Page 68 of Killaney Blood

The question hits me hard. I say nothing because I don't know.

Did I want him to find me? Did some part of me hope he would follow?

I can't answer that, not even to myself.

"What does it matter?" I finally say. "You got what you wanted. My guard slipped. We fucked. Congratulations. You win."

His expression hardens and the muscles in his jaw twitch. "If it was just about sex, I wouldn't be here. You think I can't get laid?"

"Sure you can. So then why me? There are other medics. Other women."

He doesn't hesitate. "Yeah. But none of them are you."

That silences me. No, it damn near steals my breath.

I shake my head, trying to clear it. There are things about me he doesn't know, like that I can't have children and that men may spend their days coming after me.

"If I stayed…" I pause, my voice catching. "You don't want what that costs."

He leans in, his green eyes dark, lips close to mine. "I'll pay it. A hundred times over. We make one hell of a team, Lyra. In more ways than the obvious."

I open my mouth to argue, to tell him all the reasons this is insane. That the Albanians will never stop coming for me. That I'll only bring him trouble. That men like him don't save women like me.

Before I can speak, he reaches down and grabs the bus ticket from my lap. He looks at me and tears it in half. The sound of ripping paper is impossibly loud in the quiet terminal.

"I'll make it easy for you," he says, crumbling up the pieces into his hand. "You're not leaving. Not until I say we're done."

He stands and takes my bag and then reaches out for my hand. "Come on, let's go."

21

LYRA

We exit the station and it hits me. He's holding my hand, or I'm holding his. It doesn't matter which, it's happening. All I know is his fingers are tightly wrapped around mine and my duffel swings from his other hand as we step onto the empty sidewalk.

Two of Declan's men stand by the curb of an idling black SUV, but I know there must be more nearby. There always are.

Their shoulders tense, hands hovering near their waistbands. Guns, I know without asking.

One gives Declan a nod and pulls open the back door.

I glance up and the sky is black with not that many stars, and the air feels wrong, heavy almost.

Something isn't right.

"Get her in the car," Declan says to the one who didn't open our door, and the man turns to walk around the SUV.

And then all hell breaks loose.

The first shot cracks through the night like thunder, shattering the back window of the car.

I hear another shot.

Then more.

Gunfire erupts from across the street. I duck instinctively, heart beating hard in my chest. One of Declan's men yells something. Another returns fire.

"Down!" Declan shouts, throwing himself in front of me, shoving me behind the SUV. Bullets ping off metal. I hit the pavement hard, a small rock biting into one of my palms.