Page 120 of Line of Sight

Fielding smirked. “See? Pathetic.” And before Aric could take a breath, Fielding lurched out of the chair and grabbed the gun, knocking Aric to the floor. “Are you so stupid you didn’t realize the safety was on?” He moved his thumb and smiled. “But it’s off now, not that I need it to finish you. I can do that with one hand, but I’m not going to waste time killing you. Especially since you might have some use after all—as a shield.” He grabbed Aric around the throat and squeezed. “How many guards outside?” He released his grip a little, and Aric coughed.

“One,” he croaked. “Everyone else is inside.”

Now would be a good time, Brick.

Fielding nodded. “Armed, of course.” He dragged Aric to the door and opened it a crack, the gun raised. Then he shoved Aric through the doorway, aiming at the guard, pulling the trigger—

And nothing happened. Fielding’s shocked expression was almost comical.

Then a ferocious roar shattered the silence, and Aric scrambled to his feet, his heart thumping. Somewhere, Seth cried out, “Don’t shoot him!”

A solid mass of white fur crossed Aric’s field of vision, barreled into Fielding, and shoved him out of sight, accompanied by Fielding’s shriek. Thunderous noises filled the air as heavy paws slammed the ground, and Aric winced at the sound of Brick’s deafening roar as he hurtled after Fielding.

I have to see.

He turned in time to watch Brick slam a hefty paw into the side of Fielding’s face with enough force to snap his neck. Fielding dropped like a stone, but Brick wasn’t done. The air was filled with noises that curdled Aric’s blood: The scream that was cut off, the gurgle of blood, and the crunch as Brick bit through bone and cartilage. He closed his jaws around Fielding’s throat,and by the time he was through, Fielding’s head was hanging by its tendons.

Aric jumped when arms encircled him.

Easy, baby. Only me.

Aric turned away from the sight of blood staining Brick’s maw and buried his face in Seth’s chest. Seth held on to Aric, his hand on Aric’s nape.Trust me, you don’t need to see any more.

“Hey!” Brick yelled. “Can I get some help here? Got some trash that needs scraping off the tarmac.”

Then there was the sound of boots thudding on concrete and raised voices.

“What the fuck?” That was Crank.

“Here.” That was Horvan. “Wipe yourself off with this.” A pause. “Good thing we found out everything we needed, huh?”

“He was going to kill Aric!” Brick retorted. “And the world’s a better place without that fucker. What’s going to happen to him? What’s left of him, at any rate.”

“Aelryn will find a deep, dark hole to bury the POS in, where no one will ever find him. That’s one grave that won’t get a marker.”

Aric. Turn around.

There was no way Aric could ignore Brick.

He turned to be greeted by the sight of a naked Brick, a bloodied towel in his hand.

Brick was glaring.

“Why would you go after him with my gun? And Iknowit was loaded.”

“Yeah, it was.” Aric reached into his pocket and withdrew the bullets. “Now you can put them back.”

Seth gasped. “You set him up. You knew Fielding would go for the gun, and you made sure we knew what you were doing.”

“Of course.” Aric glanced at the tarp-covered lump on the ground. “Fielding haunted Brick’s dreams. I wanted to give Brickthe chance to kill him, to rid us of him forever.” What surprised him was how the memory of what he’d seen only moments ago, what he’d heard, was fading with every second, as if his mind didn’t want to hold on to it a moment longer and was already into the process of expelling it.

Aric was fine with that.

Brick pulled Aric to him. “I’ve already talked to you about putting yourself in danger. What the hell do I have to do? Put you over my knee and swat your ass as a reminder?”

Seth coughed. “Uh, Brick?”

Brick’s head snapped toward him. “What?”