Protectors by Teyla Branton

Author:Teyla Branton [Branton, Teyla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romantic Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 978-1-948982-20-7
Publisher: White Star Press
Published: 2014-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

THREE RAPID SHOTS CAME FROM behind Javier. Boom, boom, boom! He toppled on me, his eyes staring in horror. I pushed him off to see Marisa standing over us, her gun in her hand.

“Marisa,” Javier said, disbelief in his tone. “Marisa, mi amor.”

“That is for three years of hell,” she spat. “And this”—she emptied three more rounds into his chest—“is for my husband.” Javier was long past hearing by the time a dry click signaled no more bullets, and I knew her words were for me. There was apparently a lot more to her story—and to those kisses.

I breathed a sigh of relief and came painfully to my feet. “Thank you.”

“You are wounded.” She hurried forward and took my arm. The sleeve was bloody, but the arm only grazed. My stomach and ribs hurt a thousand times more, but that vest had been worth every bit of discomfort it had caused me in the jungle.

“I’m okay. Let’s see to my friend.”

I hurried to Tenika, who was still conscious despite the steady flow of blood coming through her clothes. I removed my own shirt and bundled it against the stomach wound. She pushed her gagged mouth in my direction, saying something I couldn’t understand, but the knot on the gag was impossible to remove, so I retrieved Javier’s knife and cut through the cloth.

“Thank you,” she said, the barest hint of her native Portuguese coloring the words.

“You okay?”

“I will be.”

“I’ll get you some curequick. Just let me check all these guys first before anyone else decides to use you for target practice.” Or me.

“Good idea.”

I covered her with a blanket before going around the tent to examine each bandit. Marisa began cutting one of the blankets with a knife so I could tie them all up. No way was I leaving any free. Except Javier, who wasn’t going anywhere ever again. Occasionally, I caught Marisa’s gaze drifting in his direction. Every time, her relief was clear, and I wondered again what had been between them.

“I took care of the man who relieved the first lookout,” I said, “but don’t forget we still have one more out there. Did you see him when they captured you?” It bothered me that he hadn’t yet appeared. If he was hidden in the trees with a rifle, getting out of here alive would be difficult.

“I saw him. He won’t be a problem.” Marisa’s face held no expression as she spoke, but her eyes seemed haunted. I didn’t ask her what happened. I hadn’t heard any shots, but she likely had a few more tricks in her bag. I know I did. Renegades valued diversity.

I found my weapons and put my nine mil, the backup pistol, the grenade, and two knives back in their places, along with the extra tranque darts. “I’ll be back in just a few minutes with your meds,” I said to Tenika. With the last bandit out of the picture, I’d take the long way around the tent instead of wasting time cutting through.

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