Safe at Last (Slow Burn #3) (34 page)

And then suddenly she was flattened. Not by Wade but by Dane. His much bigger and heavier body covered her completely, pinning her to the floor.

“Do
not
distract her,” Dane barked in her ear. “
She
is safe, but you are an open target. And she can’t protect Eliza and herself if she has you to worry about too.”

Anna-Grace tilted her gaze upward as much as was possible with a boulder on top of her. She sucked in her breath, staring in awe at the force of nature that was Ari.

It was as though a tornado had struck the warehouse, only there was no debris flying around. Only men.

Screaming, shrieking, terrified men. Men who’d terrorized an innocent woman.

Anna-Grace watched in awe as one by one, the men were thrown high up against the walls, seemingly glued to them. They struggled against invisible bonds but to no avail. Nothing else in the area was disturbed. No flying debris that could accidentally injure them. In fact, it looked as though no one had even been here.

Where was Eliza? Try as she might, Anna-Grace couldn’t angle herself to see the entire area. What if they’d been too late? But no. Wait. There were no thoughts of satisfaction. No glee that the others were too late to save Eliza. There was only fear and rage . . .

Anna-Grace’s pulse sped up. It was hard to breathe beneath Dane’s weight but he hadn’t moved. Fear was foremost in the minds of the men pinned against the walls. But a very close second was fury over being thwarted.

They hadn’t killed Eliza yet!

“She’s alive,” Anna-Grace whispered up to Dane. “They’re pissed because they didn’t kill her in time.”

It might have been her imagination, but it seemed as though Dane sagged in relief, weighting her down even more.

“Thank God,” he said in a nearly inaudible voice.

Beau stood and immediately shouted orders. “As they drop one by one, make damn sure they’re restrained and pose no threat. Ari can’t withstand this for long.”

Anna-Grace glanced anxiously up at Ari and caught her breath. Blood trickled from Ari’s nose and ears and her brow was furrowed in obvious pain. Dane quickly rolled off Anna-Grace and bounded to his feet. Caleb issued a harsh command for Ramie to stay back and then he too rushed toward where the men were suspended in the air.

Now free, Anna-Grace scrambled up, her sole objective to get to Eliza. With the men incapacitated and the DSS agents ready to subdue them,
someone
had to see to Eliza.

Anna-Grace’s heart thumped forcefully as she darted to the far corner where Eliza lay, still as death. Panic surged in her chest. What if they’d been too late? What if she’d died before her captors’ macabre plans had even been carried out?

She stumbled and nearly fell and then let herself pitch forward so that she hovered over Eliza’s body. Eliza was so very pale and for a moment it appeared as though she wasn’t breathing.

Fear and grief formed a hard knot in her throat as she slipped her arm underneath Eliza’s shoulders and lifted slightly, hugging the other woman to her chest.

“Don’t die, Eliza,” Anna-Grace choked out. “You’re safe now. I swear it. Please don’t die. You have to be okay. You’re stronger than they are. You can’t let them win. You
can’t
.”

There. There it was. The softest whisper of breath on Anna-Grace’s neck. She sagged in relief and both women collapsed onto the floor. A low moan escaped Eliza’s lips and then her eyelids fluttered weakly, but she clearly lacked the strength to open them fully and keep them that way.

“You’re okay now,” Anna-Grace whispered. “We’re here to get you out. They’ll pay for what they did to you. And me. And Ari. They won’t hurt anyone ever again.”

Anna-Grace knew she could very well not be stating truth. She didn’t know what brand of justice DSS adhered to when it was
personal
. If simply turned over to the police and the justice system, they could end up going free.

The savage thought crossed her mind that she hoped they’d just kill them all. And then she was shocked to her bones that such a thought
had
crossed her mind. Yet she still didn’t recant. They didn’t deserve to live. Evil needed to die.

So absorbed in Eliza’s well-being, Anna-Grace never saw it coming. But one moment Eliza was in her arms, cradled protectively, and the next Anna-Grace was painfully wrenched away, a strong arm wrapped around her neck. His strength was bruising and she struggled to breathe. He yanked her upward and backed toward the corner so there was no threat to him from behind.

