my arm in the vague direction of the show that was about to begin. “The chopper. Bastien’s about to make a big badda-boom.”
“Oh,” they said in unison, turning to watch the action.
Chapter 90
Bastien
I had known that Maximilian Veder would die. I had decided it after he had my Pixie illegally interrogated by that worm.
But I hadn’t expected her to ask me to do it.
So I would take him out… with fucking pleasure.
What my girl wanted, my girl got.
When I clambered into the cabin, Veder began to screech for his bodyguard to, “Kill it! Kill it!” Rude. He really had the most annoying voice. Shrill and piercing, it hurt my ears. The remaining goon stood, lifting a semi-automatic to his hip and holding down the trigger.
“Tickles,” I said, giving him my craziest smile. The one that showed my fangs. Stalking forward, I grabbed the gun. He held onto it. Big mistake. Flexing my muscles as if throwing a discus, I twisted my hips and tossed him out the open door behind me.
“Your turn,” I growled.
Veder continued to screech.
“What the fuck is going on back there?” The pilot’s voice came through Veder’s headset.
Veder shrank back when I leaned forward to take the headset from him. I spoke into the mic. “Jump.”
“What the fuck?” the pilot shouted. Proving that he was an idiot, he picked up a pistol from the seat next to him. Before he could fire it, I’d dragged him out of his seat and hauled him against my body. By the neck.
His face began to turn an interesting shade of red and his hands scrabbled at mine, trying to loosen my grip. Bringing my face close to his, I whispered in his ear, “You shot my mate. That makes me very angry.” I was such a civilised monster I could use my words. “So I’ll give you a choice. Jump and take your chances… or I’ll rip your fucking head off.”
The chopper lurched violently to one side. I widened my stance, grabbing a rail for balance. “Tick, tock,” I said. “Time’s a wasting.”
The pilot gurgled and one arm gestured frantically. “Jump? Is that it?”
He gave me a frantic thumbs up. I loosened my fingers and he slid to the floor. “Go,” I said, and he jumped.
Which just left my little friend. Maximilian Veder. A thorn in my side. I’d dealt with him politely for years. Using my political power and my skills as a negotiator to block him in the Council. And that’s how things would have stayed, if he hadn’t decided to escalate.
It wouldn’t be long now until the chopper crashed. And without his hired muscle, his anti-magic devices ineffective against me, Veder was such a coward that he just sat there, trembling, the acrid scent of his piss catching in my nostrils.This was the man who’d masterminded the terrorist attack on me and Elie. Who’d stacked the Council against me. My lip curled. He was pathetic.
I’d had vague ideas of making him run. Of chasing him before I killed him, of prolonging his terror. But the chase would be a waste of my time. I wanted to be back with my mate.
His neck gave a satisfying crack when I broke it.
Then I leaped from the doomed chopper moments before it crashed, already running when I hit the ground. The fireball it created lit the night like fireworks.
Chapter 91
Electra
I woke early, registering Bastien’s arms wrapped around me, one leg thrown over my thigh as if he was afraid that I would leave him. The grey light of a winter dawn was barely filtering through the gap in the curtains.
Today was the day we had to leave our hideaway. I didn’t want to. I wanted to stay here, forever. But it had only taken ten days for the Council to rescind the Order against Bastien. After the press conference, the evidence that Silvio and Maximilian had tried to illegally force information from me, the Council had been inundated with demands for Bastien’s release. Voter opinion was firmly on our side. Adding in my deposition that I had wanted Bastien’s mate bite, and the evidence given by his staff that he had been clearly courting me for years, the Council had decided that Execution Order couldn’t stand. Even though Bastien hadn’t formally Declared his Intent, the bond had been declared consensual.
