Safe at Last (Slow Burn #3)

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?”