Page 44 of Dark OZ

Danny took the gun from Thea’s trembling hands and quickly fired several more shots into the darkness, but Orin was gone. Crowe and I made it up to them just as Danny took her face between his hands.

“You look unfairly sexy with a gun, Firecracker, but don’t ever point one at me again.” Then, his face collided with hers in a devastating kiss. Thea’s hands snaked into his hair, deepening their embrace. She rolled against him in a way that made the muscles in my body tighten.

“Well, shit,” Crowe muttered, eyes locked on the way Thea’s hips rocked into Danny’s.

Thea tightened her grip on his hair, pulling his head back with a hard yank. His lips dragged through her teeth, leaving them tinged faintly pink from where she had bitten down.

Danny hissed out in pain, or shock, or frustration from being denied. Probably all three. It was so surprising I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I think what you meant to say was, ‘Thank you for saving my ass, Thea.’” She gave him a hard shove, forcing him to stumble off balance.

Danny stalked back forward, pent-up anger making the lines in his throat more pronounced. “Orin only got the jump on me because I was too busy defendingyou, Princess. You had one job. Light the gas and stay out of sight. Not flash your tits all over the yard while you bathe in your pyromanic afterglow.”

“Don’t blame me for that. I did my job. You were so busy crying over your bike you didn’t even notice that shiny asshole approaching.”

“That bike was one of only 250 made. You don’t want to know what I went through to get her.”

“Her?So I’m only an asset, but the bike is aher.”

Thea leapt at him, fist cocked back. She might have even hit him if Crowe hadn’t snaked an arm around her waist.

“Simmer down, Darling. I promise I’ll let you kick his ass later. See those flashing red and blues. We needed to be gone five minutes ago.”

“He’s right,” Danny added, pulling down on his shirt and brushing the dust from his arms.

“The cab is over there.” I pointed toward a darkened area of the yard. “Orin’s boys parked it just inside the gates.”

“Convenient. Wasn’t it nice of them to be so accommodating?”

We ran to the car, and I slipped behind the wheel. Crowe pulled Thea into the backseat while Danny climbed into the passenger side. With a flick of a switch, the screen in the center of the console turned on a night vision camera, allowing me to be able to see without having to turn on any running lights. We rumbled down the dirt road in the opposite direction of the approaching sirens.

“What about Danny’s bike?” Thea said, twisting to look out the rear window. “Won’t they know it was us?”

I looked in the mirror at Crowe.

“I’ve got it,” he reluctantly looked away from Thea and reached forward for a phone.

“I can’t watch,” Danny moaned, putting the phone in his hand.

Crowe made a couple of deft movements, and then a final explosion detonated behind us.

“What now?” Thea said, settling into Crowe’s side.

“We head to the EC. There’s no point in trying for Crick Link now. Especially if we’ve been blacklisted,” Danny said, opening a side panel to start reloading his gun.

“Agreed,” I said with a nod and pulled the cab onto the I-9. In just a few short days, we’d be arriving at the glittering heart of Oz.

Chapter 19

“Yourheart’sstillracing,”Crowe murmured into my ear, his feather-light touch lingering over my pulse.

“I suppose all thatwouldbe a bit terrifying to someone who isn’t used to this sort of thing,” Danny said dismissively.

Nick’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, a smirk gracing the corner of his mouth.

I rolled my eyes. Pricks. All of them.

Crowe nuzzled against my neck, running a hand up the inside of the thigh closest to him. “Do you want me to tell him the truth, or do you want to do it?”

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