“Looks like last rites.”
“Unconfirmed,” came Ian’s voice several heartbeats later, monitoring communications and keeping them informed from half a world away, sounding distressed. “Sisters of Mercy reported in the vicinity several days ago.”
A nun? Oh, fuck me.
As the woman prayed above the man, she was spotted. Kane groaned inwardly. If these bastards got hold of an American female, it would be a total ass-fuck all around.
Run! He whispered harshly. Run, Goddamnit!
Whether the woman heard him or not he didn’t know, but suddenly her head jerked up and she saw the faces of those approaching. She stood up and began to back away. Even from this distance, Kane could see that her eyes were unusually large, reflecting the golden sparks as the flaming embers floated all around her.
Without warning, another grabbed her from behind and pulled off her head covering. Long, honeyed hair tumbled loose, catching the reflection of the surrounding fires making her look like an avenging angel, hair aflame and wild about her face, eyes glowing amidst her much paler skin. A brief exclamation of surprise was followed by a fanatic gleam in each of their eyes.
Two men smiled cruelly as they approached their unexpected prize. The female struggled – she was a courageous little thing - but the man behind her just laughed, holding her easily. One of them raised a huge curved blade, nearly half the size of her small body, and stroked her face with it, then placed it near her neckline. He spoke to her in guttural tones as the blade pressed into her skin, bringing forth drops of crimson. Whether it was his words or the biting caress of steel at her throat, the woman’s struggles ceased almost immediately.
Rage boiled up inside of Kane as he listened to them speak in their own language, vile comments on what they would do with her. In his other ear, he heard the chatter of his brothers. Shane had the one they had come for; Kieran was covering behind him, taking out as many of these bastards as he could as they made their way to the meet point.
“Target acquired. Fall back, Kane.”
Fuck. Kane looked again at the woman. “We got room for one more?” Not that it mattered. Kane couldn’t leave this woman to those animals, not after he’d seen her eyes. They would haunt him the rest of his life. He’d make sure his brothers got out first, though. No sense forcing them back into this suck-fest.
In the short hesitation that followed, Kane already had his feet beneath him and had moved to a better angle. “Affirmative.”
That was all he needed.
Kane took the two in front out easily before they even knew what hit them. The other one held the female as a shield, ducking behind her. It made no difference to Kane. In a blurring move, he suddenly appeared behind the man and slit his throat, breaking his grip on the girl and forcing him away. The spray of blood coated her robes, but thankfully, she did not panic. If she lost it now, they’d both be fucked.
*
She couldn’t breathe. The man had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, smiting her attackers with unbelievable speed and precision. Fire gleamed in hair so black it reflected the flames. Ice blue eyes outlined by thick, black lashes focused on her with the intensity of a laser. He was at once fierce and beautiful and the most terrifying thing she’d ever seen in her life.
His mouth was moving; he was speaking to her. English. Weird, she thought, how subconsciously she’d been half-expecting him to speak in Latin or Greek or some other language of her childhood Orthodox Catholic church. He was an archangel, after all, wasn’t he, raining justice and vengeance upon those that would have hurt her? No human man could move that fast or that silently, or strike deadly blows with such lethal efficiency.
Yes, it was English, but she must have been in a mild state of shock because she couldn’t quite make out the words at first. All she could process was the deep, velvety sound of his voice, as powerful and beautiful and terrible as the rest of him.
He rose to his full height, towering above her as the cadence of his voice grew urgent. As terrifying as he was, he would not hurt her. She knew that to the depths of her soul, and with that realization some of her clarity returned.
*
The woman was staring at him with big, golden brown exotic eyes, scared but curious. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to allay her fears. They had to get out of the open and fast. Kane grabbed the woman’s hand and began to run as more shouts echoed around them. As they broke into the underbrush he sensed the shot before he felt it, yanking hard on her arm in an attempt to fling her in front of him, but she was already in the air. He felt the slam of her body against his side about the same time his left hip exploded in agony. Kane stumbled and released her.