Wild Hunt - Kali Argent Page 0,65
hands together as she stepped around Cade. “Where do you want it?”
“Try not to break my nose.” It would mend quickly, but that also meant that it would probably heal crookedly. The last thing she wanted was to have to rebreak and set it again later.
“You got it.” Turning her attention to Luca, she tilted her head at Cade. “Do you mind?”
With a nod, Luca stepped forward and grabbed Cade by the elbow. Cade clearly understood why, because he didn’t try to fight him…yet.
The first blow came as a surprise, and Mackenna growled as her head snapped to the side. Damn, for such a little thing, Roux packed one hell of a punch. Spitting blood onto the ground, she straightened and pulled her shoulders back.
“Again.”
Despite being prepared for the next hit, that didn’t make it hurt any less. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one in pain, either.
“Damn,” Roux grumbled, shaking out her hand. “Your jaw is made of freaking steal.”
“Again.”
Three more times, Roux hit her, and with each blow, Mackenna fought the urge to strike back. Her lips ached where it had split. Her jaw and cheek throbbed with her pulse. The last hit had opened the skin above her eyebrow, and the blood that trickled from the cut made her eye sting.
“Enough.” Cade didn’t speak loudly, but his tone didn’t invite argument. Luca held him with an arm across his chest now, forcibly keeping him from intervening. The gleam in his eyes was murderous. “That’s enough.”
Roux rubbed her bruised knuckles. “Yeah, he’s right. I think that’s enough.” She shoved her hand forward in offering. “No hard feelings, right?”
“None.” Mackenna took the hand and gave it a brief but friendly squeeze. “I’d do the same for you.”
“Good to know.”
“You’re both insane.” Huffing out a breath that billowed like smoke from his lips, Cade shook off Luca’s hold and came toward her. “Damn, you’re a mess.” He tucked two fingers under Mackenna’s chin and gently stroked the flesh just below her busted lip. “You should know that if anything happens to you, I will burn that entire city to the ground.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me,” she promised. “If it looks like things are going sideways, or like they don’t believe me, I’ll get out of there.” She leaned forward for a kiss but stopped when her lip throbbed, reminding her why that would be a bad idea.
Realizing what she intended, Cade sank his fingers into the hair at her nape and pulled her close to kiss the mostly uninjured side of her face. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Everything is going to be okay.” Maybe if she said it enough times, she’d start to believe it herself. “I better go.”
Reluctantly, he released her and took a step back. “One hour. If you’re not at the camp in one hour, I will come find you, and I don’t care who I have to go through to do it.”
She’d do the same for him, and honestly, she expected nothing less. “One hour.”
“If anything happens, anything at all, get the hell out of there, even if you have to shift to do it.”
Mackenna shook her head. “I’m sure it won’t come to that.”
“Just promise,” Cade demanded. “I know what’s at stake, but we can deal with the fallout later. Whatever you have to do, you do it. Promise me.”
Only as a last resort would she risk shifting in front of anyone outside of their trusted circle. It didn’t need to be said, because they both knew it. So, she bit back her arguments and gave him the reassurance he needed.
“I promise.”
He’d take her place if he could. If it wouldn’t arouse suspicion and jeopardize everything, he’d walked right into that town with her. This was something she had to do alone, though. Not because she had something to prove to herself or anyone else, but because there was no other way.
She would be a fool not to be frightened, but she’d known the risks when she had volunteered for the job.
No radios or wires. No one to storm the castle gates if everything fell apart. They couldn’t even stay there at the edge of the highway and wait for her because Coalition patrols would be sweeping the area in approximately seven minutes.
She was completely on her own.
“Go.” She backed away, deeper into the forest. “I’ll see you soon.”
Cade nodded but said nothing as he turned and walked to the SUV.
“Good luck.” Roux gave her a quick smile, then followed after him.
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