Free Femme Fatale by Cynthia Eden Page A

a trick. A trap. Damn him.”
    Mick took the gun out of his holster. “Wooden bullets, baby. He isn’t the only one ready for a fight.”
    But instead of looking reassured, uncertainty flashed in her eyes. “You…you had those the whole time?” She backed up a step. “You…came here with them?”
    Oh, hell. “Savannah, no, it’s not like that. I never intended to use them on you!”
    “Are you sure of that?”
    “I—” An explosion rocked the building. One, then another. Savannah screamed and grabbed for Mick. The whole warehouse was shaking, and he realized that Kale must have rigged bombs around the place.
    While I was distracted by her.
    The place was literally burning around them. They couldn’t stay there. They had to get out or they’d die, but when they ran to the stairs, Mick saw that they were already engulfed in flames. Smoke filled the air, heavy and dark, and he choked, trying to breathe as he realized that escape wasn’t coming that way.
    He glanced around, fast and frantic.
    “Fire escape,” Savannah said. “To the right. The window there—”
    He yanked open the interior shutters and shoved that window wide open. Sure enough, there was a fire escape leading down. He headed out onto the narrow ledge and pulled Savannah after him. The heat from the blaze seemed to race across his skin.
    “Go!” Savannah said. “Go!” He rushed ahead, wanting to reach the ground first so that he could provide cover for her. He knew Kale was waiting, and Mick wanted to protect Savannah. His feet touched down moments later. He backed away from the fire escape ladder, looked up for her—
    But Savannah wasn’t on the fire escape. She wasn’t on the ledge. And the fire was bursting from the windows of her home.
    “No!”
Mick roared.
    And then something—no,
someone—
slammed into him.

Chapter Eight
    Mick rolled across the ground. He’d been tackled by one damn powerful SOB, but Mick wasn’t about to stay down. He leapt to his feet, the gun clutched in his left hand.
    Kale smiled at him. “Thanks for leading me right to Savannah. It was nice to watch
her
burn for a change.”
    No, no, Savannah wasn’t burning. She’d been right behind him. The whole time. She—
    “You left her up there, huh?” Kale taunted. “A save-yourself man, are you? Can’t say I blame you. Savannah is really more trouble than she’s worth—”
    Mick fired at him. Once, twice. He aimed straight for the vamp’s chest, and those bullets tore into Kale. The guy jerked under the impact and he staggered back, seemingly stunned that Mick had actually attacked him. Dumb SOB. What had he thought would happen? They’d stand there
talking
while that fire raged?
    “She’s worth plenty to me,” Mick snarled. Then he whirled toward the fire. “
Savannah!”
    “It’s all right, Mick, I’m here,” she said. Her voice came from close by—very close. His head shot to the right and he found her standing over Kale’s prone body.
Vamp speed.
He’d never even seen her run toward he guy. She shook her head as she stared down at him. “You got his heart. I can’t believe it. I rushed over to save you…” Her head lifted. “But you saved me instead.”
    Well, hell, yes, he had. He’d save her any day of the week.
    “I thought there would be more,” Savannah said. “After all of this, he’s just…gone…”
    Bam!
    That gunfire—it hadn’t come from Mick’s gun. But Savannah was staring at him with wide, desperate eyes and red was blooming on her chest. “
Mick?”
    Bam! Bam!
    Her body jerked like a marionette.
    “No!” Mick yelled but Savannah was already falling, slamming toward the ground and hitting just inches from Kale’s sprawled form. Only Mick hadn’t fired at her. He hadn’t shot those bullets.
    The shooter had been behind Savannah. The bullets had gone straight through her body.
    I didn’t shoot, baby. I swear, it wasn’t me.
But he’d been holding his gun up and in that last instant before she fell,