feet were moving even before she could take a breath and shout once more. She raced up behind the other male and flung herself onto his back. Holding on with one hand, she raked the fingernails of the other into the soft flesh of his face and eyes. She gouged as hard as she could, animalistic in her need to prevent one of Dragos's beasts from harming someone she cared about.
The trained assassin didn't so much as gasp at her attack. His elbow came back hard against the side of her face, crushing her lips against her teeth. She tasted blood in her mouth. Felt it trickle down her chin as her lip split open.
And then she was flying backward, tossed off his broad back like she was nothing at all. Failed or not, her attempt to distract had given Hunter just enough opportunity to knock the gun off its aim as the intruder squeezed off another round. Hunter bowed his head and rammed into the other male with the full force of his body, thick shoulder plowing the other male backward on his heels.
Hunter shoved him toward the open door at the top of the lowered staircase. They both tumbled out of the plane together. Corinne got up and ran to the opening, watching as the two landed hard on the concrete below.
Hunter sent a quick glance up at her - just enough to ascertain that she was all right. She felt the heat of his golden eyes as they lit on her face, on the thin trail of blood that she now wiped from her chin.
She heard his low growl, the first sound he'd uttered during the entire length of his punishing struggle. When he turned back to the semiconscious assassin who lay pinned beneath him on the ground, Hunter's movements were precise and unflinching. He took the gun from the slackened hand of his attacker and rose to his feet. Straddling the large, black-clad body, Hunter aimed the nose of the weapon at the hairless, glyph-covered head. No, that wasn't quite right, Corinne noticed now.
He wasn't aiming at the assassin's head exactly, but rather at the peculiar ring of hard black material that circled his neck like some kind of collar.
Even from the top of the stairs, she could see the assassin's eyes go wide with understanding as Hunter leveled the gun on that ring of thick, dull black. Now she saw fear in the other male. Now, finally, she saw his acknowledgment of defeat.
Hunter fired.
A flash of light answered the crack of gunfire, so piercingly bright Corinne had to shield her eyes from its sudden blast. When it cleared an instant later, thin smoke rose up from the place where the assassin lay, his large body lifeless on the concrete, his head cleanly severed.
"Oh, my God," she whispered, unsure what she'd just witnessed.
Hunter came out from behind the lowered staircase as she reached the bottom step. "Are you all right?"
She nodded her head, then shook it weakly, trying to understand what had happened here.
"How did you ... What did you do to him?"
Stoic once more, except for the amber sparks that glittered darkly as his gaze dropped to her split lip, Hunter steered her away from the carnage on the ground. He walked over and retrieved the thick black ring from the charred neck of the assassin. "The pilots were dead before we arrived. Dragos must have eyes all over the city now. He may send more like this one after us. We have to go now."
She stole an incredulous glance over her shoulder as he guided her away from the body.
"Are you just going to leave him there?"
Hunter gave a grim nod. "The hangar doors are open. Come morning, the sun will destroy what's left of him."
"And if it doesn't?" she pressed. "What if Dragos or his men get here first and they realize what you've done? What if they come after you?"
"Then they will know what awaits them if they try." He put his hand out to her, palm up, waiting for her to take it. "Let's get out of here, Corinne."
She hesitated, uncertainty gnawing at the edges of her conscience. But then she slipped her hand into his and let him lead her away from the carnage.
Chapter Seventeen
The human female screamed when she saw Chase emerge from behind the cover of the large oak. Her face bathed in the amber light of his transformed gaze, she sent up another bloodcurdling shriek and veered