Anna-Grace glanced frantically over the room, confused by how one of the men had gotten free of Ari’s hold. But when her gaze settled on Ari, she understood. Ari had collapsed under the enormous strain of maintaining the barrier around Eliza and the captors pinned to the wall. All but the man with a choke hold on Anna-Grace were subdued.

Everyone froze and time stood still as the DSS agents stared warily at the man holding Anna-Grace. Beau hovered protectively over Ari even as his gaze was directed outward to detect any threat to his wife.

It didn’t escape Anna-Grace that the man crushing her against him had her positioned so that no one could safely make a kill shot without risking shooting her in the process. He’d lifted her so that only the tips of her toes touched the floor and his head was behind hers.

“If anyone moves, she dies,” the man growled.

It was then she registered the cool metal of a knife between his forearm and her chin. The edge was against her throat, so close that blood seeped from the shallow wound inflicted by the blade.

And his thoughts were broadcast in her mind as if he spoke them aloud. He
would
absolutely kill her. If he died, he was taking her with him. In fact, he considered his death inevitable. He didn’t truly believe he’d escape unscathed. His resolve to exact a small measure of vengeance before he drew his last breath was as clear as a beacon.

Terror paralyzed her. She was so scared that she didn’t even feel the nick of the blade. She was numb because she didn’t see a way out of this. The others couldn’t make a move or he’d slice through her neck. And Ari was out of commission, so she couldn’t wield her deadly powers on this man.

“Give us the woman and you go free,” Dane said, his features stony, eyes sparking with rage. “All we want are the two women. Let her go and you walk.”

Her captor barked out a harsh laugh. “Do you think I’m stupid? She’s my only insurance. If I let her go, I die. That’s not going to happen. What
is
going to happen is that she and I are slowly going to leave. No one is to follow us. If even one of you takes so much as a step, she’s dead. When I get to my vehicle, I’ll let her go.”

But Anna-Grace could clearly read his thoughts. He had no intention of letting her go. If he actually succeeded in getting to his vehicle—and doubt was still strong in him—he planned to slice her throat when they got to his car and then he would escape.

She sent panicked looks in the others’ direction, silently pleading with them not to believe him. Not to let him take her. If they did, she was dead. God, she was dead no matter what because either way, whichever of the two possibilities prevailed, freedom or death,
she
wouldn’t live. She closed her eyes in despair and suddenly wished with all her heart that she could have seen Zack one more time. That she’d given him more of a chance to explain—to defend—his part in her rape.

She opened her eyes again, but the room was blurred by the sheen of tears welling in her vision.

Wade gave a nearly imperceptible nod as if to say he understood. The others didn’t look as though they believed the lie, even without her trying to convey his intentions.

Everyone was frozen in place. It was as if they were all holding their breaths. Anna-Grace didn’t dare breathe too deeply. If she did, the blade would slide deeper into her flesh. And then she began to shake.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to rein in her utter terror. She couldn’t lose it now. One wrong move and she’d end up killing herself with no help from the asshole holding the knife against her throat.

“Just take it easy and let up on the knife a bit there,” Dane said in a controlled tone.

His words had the opposite effect because the man tightened his arm around her neck until she was wheezing for air.

And then the strangest thing happened. The man behind her jerked. His arm flew away from her throat and the knife fell off her skin but as he dragged his arm over her shoulder, the blade sliced just under her shoulder blade. Fire lanced through her veins and she let out a cry.

She registered the warmth of blood sliding down her back and her knees buckled. She went down, landing atop the man who’d been holding her at knifepoint.

The room burst into action and through her hazy consciousness she heard a single, explosive word.

“Gracie!”

THIRTY-TWO

ZACK
watched in abject horror as the knife sliced down Gracie’s back, blood immediately welling, bright red and rapidly staining her shirt. Dear God, what had he done? He was sure he could make the kill shot without endangering Gracie. He had the advantage of no one knowing he was there and so he’d set up the perfect angle. The only area he had a clear path to make a head shot was through the temple so there was no chance of a bullet penetrating Gracie from the front.

