She blew out a breath, trying to ease the tension crawling through her limbs. Where the hell had her courage suddenly gone? Or was it natural to be nervous before you stepped into the lion's den? Sure, she'd led the hunt for Betise when the woman had kidnapped Duncan and René, but that was different. She hadn't needed to present herself as a target that time.
And that was the problem, she realized. Not that she was the target, but the fact that it could all go so very wrong.
No, she thought sternly. It won't. Have faith.
She slammed the door shut and headed toward the pitch-black trail. Ronan, Anton and Trista were working their way through the forest, intending to attack downwind and, hopefully, unexpectedly. They had the tracker to guide them, so with any luck, they wouldn't be too far behind her.
Not that she could afford to rely on luck. She headed through the forest, wasting no time. She didn't want time to think, and she followed the path as quickly as she dared, seeing no point in trying to approach quietly. It wasn't as if they weren't expecting her. The trail became steeper, rockier, as she climbed, and the air was chill with the promise of the oncoming storm. Yet despite that, sweat trickled down her spine. Fear, not exertion.
Soon the trees began to recede and the stretches of barren ground became longer. She slowed, knowing she was drawing close to the clearing where the first victim had been found. Ahead, light danced, sending flickering shadows of yellow and orange across the clumps of snow hunkering near the remaining trees or behind the shelter of the rocks. Two women stood close to the fire, one wearing clothes, one not. Anni and Candy, having a grand old time by the look of it. Her gaze scooted past them and found Cade. Relief surged through her. Her instincts hadn't been wrong. He might be tied up, but he was alive and appeared unhurt. He was also very na**d, and that wasn't a good sign. It meant Anni was very sure of the outcome. Meant she was sure Cade would be doing nothing more than becoming another victim to Candy's mad lust for blood.
But what about René? Where was he?
She swept her gaze around the clearing and found him on the ground, as na**d as Cade and trussed up so tightly his fingers and toes were white from lack of blood.
Her gaze went back to the two women. They were talking, but the wind snatched their words and flung them away before she could make out what they were saying. She shifted around until she was downwind and the words carried to her.
"Trust a man to take the fun out of things.” Anni's voice was contemptuous, cold. She glanced at Candy and waved a hand towards René. “My dear, he's all yours."
Even before she'd finished speaking, the golden shifting haze shimmered over Candy's na**d form, moving her from human to wolf. Then she was snarling and leaping, through the air, arrowing straight toward the helpless René.
Savannah didn't pause to think. She just grabbed the gun from the waist of her pants and fired that one precious silver bullet. Her shot was on target, hitting Candy in the middle and flinging her backwards as blood and fur sprayed. Her deep-seated, hungry growling became a sharp sound of pain, but even that was cut off as she hit the ground. She wasn't dead—the twitching in her limbs and her soft whimpering attested to that—but if she didn't get help, she soon would be. Very few wolves could survive a silver bullet for long.
Savannah shifted the barrel and centered it on Anni—and discovered that Anni was also armed. Only her weapon was aimed at Cade.
"Drop it,” she warned softly. “Or I'll shoot his f**king dick off."
Something hit Savannah's shields—a furious rapping that had a definite male feel. Cade. She lowered a shield and let him in.
Don't you dare drop that weapon. His mind voice was furious, and yet it was tinged with fear—for her. She intends to kill us anyway, and dropping that weapon only makes her job easier.
If I don't drop it, she'll follow through with her threat. She held up one hand and let the weapon slide around her finger. And I am not unprotected without the gun. Anni just thinks I am.
And if you do drop it, what's to stop her from shooting me anyway? She wants us to pay with pain, Vannah, and that sure as hell would be one painful way to go.
He was right in that respect. Anni was just as likely to shoot as not.
"Drop it,” Anni warned softly. “Or I will fire."
"You'll fire anyway,” she said. To Cade, she added, Shield René. I wouldn't put it past her to try and use him to attack me.
Will do. Just be careful she doesn't try to attack you telepathically.
The vicious grin that stretched Anni's thin lips suggested that Cade's guess about being shot regardless of whether or not Savannah gave up her gun had been correct.
"Maybe I will shoot,” Anni said, “and maybe I won't. Either way, you have no choice."
"There's always a choice, Jina."
She didn't react to the use of her real name. Knowing Anni's warped way of thinking, she probably gained a whole lot of satisfaction about them knowing who she really was.
"Like you and that bastard over there gave Jontee a choice?"
"Jontee had a choice. He could have walked away from Rosehall or given up Nelle if she was the force behind the murders."
"He believed in Rosehall. In what it stood for."
"And what did it really stand for?” She carefully shifted her grip so that she was once again holding the gun at the ready. “It was all a lie. A big fat lie designed to do nothing more than gather fresh fodder for the next blood letting."