Chapter 15 The Attack
THE ATTACK
Killian heard the urgency in Hansel’s voice, his stomach sinking.
It had only been a few hours. How had Bleu’s men found them already?
Crush stiffened. “Stay here.”
He grasped Killian’s hips and lifted him. By this point, Crush’s knot had gone down; Killian almost growled at the feeling of his alpha’s cock leaving his body.
“I hate that,” he mumbled. “It makes me feel so empty. So wrong.”
Crush paused. “You want me back inside you?”
Killian nodded. “Maybe it’s a rabbit omega thing.
I don’t feel right anymore unless I have your cock stuffed inside me.
Like a turducken. Except I’ve never eaten a turducken, and there’s nothing stuffed inside your cock.
And—Oh rabbit gods, shut me up! Why am I saying all this during an emergency? !”
The alpha’s eyes darkened. “We’ll discuss stuffing you when I get back. When I have a chance to knot you again.”
A hot thrill shot through Killian’s body.
Crush was out of the nest, almost out of the bedroom, when it occurred to Killian—”Where’s your other gun?”
The alpha pointed at the closet and rattled off a complex string of numbers. Killian was on his feet in a flash, scampering into the closet. He twisted the dial on the fireproof safe.
The lock clicked open. Elsewhere in the cabin, Crush whistled lowly. “Well done, bunny.”
“This isn’t my first rodeo,” Killian said. But he blushed anyway. No one had complimented him on his ill-gotten skills before.
He opened the safe door and blinked at the stacks of cash tucked into the very back. Now that he had a better idea of Crush’s wealth, Killian could only imagine how big each of those bills was.
But there was no time to think about that. When Killian reached out with his hearing, he found the rumble of an armored car coming closer.
He grabbed Crush’s spare gun and checked for bullets. Then he filled an empty magazine and glanced at the other mags lying around. “Crush, do you have a spare mag on you?”
A pause. “No,” Crush said.
Killian filled a second magazine with practiced efficiency, before dashing out of the closet. He struggled into his pants and ran out of the bedroom.
Crush had already left the cabin. Killian looked around wildly. “Hansel! There’s a hoodie that Naddie was wearing. It’s spelled for protection. Please put it on her. Earmuffs too.”
“On it,” Hansel said.
Killian found the bag from Uriel—the Secret Agent Gadget Bag, as Crush had called it.
He ran over and rummaged through the bag for a silencing spell, hurriedly shoving it onto the barrel of his gun.
He bit his thumb and smeared blood across the thin paper; all the runes lit up and sank through the sheet, leaving it empty.
He grabbed a few more spells. Then he dashed over to the windows, peering out to see if his ears had missed anything.
In the distance, a shape moved between the trees.
Killian drew on his shift—just enough for his ears to lengthen and grow furry.
Sounds became sharper. He heard every leaf rustle; he heard each breath Crush drew, and the thumping of his heart.
Barefoot, Killian slipped out of the cabin and listened again. “I’m coming up on your 4 o’clock,” he said quietly.
Crush turned slightly to show that he had heard. Both of them tracked the car coming through the forest.
“It’s armored,” Killian whispered.
The alpha glanced at him then. And his gaze sharpened, growing appreciative as he followed the lines of Killian’s rabbit ears.
“Pretty,” Crush growled.
“It’s just ears,” Killian mumbled, his cheeks growing hot.
He went up to Crush, slipping the spare magazine into the alpha’s hand. Crush took a second to look over it. His lips quirked when he realized it was a magazine that would fit his gun.
Crush opened his mouth to say something.
Killian’s danger sense blared.
A heartbeat later, a gunshot rang out through the trees.
Crush threw himself at Killian, tumbling him onto the ground. The bullet hit a tree nearby.
A chill slithered through Killian’s stomach. That had struck too close for comfort. How had the bullet entered Uriel’s barrier? More importantly—”How did they know where I am?”
There were enough trees in the forest that they couldn’t see the car from where they were.
And the car was still moving, driving ever closer.
How had they shot so accurately?
Fuck.
Crush blew out a breath, looking grim. He moved to cover Killian more completely with his own body. “They can track you somehow. With a high degree of accuracy, and through two shielding spells. Did anyone plant a tracker on you?”
“Not during the kidnapping this year. But... I lost time during the first kidnapping.” Killian’s chest squeezed. “My captors said I would suffer the consequences if I tried to escape on a job. They never told me how. But there were times when they were in the cell with me, and I was unconscious.”
