Page 31 of Entangled

I gesture at Jasper to my left, and he nods, grim as a grave. Jayk is still pushing ahead, and I need to throw a pebble at the back of his head to get his attention. He whirls around, scowling, and I point at my ear, then ahead. Jayk hesitates, listening, and an eager, deadly curve twists his lips.

Using our old Ranger hand signals, I direct him to swing around and approach from the north so we can pin them between us, and he sets off instantly, picking up the pace to get in front of them. Jasper and I give him a few minutes to get into position, trailing silently.

When I’m sure Jayk’s had enough time, I nod again at Jasper, and we advance quickly, converging on the sounds. I clock three figures moving between the trees, one smaller than the other two. Pushing up faster, I use the trees for cover and take out my knife. I’m about to take the largest guy out from behind when a deafening gunshot splinters the quiet, and a bullet whistles by my head.

I yank myself back behind a tree just in time and hear our targets scatter, shouting.

Jaykfired that? For fuck’s sake.

This is why Beau’s my guy.

One of the men bolts past my tree, and I grab him by the back of his T-shirt and yank him into me. He fights me until I slide my knife under his chin.

“Where is she?” I snap.

He goes still. “W-what? Who?”

“Dominic, I believe I’ve restrained one,” Jasper calls, and at another time, the thread of uncertainty in his voice would make me laugh.

I pull back the knife and shove my guy forward. From this close, I can see he’s a small, weedy kid. Maybe twenty. “Move. You try to run, I’ll gut you.”

My breaths are steady, though I can feel the pulsing excitement kicking my heart into overdrive. I’m calm, always calm in the moment, but I know the bloodlust will hit me like hard drugs as soon as we’re in the clear.

This kid is lucky I take my training seriously. He’d be bleeding and in pieces right now if I didn’t.

Jasper has his gun trained on a kneeling heavyset man. The man has a round, red face and a sparse mop of brown hair. I push the kid until he’s kneeling beside him.

I can’t see Eden anywhere. She must have run when Jayk let off his shot.

Jasper holds the gun confidently enough—we did train him thoroughly, even if he has slacked off lately—but I can see the sweat beading at his hairline. The pale press of his knuckles. I swing my gun around and train it on the two men.

“Good work. Ease back, Jasper. I have them,” I say firmly.

The last thing I need is him accidentally shooting our hostages.

He hesitates, then lifts the gun away, taking a deep breath. The sideways glance he gives me is only a touch wry. My CO voice is not all that different from my dominant voice.

“Fuck!”

Jayk’s shout has both our heads snapping around. He stumbles backwards between the trees, chased by a...

I snap my gun around instantly. Jasper startles, then refocuses his gun on our hostages, wide-eyed.

Because barreling between the greenery is a giant wielding a fuckingsword.

The man has thick, long hair and shoulders like cannons, and with two hands on the hilt of the monstrous blade, he swings toward Jayk’s head in a swift, brutal arc, with a roar that shakes the trees.

Jayk throws himself back, then dives to the side just as I fire a warning shot at the ground by the barbarian’s feet.

“Drop it. Now.”

The man jumps back from the crack of sound and the sudden spray of dirt, then whirls to face me, re-angling that stupid, massive sword as his heavy shoulders heave. Taking in my rifle and the two kneeling figures beside me, he cocks his head to the side.

Then he grins. “Fair play.”

He tosses the sword to the ground, and something unknots in my shoulders, even as my pulse pounds in my ears. Asword? What in the Conan kind of bullshit is this?

Jayk shoves to his feet, his face filthy with fury. He storms into the forest, then comes back moments later with his rifle trained on the man.

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