Free Enemy Mine by Katie Reus Page B

they didn’t want him dead. Not yet.
    Kiernan tried to dodge out of the way of another attack, but sharp teeth sliced into his arm as the wolf latched on to him. Agony ripped through him, flaying his senses like scorching liquid silver.
    Pushing through the pain, he twisted slightly, using his free arm to bring the blade down across the animal’s neck. Sharp and deadly, it sliced through it with lethal accuracy.
    Blood poured down his arm, but Kiernan ignored the pain, compartmentalizing so he could do what had to be done. Behind him he heard a growl, the crunch of bones breaking and shifting as the other shifter turned to his animal form.
    Turning, blade raised, Kiernan sliced through the air, shoving right into the animal’s heart. A howl of pain escaped the shifter, but Kiernan didn’t allow himself to feel anything. The shifters were no doubt acting on their Alpha’s orders, but they were a threat that had to be eliminated.
    Withdrawing the blade, he quickly arched up and sliced the animal’s head off. When he looked up he found his brother kneeling by Uberto’s fallen body. A pained gurgle erupted from the shifter as his throat slowly knitted itself back together.
    Since his head hadn’t been completely removed, he’d heal, but Kiernan knew the shifter’s days—or more likely hours—were numbered.
    Grabbing the silver chains from the trunk, he and his brother started trussing Uberto up before tossing him inside.
    Kiernan looked over at the other two shifters. One was in animal form, the other human. Both dead.
    Flexing his fingers, Kiernan called on his fire once again. Now that they were dead, the spell no longer applied. Ordering his fire to burn, he lit them all, but left their heads untouched. Bright orange flames licked into the quiet night air as their bodies crumbled to ash under the intense heat. Without having to tell his brother what to do next, they both gathered the heads of the dead and dumped them in the trunk.
    Uberto groaned loudly, but they ignored him.
    Everything around them had gone preternaturally quiet. He couldn’t even hear the other heartbeats from earlier. Likely the homeless or whoever had been in the vicinity had seen or sensed the danger and run.
    Very smart.
    Covered in blood and dirt, he looked at his brother. “Ready?”
    “You sure about this?” Ronan asked quietly.
    He nodded. Walking into a den of wolves wasn’t an idea he relished, but there was no way around it. Hand-delivering this piece of shit to the Rodriguez pack was the only way he knew how to show them his intentions toward Melina.
    If they still didn’t accept or trust him, so be it. He wasn’t walking away from her.
    * * *
    “The evidence is all right here, Melina,” Carlos said, sympathy in his voice.
    She looked at the paperwork her other two brothers had slapped down on her parents’ dining room table with relish. She might love her brothers, but right now she couldn’t fight the hurt threading through her. They were convinced Kiernan had betrayed her and were practically giddy in their desire to prove it to her. Well, except Carlos. He just looked like he felt sorry for her.
    Which was just as annoying. “So, he received a call from Uberto Mazzoni and the Mazzonis gave his coven some money?”
    “A
lot
of money,” Carlos said.
    “And word on the street is the Mazzonis have been seen around town, asking about you. No doubt they’re behind the attempted kidnapping,” Miguel said.
    “Then why did he save me the other night?”
    Miguel shrugged and opened his mouth, but before he could answer there was a shout of alarm from the front of the house.
    “Stay here,” Carlos ordered as her three brothers strode from the room.
    Biting back a growl of frustration she followed after them, hurrying through the palatial home—but stopped when she reached the hallway that led to the foyer by the front door.
    Kiernan’s voice washed over her, deep and angry, as he and her father exchanged heated words.