Crush ground his teeth so hard, Killian shuddered. “Fucking slimeballs! That must be how they’re getting through the wards. A spelled tracker. Spelled bullets. But that’s no ordinary spell work, or it wouldn’t breach Uriel’s spells.”
Killian felt horribly unclean. “The tracker is somewhere on my body, isn’t it?”
If he spent too much time thinking about this, he was going to fall into a panic attack.
“Hey, hey.” Crush cupped Killian’s cheek with one hand. “Focus on me. No time for panic right now. I’ll take that tracker out of you the first chance we get.”
He dragged his thumb over Killian’s lower lip, his calluses scraping against Killian’s skin. It was grounding. Killian drew a shuddering gasp, blinking himself back to the present.
Crush continued to rub his lip. Then he pushed the tip of his thumb into Killian’s mouth, letting the sharp edges of Killian’s teeth catch against his skin. When Killian flicked his tongue against it, he tasted forest dirt, and Crush’s sweat and musk.
“Alpha,” Killian blurted around Crush’s thumb.
Crush rumbled, the sound vibrating into Killian’s chest. He leaned in, closer and closer until his eyes blurred.
Surely they weren’t going to kiss right now? Killian froze.
At the last moment, Crush turned his face, brushing his lips against Killian’s ear.
Oh, Killian thought in disappointment.
“Mine,” Crush whispered.
Killian’s heart leaped.
“Now, how do you suggest we take down an armored car with two guns, a wolf, and a rabbit?” Crush asked.
Neither of them had special destructive powers. But they were trained, and they had a little something extra.
Killian reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a handful of spells. “This will eat through their spells like they ate through ours.”
Crush’s grin was all sharp teeth, his fangs long and inhuman. He pulled out his gun and activated Uriel’s spell against its barrel, then did the same with Killian’s gun. “Ready to roll, sweetheart?”
Killian straightened his shoulders and shoved aside his fears. He wanted to prove to Crush that he wasn’t scared, that he could defend the cabin just as well. “I’m ready.”
“Good.” Crush’s eyes flashed gold.
The armored car was still on the road heading toward the cabin, but someone had gotten out of the car and was heading their way.
“I’ll take them,” Crush murmured. “You don’t have to kill anyone, bunny.”
“I’ll watch your back.”
Crush flashed a quick smile. “Stay behind me.”
He bit down lightly on his gun barrel, shoved off his pants, and shifted into a majestic gray wolf.
As a wolf, Crush was big. Strong. He had bright gold eyes and a swishing fluffy tail that Killian would think about later, when they had time to get cozy. Right now, Crush prowled through the undergrowth with enviable speed and stealth. Killian followed, keeping himself close to the ground.
He focused his hearing on the enemy’s position, their pulse and breath. The rustle of clothing, the thud of heavy boots.
A gun clicked, far away. Killian’s danger sense screamed.
“Crush,” he hissed.
Crush shifted in a shimmer of silver.
Right as Killian ducked behind a tree, two guns went off at the same time: one loudly, one with no sound.
A bullet struck the tree behind Killian. A split second later, Crush’s bullet whistled through the air and pierced the enemy. Killian heard the grunt of pain, the stutter of the invader’s heart. Then the heavy thump of a body hitting the ground.
Crush lunged through the trees, firing again. When he stopped next to the man’s bleeding head, he was breathing deeply, his gaze cold.
Killian watched as Crush broke the man’s neck with one efficient twist.
“He’s down,” Crush growled. “Let’s get the car.”
When Killian refocused his hearing, he realized that the car was pulling up in front of the cabin.
They were so far away.
Killian’s stomach dropped. “Naddie!”
“Climb on.” Crush popped his gun back between his teeth. Then he shifted, loping over to Killian.
Killian shoved his gun into his waistband and grabbed Crush’s fur, swinging his leg over Crush’s back. With a powerful leap, Crush took off. He was all muscle beneath his fur, limbs flexing as he darted through the undergrowth, faster than Killian could go in either of his shapes.
The cabin came into view through the trees. The armored car had cut its engine, but its doors were still closed.
Then a window opened by a crack, right before a gun barrel pointed out at them.
Killian gripped Crush’s fur. “Crush—”
Crush flung them both sideways, at the same time a gunshot rang out.
It whizzed through the air where they had just been a moment ago.
“That’s too close for comfort,” Killian gasped, rolling across the ground with his wolf. Crush bit into Killian’s pants and hauled him behind a large tree, right before another bullet hit the dirt where he had been.
