Suddenly his fingers tightened on her ankle, a rigid shackle, and then the soldier was dropping to the floor of the river, taking her with him. Bellisia was there, trying to open his fingers. Knowing he was dying, the soldier gripped her ankle harder. It would take him some time to die, some time for the tetrodotoxin to paralyze him completely, and it looked as if he wanted to take her with him. She wasn’t certain she could survive until his body relaxed completely. Gino signaled her to look away. She saw the knife in his hand and she closed her eyes tightly. The moment her ankle was loose, Gino and Bellisia rose to the surface with her.
Air had never tasted or felt so good. Around them, she heard gunfire out in the swamp. A sniper rifle, probably from up on one of the roofs. A bullet hit the water and zipped under. Something big sent waves crashing around them.
“They have a submersible,” Gino whispered in her ear. His arm was around her waist, holding her close.
“They won’t have it long,” Bellisia said. “As soon as you two are clear, I’m blowing it up. I have a stash of weapons hidden in the bank, just behind that huge root system. Get her clear, Gino.”
“Wait and I’ll help you.”
She shook her head. “Like you, I work better alone.”
Zara couldn’t help herself. There was no longer a red sunset to tell her the world was on fire, but she felt like it was. She hugged Bellisia hard. “Make it back to us,” she whispered.
“I will. Now get out of here, they’re trying to make a run for it.” Bellisia pushed off them, swimming toward the root system.
Gino put his hands on Zara’s waist and pushed her toward shore, toward the thickest part of the swamp, but where there was enough of a lip on the bank for them to climb up. The moment they made it to the steep bank, he waited, pushing her close to the wall of muddy dirt, his body covering hers, his head down as they heard three soldiers whispering into a radio.
He leaned into her. “Don’t move.”
She nodded her head to indicate she wouldn’t. Gino moved around her to climb up onto the bank. There wasn’t a sound. Not a single piece of dirt slid back into the water. He used hands and feet to climb, and then it was like the swamp opened up and devoured him. He disappeared. She was looking up so she could see two of the three soldiers looking out over the water, trying to spot anyone swimming without giving their own position away. The third looked behind them into the woods.
Zara tried to make herself smaller without moving. She was too afraid to move. She could only stare up at them, hoping they wouldn’t spot her. As they turned away, one dropped a holdout gun from inside his coat. It fell into the mud just above her. He crouched down to pick it up as the others hissed at him to be quiet.
Her eyes met the soldier’s gaze. Shock showed on his face. She tried to push away from the bank just as he reached down with both hands, caught her around her neck and yanked her out of the water.
He had her on the ground, one hand over her mouth, the other squeezing her throat closed in warning. She stared up at him, tears blurring her vision as her body fought for air. Above him, the tree came to life. Something heavy dropped onto his back and a huge gash opened up from one side of his neck to the other. Red blood poured onto the ground around her, dropping into her hair and even hitting her face.
The soldier slumped over top of her, his heavy weight pinning her to the ground. Turning her head, she saw the soldier’s two partners aiming guns at Gino. Then Gino wasn’t there and shots reverberated through the swamp.
“Get up!” the second soldier shouted to her while the first continued moved into position behind her. “If you don’t want me to blow your head off, get up, Zara. Right now.” There was just a little panic in the soldier’s voice.
She knew he would shoot her. She knew it absolutely. Zara shoved the dead weight of the fallen soldier up while she rolled out from under him. She got to her feet slowly, and he caught her arm and yanked her to him. She reached up to his face and scratched deep claw marks down his vulnerable throat and neck. He gave a hoarse shout and slapped her hard enough to send her stumbling back a couple of steps. He screamed in pain and turned, pulling his weapon up. Two holes appeared in his throat simultaneously. She glanced toward the Fontenot home, knowing two snipers were somewhere in that direction watching out for her.
“Zara, get over here now.” She recognized him as one of Whitney’s go-to men, Glenn Ridges. He was always with Whitney, always ready to do whatever the man said. He liked his job just a little too well. He had moved back into the safety of the swamp, but aimed his semiautomatic at her head. “You know I’ll kill you if you don’t get your ass over here.”
She knew he would. He also had taken the precaution to protect his body from her. His throat was covered with a thick wrap and his hands were gloved. She went to him because she had no choice.
“I ought to put a bullet in your fucking head just for killing Harvey. He would have died from your venom even if they hadn’t shot him.”
She didn’t respond, what was there to say?
Glenn caught her arm and dragged her to him before she was on her feet. He gripped his gun tightly. “Start walking.”
For some reason, now, even with the adrenaline rushing through her veins, she felt the excruciating pain of setting her feet down on the uneven surface. Her breath hitched in her throat.
“Zara, stay very still.”
At the sound of Gino’s voice, the soldier froze, trying to keep her in front of him. “I’ll kill her.”
Gino stared at Whitney’s soldier. The man had dared to put his hands on Gino’s woman. She looked scared. He didn’t tell her there was no need. He wasn’t a man prone to bragging, and this dumb fuck was about to die. The soldier didn’t have a finger on the trigger, but he was turning the weapon toward Zara’s head. Gino fired, putting a bullet through the man’s gun hand. Dead center. The soldier gasped and dropped the weapon.
“Down,” Gino said.
She dropped. His woman. She was a soldier whether she wanted to think she was or not. He shot the bastard through the throat. A kill shot. He didn’t want to kill him so easily, not with Zara looking so scared, not with the knowledge that this man and his friends had taken her feeling of safety from her. He would have liked to have spent a little time showing the fucker what happened to men who made war on his woman, but haste was a necessity.
He shoved the gun into his waistband and reached for her. It was easier to run with her over his shoulder, so he put her there. “We’re going to go over the rules again, baby,” he said, his voice a little grimmer than he intended, but hell, his heart had been in his throat when he saw her on that pier with that shotgun, facing the soldier coming out of the water. He’d nearly had a heart attack when he saw that soldier grip her ankle and drag her underwater.
She didn’t answer, but she bunched the back of his shirt in her fists as he took her into the swamp and out of harm’s way. The rest of the team had mopped up most of the men Whitney had sent to reacquire Zara. An explosion rocked the ground. Birds took to the air. An alligator bellowed. Bellisia had blown the submersible to kingdom come and anyone still in it was gone. Once the all clear was given, Gino took her back to the house.
Joe stood just to the right of the porch, his eyes like twin silver flames. His eyes only changed color like that when his energy went south. He was definitely in a shit mood and there was not going to be any putting off his questions. Gino took Zara right past him into the house, but Joe followed.
“Give me a minute,” Gino said. “Got to get these wet clothes off her and get her clean.” She had blood all over her. He could see that she tried not to see it in her hair or on her clothes as he reached into the shower and turned it on. Joe backed out of the room and closed the door.