Evans, Gabrielle - From This Moment [The Moonlight Breed 7] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic Ma by Gabrielle Evans (ebook reader with highlight function .TXT) 📗

a blur of movement, leaping into the helicopter in a show of strength and agility that Cian could only envy. “There’s another chopper on the way,” he yelled as the bird lifted off the ground.

Cian hoped he’d live long enough to be on the next helicopter, but he didn’t have high hopes. Even with the added Enforcers who’d flown in with Raven, they were still outnumbered twelve to eight, and none of them had guns.

Shots rang through the grassy field, but strangely, none of them seemed to be hitting their marks. While Cian was  all for fighting fair and totally against mindless killing, if it came down to him or his opponents, they were shit out of luck where his mercy was concerned.

The three vampires darted through the Drones, too fast to get a target on them. In mere seconds,  they’d evened the odds, taking down four of their enemies. Xander and Logan prowled forward in their shifted forms, a huge Bengal tiger and a sleek snow leopard, hissing and snarling as they pounced on the backs of two Drones.

Devlin and Flynn had disarmed two other guards but weren’t having much success in bringing them down. Sprinting forward, Cian grabbed one of the men on top of Flynn by the hair and jerked his

From This Moment                       85

head back before delivering a vicious  blow to the side of his neck.  The Drones obviously weren’t there to play. They were there to kill  without remorse. Well, if they wanted to dance, Cian would dance.

Devlin finally dislodged the asshole from his back, sending him  flying through the air to land in a heap a few feet away where Logan  pounced on him before he could even roll over. Two of the vampire  Enforcers were down, but they weren’t out for the count yet. The  Drones were dropping like flies, and though more reports rang out,  each shot was more wildly off target than the last.

The air smelled of blood, sweat, dirt, and the acrid scent of

gunpowder. Grunts, growls, screeches, and snarls rent through the  night, sending a chill down Cian’s back. The whir of propellers in the  distance had him jerking his head skyward, distracting him long  enough for one of the Drones to tackle him to the ground.

Fangs glistened in the moonlight as the bastard lunged for his  throat, but Cian dodged at the last second, grabbed the vampire by the  back of the neck, and slammed his face into the ground over his  shoulder.  Since becoming an Enforcer, he’d yet to lose a fight, and he  wasn’t about to start with this idiot.

Rolling out from under the larger man, he whirled around, swinging his left foot out so that it connected squarely with the back of the Drone’s head, knocking  him out cold. “Chopper’s here!” he yelled to his comrades as the metal bird began lowering to the ground.

“We’ve got this bunch,” one of the vampire Enforcers said with a sideways kick to one of the Drone’s ribs. “There’s a transport unit on the way that  can hold all of them. Ahh, here they are now.”

The roar of an engine had him glancing over his shoulder as a huge SWAT-like van rumbled into the clearing and Blaise, along  with five more Enforcers, filed out of the back—werewolves this time.

“Nice of ya to make it,” Cian welcomed them with a sarcastic look.

“We had to get the transport van from a local coven,” Blaise  informed him with an arched eyebrow. “These things take time.”

86                        Gabrielle Evans

They’d won, they were all alive, and Blaise had come through—even if it had taken longer than Cian would have liked. “Be careful,” he warned. “I’ll see ya back in Wyomin’.”

A soft, almost imperceptible sound to his left caught his attention, and he spun around to investigate. A single Drone knelt in the bushes near the tree line by the road, his rifle trained on the helicopter where  Cian’s friends and family were boarding. Before he could shout out his warning or even move, the muzzle flashed and the gunshot echoed through the forest.

Two Enforcers were on him immediately, but the damage had already been done.  On the floor of the helicopter, a white tiger sprawled half in and half out, his beautiful white coat bathed in crimson as blood pooled beneath him.

From This Moment                       87

Chapter Ten

“Let me in!” Braxton screamed as he beat his small fists against  Logan’s chest. “He needs me! What the fuck are you doing? Let me  go!”

They’d all arrived back in Wyoming without further incident, and  Xander had been taken immediately to the Cloud Peak Pack lands— the closest place with a medical center specifically for paranormals.

Braxton had met them at the front doors, obviously in pain and  beside himself with worry. After the fifteen phone calls the guy had  made to Logan on the flight home, Cian had expected it, however.  The bond between a mated pair was too strong for Braxton not to  have known the second it happened.

They’d also  relocated Zavion and his friends to the facility,  though no one was having any luck figuring out how to help them. All  four were resting comfortably  with  the aid of sleep medication, but their vitals were steadily declining.

Standing inside the doorway of Zavion’s room, Cian continued to  watch the heated argument between Braxton and Logan. He couldn’t  say that he blamed the little guy. He’d be spitting mad if someone  tried to keep him away from his mate.

The surgery had gone well to remove the bullet from Xander’s  back, and they’d taken a pint of blood from Braxton to  give  to him  intravenously. Nearly twelve hours later, though, the alpha still hadn’t  opened his eyes. For humans, maybe that was normal. For shifters, it  was certainly cause for concern.

“Braxton, there is nothing you can do for him right now,” Logan  said quietly. “You’re just going to get yourself worked up, and that’ s

88                        Gabrielle Evans

not going to help. You know he can feel you, and this isn’t good for

him. Just calm down.”

“Go to hell, Logan,” Braxton responded coldly. “Let me in that  goddamn door, or