Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 49961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Moving faster than any eye could track in the night's gloom, Marcus leapt between the two buildings. He darted behind the prone man, who scanned the area below for new targets with his rifle’s scope. Marcus’s rage boiled over. He yanked his sword from beneath his coat and drove it through the sniper’s hip, pinning him to the roof. Before the injured man could aim at Marcus or cry out, Marcus dropped onto the bleeding man’s back with one knee. The sniper’s breath exploded from his lungs, leaving him gasping for air.
Marcus shoved the rifle halfway across the roof with his left hand while grinding the sniper’s face into the roof with the other. He leaned over so that his lips were close to the squirming man’s ear. “You harmed someone very precious to me, and I will not allow that to go unpunished.”
With a savage snarl, Marcus sank his teeth into the man’s jugular vein. While a bite could be sensual between sexual partners, Marcus pierced the man’s neck, causing excruciating agony. Drinking in the waves of fear coming from the sniper, Marcus savored the sniper’s pain as retribution for his attack on Carina. When that didn’t appease his wrath, Marcus increased the pressure on the man’s skull against the roof. The pops and cracks of his victim’s facial bones shattering as Marcus ground the man’s head to a wet smear below him finally eased Marcus’s anger. Rising from the lifeless shell, Marcus wiped his hands and sword off on the dead man’s jacket before slinging the assailant’s now ownerless rifle across his back. No need to leave the enemy weapons to reclaim.
An instantly recognizable scream sliced through the silence of the night. Marcus leaped over the side of the building and plummeted six stories to the ground in an instant, landing catlike on his feet without a sound. He scanned the street where he had left her, but through their blood bond he could sense she was moving in the opposite direction. Something or someone had spooked her, and he could feel her distress.
He reached out to his clan.
Shut off this area! The men holding Carina are mine.
Mental acknowledgements returned to him like a fiery glow. He could feel their anger. Alaric and Donovan were close. They would handle any threats that might slow him down with the brutal efficiency of their kind. With the avenues of escape closed, he could focus on Carina and whoever had taken her. Rage and the need for vengeance warred within him. Fear kindled in his stomach for the first time in a hundred years. He had to reach his Little girl in time. Gripping his sword in anticipation, he ran.
Carina froze when an almost silent footstep whispered on the concrete outside her small nook. The person out there couldn’t be Marcus. He never made any noise when he walked. Someone was out there. That sound had to be the bad guys.
Marcus had told her not to leave this spot. He couldn’t know that they’d found her. Should she hide somewhere else? She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stop her shivers and stay perfectly quiet.
Carina didn’t understand why anyone would shoot out their tires and then pursue them. Last night, she’d overheard Marcus’s security guards on the observation level discussing that someone in town was pissed Nightfall had launched so successfully. They said the word turf a lot, but Carina didn’t understand what they were talking about completely.
The footsteps got closer. They’d find her any moment. Carina’s thoughts fractured into a million pieces. Between her fright and her headache, she couldn’t concentrate to send Marcus a mental message. She panicked and darted out of the sheltered area Marcus had created. Carina ran toward the shadows a few feet in front of her. Surely, she could hide better there.
A hand clamped over her mouth as an arm wrapped around her waist to lift her off the ground. “Be quiet or I’ll snap your neck.”
Instantly, she froze in his arms. This man wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. If she could stay alive, Marcus would rescue her.
When two other men appeared, Carina struggled to get away. Even if Marcus arrived in time to find her, he couldn’t fight against three men. She needed to even the odds, staying quiet wasn’t an option. Carina screamed warnings to Marcus. As she thrashed to free herself, one of the new arrivals grabbed her feet to help carry her away. The other pulled out a gun. Please let Marcus be okay!
The trio fled from the area, toting her along with them as they ran. Her assailants bashed her wriggling body into obstacles on the way—not deliberately, but with utter disregard for her safety. Low, angry curses surrounded her when Carina’s flailing arms or desperate kicks connected. Exhausting her energy, Carina forced herself to resist and slow them down. Marcus would rescue her if she could hold them back. Going with them was not an option—definitely not a safe one.