Page 16

The ten different pairs of flood lights surrounding her house and her workshop were illuminating the grounds.

Neri blinked and was out of the bed in the next second, opening the lid of her laptop and pressing the spacebar to wake it up. Once she logged in, she clicked open the surveillance system and moved from one camera to the other until she stopped at a group of men clustered around the front of her house. She counted fifteen men, all dressed head to toe in black.

With her eyes focused on the screen to see if there were any others around, she heard Hunter pulling on his clothes. She followed the group around the side of the house as they searched for a vulnerability in her security.

“Good luck, motherfuckers,” Neri sneered.

Her eyes moved from the screen when Hunter clicked the magazine out of his Glock, checking to see if it was full, before he slammed the magazine back in place and cocked the gun. He reached for her clothing and threw the garments toward her.

She caught them with ease and slid on a hoodie and a new pair of jeans, but when she looked up, she noticed the heat in his eyes. He shook his head to clear whatever thoughts were whirling around in his head. After she dressed, he pulled out a sleek black cell from his pocket and glanced up to catch her gaze.

“Do you remember how to get to Kai and Liv’s house?”

She nodded.

“Go there. I’ll call for reinforcements and when it’s over, I’ll come and get you.”

Everything deep inside Neri screamed at her to stay. But reason kicked in at the last second. Hunter worried for her safety and his focus needed to be in the fight.

So when she heard the click and someone spoke, she nodded.

Before she gathered her thoughts completely, she stood in the next to a copse of pine trees in the dark. When she glanced to the right, she noticed Reaper and Kai, somehow remembering their names with the panic of the situation flashing through her mind.

“Fuck.Fuck!”

Neri hated herself in that moment. She had left Hunter vulnerable and alone.

Reaper jumped and glanced at her. “Where the fuck did you come from?”

She growled at him. “Questions later, but first, I need a weapon.”

“Okay,” Kai said and pressed end.

Reaper must have noticed her expression because he reached behind him and pulled out a blade. He held it out for her and she wrapped her left hand around the thick rubber handle.

“It’s a tactical knife, nine and three-quarter inches long.”

She nodded her thanks, not understanding what he said. “Are you two coming?”

“Yes,” Both answered at the same time.

Without knowing how she pulled it off, she sheathed the knife and shoved it in her back pocket before she reached for both Kai and Reaper’s forearms. She closed her eyes and pictured the woods near her house, far enough away they would be hard to spot.

When she blinked her eyes open, she found herself, Kai, and Reaper a hundred yards from her home and they heard sounds of fighting behind the house, near her workshop. Without saying a word, she advanced toward where she knew Hunter would be.

She scanned the area. Four shifters were already dead, and she unsheathed Reaper’s knife and removed each of their heads with precision. As she glanced up, she noticed Hunter standing there, feet balanced apart with his hands behind his back, as he waited for the three shifters advancing on his position.

Were the others dead or were they laying a trap?

Fury. Pulsing, red hot fury surged through her and she ran without a conscious decision to do so and jumped on the back of the first unsuspecting shifter. She pressed the knife to the right side of his neck underneath his ear and with heavy pressure; she cut his neck from ear to ear. Then she pressed her fingers into the gaping wound and ripped the shifter’s head from his body.

That was easy.

She pushed off the now decapitated body and found the next shifter in her sights. This one was a fighter as he shifted his stance and waved her on with a hand. Without knowing what she was doing, she walked closer, and he punched her in the face.

She snarled as he made contact and her head snapped back.

There was no pain, only violent rage. The snarl turned into a vicious growl as she stared at the shifter. The next moment, a bitter liquid flooded her mouth. She jerked in surprise. When she flicked her tongue to investigate the taste, it ran over one sharp fang and then the other.