And he’d fucked it up. She’d been knifed anyway.

Around him the room erupted as his teammates scrambled to assess the injuries to Eliza and Ari. But Gracie was Zack’s alone. No one else would touch her.

He ran full out toward where Gracie lay atop the man who’d hurt her. He had to force himself to calm his seething rage because Gracie needed tenderness. But he wanted to kill the motherfucker all over again. Wanted to rip him apart piece by piece for putting his hands on what was Zack’s.

He fell to his knees beside Gracie and hovered anxiously over her, putting himself in her line of sight. Her eyes were open, but she looked fuzzy and unaware. In shock. Not to mention she was bleeding like a stuck pig.

He touched her cheek with a featherlight caress.

“Gracie?” he said, worry and fear making her name nearly inaudible.

But she must have heard because her gaze tracked to his until finally she found him.

He lifted her hand and pressed his mouth to her palm, so overcome he was momentarily at a loss for words.

“Hi,” she whispered. “When did you get here?”

“Not soon enough,” he said, unable to keep the bite from his voice.

He was still furious that Beau had allowed this. That he’d put Gracie in harm’s way.

She gave a half smile, her expression woozy. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I’d say you got here just in the nick of time.”

She became completely solemn.

“He was going to kill me no matter what.”

Zack closed his eyes. He didn’t register that he was shaking until Gracie made a small sound of pain and he realized he was still holding tightly to her hand and he was jarring her entire body, causing aggravation to her wound.

Gently he lowered her hand to her abdomen and then simply rested his hand atop hers. He had no idea what was going on around him and he didn’t care. He simply knelt there, drinking in the sight of Gracie. Alive. Hurt but alive.

“Eliza,” Gracie said, her features contorted with worry.

Zack swung around to see Dane and Wade hovering over Eliza. Wade looked coldly furious and yet his movements were extremely careful as he touched Eliza’s face, almost as though he was afraid of hurting her.

To his further surprise, it was Wade who gently picked Eliza up and cradled her in his arms. He barked an order to one of the others to get him a blanket to cover her. Zack lifted an eyebrow to see other DSS members paying heed to his order. But then, when it came to a fallen teammate, any pissing matches were permanently put on hold.

Beau had wrapped Ari in a blanket as well and held her there, in the middle of chaos, rocking her back and forth muttering, “Never again. Fuck this. You are never doing this again, Ari.”

She issued a faint smile without opening her eyes and whispered back, “You know that’s not true, but if it makes you feel better to say it, then by all means roar away.”

Zack felt a clenching in the region of his heart. Then he turned back to Gracie and yelled for someone to bring a med kit. He needed to get her to a hospital fast. The others could do cleanup and get the information they needed from these assholes.

Already Isaac, Capshaw and Caleb were interrogating the men. They started with the first downed one. Dane strode over, evidently satisfied that Eliza was in good hands, and he was a scary sight. It wouldn’t have surprised Zack if the guy pissed himself before it was over.

But when they questioned him about how many more there were, where they were based, where could they be found, all they received was a smug, triumphant smile.

Gracie stiffened beneath Zack and struggled upward, attempting to push herself into a sitting position although it obviously pained her.

“Whoa, baby, where do you think you’re going?”

Gracie turned earnest eyes on him and uttered in a low voice.

“Tell them not to spend too much time on each man. Have them question them all. No matter what they say, I can pick up on what they think. And when they asked the first one where the others were and how many, he immediately thought of the place and numbers even though he refused to say anything. They all need to be questioned quickly so I can glean what information I can.”

Zack stared at her in awe. Here she was, having already been beaten to hell and back by these bastards. Because of Zack and his history with this fanatical group. And yet she’d gone to the wall for Eliza at great risk to herself. Jesus, if Zack’s aim had been the slightest bit off, and God knows he’d been shaking like a leaf, Gracie would be dead.

He touched her cheek again, the sting of tears burning his lids. Then he lifted his head and quietly called for Dane.

Dane looked annoyed at being pulled off interrogation duty but he came, his expression inquisitive.