The Protectors Series Bundle - By Nana Malone Page 0,80

slice across his forehead quickly followed by something warm and sticky. He swayed.

Symone swore as she pounced on Will, planting both hands on his face. He twitched for several heartbeats before he stopped moving.

Symone ran his side. “Garrett?” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Let’s go. I can help you, but we have to get to the Lair.”

He coughed as the pain of the burning reregistered. Lair? As darkness crept around the edges of his vision, he wasn’t certain he’d heard her incorrectly.

***

After dragging Garrett into her car, Symone continued to drive like she had a future in Formula One. As soon as she pulled up to the Lair and zoomed the car up the sloping driveway, a shirtless, shoeless, Jansen yanked open the front door to the main house and tore down the steps.

She barely waited for the car to stop before she jumped out. “Jansen, get the doc, he needs help.”

At first she was worried he hadn’t heard her. “Are you fucking kidding me? First you bring a Tracker here. To the Lair, where he could be followed? Then you expect him to be treated by Lisa. You must be out of your God damn—”

His rage distorted his normally handsome face to one she didn’t recognize. Jansen never screamed at her. Not even when she needed it. While taken aback, he was not her biggest priority. She cut him off to shout at the pale blonde who’d followed him out of the house. “Morgan, get Lisa! He’s been hit.” Morgan didn’t waste time, but from her expression, she didn’t look pleased about missing the fireworks.

Jansen didn’t let up. “You finally come home after nine, goddamn months, and what do you do? You bring a mother fucking Tracker to our door. Have you lost your ever-loving mind? Is he the reason you didn’t want me to come and get you?”

Symone held her ground and glared. She wasn’t some wayward child to be yelled at. She was a grown woman, and he had no right. “Now would be a good time to back the hell up, Jansen. Unless you’re looking for a little electric shock therapy to help you sleep tonight.”

He blinked at her rapidly, as if not believing her words. Then wisely, he took a step back. But that didn’t stop the berating. “What the fuck did you just say to me? Do I need to remind you of why you left the Lair in the first place?”

Symone staggered back as if he’d hit her.

Cassie stepped between them. “That’s enough, Jansen.” She turned her attention to Symone. “Lisa’s on her way down. What happened? I expected you an hour ago.”

Symone’s voice wobbled as she yanked open the door to the backseat. “Long story short, he found me after I talked to Jansen. I had him secured and was bringing him back when we got ambushed by Trackers.”

“No doubt coming for their man,” Jansen ground out.

She shook her head, sending her hair spilling over her shoulders. “No. They want me. He came to warn me.”

Jansen squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “You have got to be kidding me.”

Cassie put a hand on Jansen’s chest. “Jansen, this isn’t the time or place. Symone could have died. We have a Tracker to treat and get answers from.”

Worry etched over Jansen’s features. Symone told herself he was worried about her and that’s why his inner moron had come out to play. He’d personally pulled her out of that building they’d blown up. He’d taken of care of her, helped nurse her back to health. She’d known how upset he was about her leaving. This wasn’t the way she’d wanted to come home.

Cassie turned back to Symone. “Okay, where did they find you?”

“A few miles out of Mylands. They’re alive, but pretty badly down. In case they had cameras, I double-backed and took the freeway.”

“How many were there, did you cut the tracking chip out of this one?

“There were three. And yes, first thing I did before I left my place. I don’t know how they found us.”

Cassie frowned. “How did he find you in the first place?”

Heat suffused Symone’s cheeks. “That was my fault. A bullet grazed the kid I was trying to save. I got her out of town, but her blood was all over me. He followed that right to my place.

Jansen groaned. “I thought I taught you security measures.”

The thread of Symone’s patience snapped. “And they were in place. I got forewarning, but he didn’t attempt to use