Free Consumed (Dark Protectors) by Rebecca Zanetti Page A

and keep her safe. She cast a frustrated glare at the one not involved. “Do something.”
    Baye shrugged. “Let them fight it out.” He yanked a beer off the counter and took a deep swallow. “They both want to protect you, and neither has figured out they have the same goal.”
    Sometimes he was such an asshole.
    She tightened her hold on the vibrating muscles beneath her palms. “Please stop. Lance, I appreciate you’re trying to protect me, but I need to go to headquarters. Jordan, release my friend.”
    For two beats, nobody moved. Then Jordan unclenched his hands, backing away.
    Lance straightened his shirt, his gaze on the lion. But he directed his words to her. “Are you sure?”
    “Yes. I’ll call when we get there.” She’d miss her friends. But she had a plan.
    Lance nodded, finally turning to face her. “We’ll trace the rest of these people, Kate. And we’ll go after Brent at the same time. The bastard only has four nights until the full moon, and we’ll be ready. Trust me.”
    “I do.” Fear welled up in her along with the bile. If anything happened to Baye or Lance, she didn’t know what she’d do. They’d bonded in fear, fight, and survival. “I’ll miss you.”
    Jordan cleared his throat. “Time to go.”
     
    Katie clutched the armrests of the small private plane, her heart beating so fast her breath caught. After a tearful good-bye with both Lance and Baye, she’d silently headed to the airport with Jordan. Guilt from the deaths kept her quiet. Logically, she knew her dates’ deaths weren’t her fault.
    Guilt defied logic.
    Jordan lifted an eyebrow across from her. He had no problem facing backward as they rose into the air. “You still hate flying?”
    “Cats shouldn’t fly.” No way would she land on her feet if they dropped from the sky. Not this far. Attempting to force a smile, she tried to relax her shoulders from solid rock to liquid cement ... without success. “I’m surprised you’re okay with flying considering what a control freak you are.”
    “How many men have you dated the last ten years, anyway?” He grimaced after saying the words, as if he hadn’t meant to let them out.
    “Enough,” she said softly. She’d compared every single man to Jordan, and not one had come close to being what she wanted. “Of course, I hadn’t thought dating me would be a death sentence.”
    “Not your fault.” He’d tied his thick hair back at the neck after his shower, and her fingers had the oddest urge to yank the strands free. “Date any shifters? Or just humans?”
    The conversation made her twitchy. “Both.”
    “Get serious with anybody?”
    “Does it matter?”
    He sighed. “Yes. I don’t want your dating life to matter to me, but it does.”
    She blew out a breath. “Is it just me, or was that a, ‘Gee, your ass doesn’t look as big as usual in those jeans,’ kind of compliment?”
    He grinned. “Sorry. You know what I mean.”
    Actually, she didn’t. Not really. But she nodded anyway. “I dated my History of Warfare professor for quite a while last year.” She’d graduated from the university with a knowledge necessary for her squad. Even if she couldn’t fight like a healthy shifter, the battle plans she created bordered on brilliant, according to Baye.
    Jordan quirked a lip. “I hope you got an A.”
    “Of course.” They hadn’t started dating until after the class had concluded, but Jordan didn’t need to know the details. “I also took a cooking class.”
    Humor flirted with Jordan’s full lips. “Did you ace the cooking class?”
    “No.” In fact, she’d been asked to leave after she’d set the kitchen on fire for the third time. She and the professor agreed she’d take a C and never return.
    “I’m not, er, surprised.” Jordan glanced at the clouds whirling by outside the small windows.
    “Maggie took classes at the same time and majored in philosophy.”
    “Does she help fight?” Jordan cracked his neck.
    “Not