The next thing Killian knew, Crush was straddling his shoulders as a man, his cock heavy on Killian’s nape as he took aim and fired.
“This is a whole new kind of sexy bodyguard,” Killian blurted.
Crush gave a low chuckle. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”
He jerked back as another gunshot rang out. The change in his position had him leaning back, his heavy balls dragging down Killian’s spine.
“Are you also going to hump the back of my head?” Killian asked.
Crush snorted. “Sweetheart, we’re in the middle of a gunfight.”
“Yeah, but... I’ve had higher stakes than this.”
Crush paused. “How much higher were your stakes?”
“Three guns aimed at me, at the same time, with no cover.”
“Fuck,” Crush hissed. “My balls just about shrank back into my body.”
“Your balls didn’t shrink,” Killian blurted. “They’re still just as heavy on my back.”
Crush coughed. “Maybe they’re too heavy to shrink. How did you get out, sweetheart?”
“I shifted into a rabbit and bolted out of there. Soooo many bullets followed me out.”
“Were you hit?”
Killian shook his head. “They nicked one of my ears, though.”
Crush’s fingers landed on the base of his long ear, stroking up its sensitive length to the notch on its edge. Killian shivered.
“Are you guys done yapping?” someone shouted from the car.
“No!” Killian shouted back.
Someone else cursed. Then a gun clicked. Crush tensed, his muscular thighs squeezing around Killian’s sides.
The next gunshot took out a large chunk of the tree they were sheltering behind.
“The cabin’s next,” said the same voice from the car.
Crush swore. Killian’s stomach dropped. He reached into his pocket and fumbled for Uriel’s spells, his heart pounding as he flipped through them. He found the right spell and shoved it at Crush. “Gun. Fire.”
Crush activated it against his gun barrel. Then he took aim and fired three shots at the car.
Each bullet burst into flame in midair. The men shouted in alarm.
The moment the bullets pierced glass and steel, they exploded. The armored car contained the blast in a terrible display of light and blood splatter.
Killian shuddered. “That was effective.”
“I don’t like that they managed to breach our barrier spells,” Crush muttered. “But at least they were easy to take down.”
They listened to the crackle of fire, and listened harder for heartbeats.
“No survivors,” Crush said.
Killian relaxed slightly. “I won’t believe it until I see it for myself.”
“C’mon, let’s have a look.” Crush got to his feet, his cock and balls dragging up Killian’s spine to brush the back of his head.
“You’re doing that on purpose,” Killian said.
Crush huffed. “Am I?”
“I think you just want to rub your cock all over me, so I smell like you. But it’s like when people baste a chicken hoping for the rosemary flavor to soak in, only for it to stay on the outside. The insides are still plain old chicken-flavored chicken.”
Crush stared at him for a moment. Then he coughed. “Are you saying I’m... basting you with my cock’s scent?”
“I’m saying it’s not very effective! I haven’t been marinating in your juices!” Killian paused, grimacing. “Actually, that sounds terrible. Never mind.”
“But you have. Remember the knots plugging up my cum? That’s my scent marinating inside you.”
Killian’s eyes grew wide. “Oh.”
Crush hauled Killian to his feet, his smile roguish. He drew Killian close and dropped a kiss on his head. Then he led Killian over to the car, his gun in his other hand.
Like Killian’s ears told him, there was no one alive in there.
“What are you going to do?” Killian asked. “This is like murder evidence.”
Crush shrugged. “I’ll ask Blade. He might know someone who can help. Keep in mind that they attacked us first, so it’s more of self-defense than murder. Now, let’s find that tracker before it can bring more crap down on our heads.”
The reminder sent a slimy chill through Killian’s gut. He shuddered, trying to scrub that horrible feeling off his skin. “I’m not feeling too good about that.”
“Hey.” Crush turned, grasping Killian’s shoulders with both hands. He leaned in so their gazes met. “You’re not alone in this, alright? I’ll be with you through everything. You don’t have to be afraid.”
Looking into his eyes, seeing the sincerity there, Killian believed him. This wasn’t quite as scary, suddenly. A tendril of calm wrapped around his bones and held him together; he could stand taller now.
Crush’s lips curved into a soft smile. “There we go. Let’s get this over with.”
He swept Killian off his feet, carrying him with one arm. This felt so intimate, with Killian’s semi-dressed body pressed against all of Crush’s nakedness.
“Enjoy the hot bath while you can,” Crush said. “We’re not sticking around here for much longer.”