Page 95 of Tabitha

How is it possible to want to hug a man and strangle him at the same time?

And why do I suspect that this won’t be the last time I feel this way?

I bite back my growl of frustration, then thump Bast on the chest. I can’t just leave the others behind to fight. “This whole place is wired to blow in less than ten minutes.” Bast’s eyes widen, then narrow, and I hurry to continue before he can interrupt. “The longer we argue, the more precious time we lose. Banks is keeping the others alive, yes?”

My heart is in my throat as I wait for his response, and I nearly sag against him when he nods. It takes a moment for me to get my heart rate under control and remember how to breathe. “That Banks remained behind is good. It means two things—he has a switch to defuse the bombs, and he’s keeping them alive for a reason. Me.”

* * *

BAST

Don’t say it.

Don’t you fucking dare say it.

I chant the refrain in my head over and over, hoping to drown out what I know Tabitha is going to say next, but it’s like she hears my words and accepts the challenge.

“Use me as bait.” My worst fears come to life, and my heart absolutely shatters. “You two will use me as a distraction to take out the rest of his men, and I’ll work on eliminating Banks once and for all.”

My insides quake in fear, because as much as I want to argue with her logic, she’s right.

I know she’s right.

That doesn’t make it any easier to resist the impulse to throw her over my shoulder and just run. I’m a soldier. I run into battle with bullets flying. I’ve taken shrapnel, suffered gunshot wounds, lost partial hearing from mortar rounds. I’ve been dehydrated by over a hundred-and-thirty-degree heat, and I survived it all.

But deep in my soul, I know I won’t survive if anything happens to her.

The sayingthe bigger they are, the harder they fallis abso-fucking-lutely true.

With just a simple flutter of her eyelashes, I’m a goner.

I don’t fight it.

I thought falling in love would take time, thought it would hurt, but loving Tabitha is as easy as breathing…and just as vital.

I grab Tabitha’s hips and pick her up, ignoring her cute little chirp of outrage, and lift her until we’re face-to-face. Her gorgeous silver eyes swirl with such emotion that it’s all I can do not to stake my claim on her here and now.

I never used to fear battle, but my courage is failing me now at the thought of sending her into the house with an armed madman.

When I first met Tabitha, she had a hard edge. She wouldn’t have crossed the street if it meant saving my life. I don’t think she realizes how much she’s changed in just a few days, and I very much fear that she would now step in front of a bullet if it meant saving one of us.

The very thought terrifies me.

“We’ll do what you want—on one condition.” I wait a beat to make sure that I have her complete attention. “That you’ll do whatever it takes to stay alive. If you think of doing something foolish, remember that we’ll rush inside to protect you.”

Her breath hitches, then a scowl almost instantly darkens her face. Before she has a chance to protest, I drag her against my chest and kiss her with every ounce of love and devotion that infuses my very essence. She wraps her arms and legs around me, and I clutch her close, as if I could will her to remain safe.

Before I lose the nerve to let her go, I tear myself away and deposit her back to the ground. I memorize her breathtaking features and can’t believe I ever thought her cold. If anything, she’s too open, too vulnerable.

No wonder Pierce is so protective of her. While Tabitha might have a fierce soul, she is more fragile than she would ever admit. She’s balanced on a razor’s edge, where one wrong step will send her plummeting into a darkness that will drown her. Without us to keep her afloat, she will sink beneath the waves and become the soulless killer that she fears already lurks beneath the surface.

I’m determined to make sure that never happens.

I’ll do everything possible to keep her safe…even from herself.

Chapter Thirty

TABITHA

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