Page 82 of Blood & Throttle

“I see him.”

Another shot.

This one closer.

I feel Sin shift behind me but before I can stop her she grabs the sidearm from my holster, smooth as sin, and twists on the back of the bike like she wasbornto aim off a moving target.

Click.

One shot.

It lands clean.

Ash jerks back, shoulder blown open, blood spraying across Jace’s visor. He wobbles, unbalanced, too heavy for the rear seat. Then he slips.

Hard.

Ash hits the guardrail and bounces once then vanishes into the pit below.

But the second we clear it, I snap.

“What the fuck did I say?” I growl into the comms. “Hold on. Not ‘play hero.’ Not ‘grab my goddamn gun.’”

She laughs, feral and breathless. “Yeah, well. He’s not riding your ass anymore, is he?”

“Sin—”

“Relax. I had the shot. Took it. I did what youweren’tdoing,” she snaps back. “I handled it.”

I grit my teeth, swerving hard around the smoldering body of a rider torn in half by the last minefield. Heat licks at our boots, but I don’t slow. Not now.

“Still haven’t broken that mouth of yours, huh?” My voice drops, low, rough, and cold. “Looks like I need to fuck the fight out of you a little deeper.”

She exhales a sharp breath, almost a laugh. “You can try, Carter. But I don’t break easy.”

A shot cracks through the chaos.

Sin jerks behind me sharply.

“Shit,” she hisses.

My blood turns to ice.

I feel her flinch. Feel her grip tighten and I know.

I don’t even think, just snarl into the comms.

“Where?”

“Thigh,” she grits out, breath short, voice tight with pain but steady. “Just grazed. Keep going.”

I see red.

The rage hits like impact—instant and savage. I want to stop the bike. Turn around. Find the bastard who pulled the trigger andend them. Right here. Right fucking now.

I don’t respond. Can’t. Not yet.

If I open my mouth, it won’t be words, it’ll be war.