Liza snorted again.
Narrowing her eyes, she stared around, taking in the peaceful setting and lack of tourists on that particular end of the lake.
“Seduction,” she muttered. “You just had to go the seduction routine, didn’t you?”
“I hope she’s talking to you, Wolf.” Rule chuckled.
“Move it, Rule,” Stygian growled, the rasp in his voice a dangerous, primal sound.
“Got it—”
Dirt exploded above their heads, the projectile that had managed to bury itself in the ground obviously coming from behind them.
Liza noticed neither of them bothered making a sound.
Following him, she threw herself to the right, scrambling for the dubious cover of the boulders stacked along the bank several feet away.
“Which way?” Back flat against the cool stone as she crouched behind the stone protection, she glanced at Stygian.
He’d found a small crack between the two boulders that he was peering through before easing back, still crouched and prepared to move.
“Whoever’s out there has to be the worst shot in the world,” he mused with animalistic fury. “Just enough to f**king piss me off.”
“Go out without a weapon again.” Liza rolled her eyes despite the concern she could feel edging into the adrenaline-laced excitement pounding through her.
“Yeah, why don’t you just do that?” he retorted back.
“Alas, the trusty knife is tucked in my boot.” She sighed as she reached up and activated the earbud at her ear. She knew she’d picked it up for a reason. “I left the trusty sidearm at home though. You promised to protect me, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.” He sighed. But it was becoming clearer by the moment that his mate could do a fine job of protecting herself.
“We’re on our way, Munchkin.” Cullen stated. “We’re heading from the east dock. ETA is two minutes or less. Reever has an eye on your location and taking bead.”
She watched as Stygian’s head turned slowly, his acute Breed hearing no doubt catching the sound of Cullen’s voice at her ear.
“Watch out for the Breeds,” she stated softly as she turned her head to speak, hoping to keep Rule from hearing her. “I don’t have a good feeling about this, Cullen.”
They were being drawn out. Reever was in the trees somewhere, his handy-dandy sniper rifle poised and ready while Cullen raced toward them. Steven would be somewhere close by, and Claire and Chelsea each would have been alerted to Liza’s situation while God only knew what position Klah was taking.
There were times Klah scared even her.
“They take out a Bureau Breed and we’re going to have problems, sweetheart,” Stygian warned her.
“If Cullen finds out the Bureau was behind this little show-and-tell, then there will be even more problems,” she warned him in turn. “What the hell is going on here, Stygian?”
Was it a calculated move designed by Jonas Wyatt to draw members of the Breed Underground Network out into the open? Or was it Council soldiers determined to find the research projects the underground had hidden over the years?
“When I find out, I promise you, whoever’s behind this will pay hell for it,” he swore.
Whatever it was, he wasn’t involved.
“They have him,” Rule announced quietly. “Sights are on your shooter. He’s searching for your location. Mother—” She had a feeling the curse that cut off was due to the shot that was likely heard around the lake.
At least, they heard it.
The explosive retort was muted, coming from the East as the sound of the Navajo Lake Patrol water cruiser could be heard racing for the bank.
“The cavalry is here,” she murmured.