Repairer of the Breach (Stones of Fire Book 4) by Sarah Ashwood (reading eggs books .TXT) 📗

head of the shifter who had seemingly attacked his family. “Why, though?” I asked, as the couple continued to verbally spar in the background.

“I don’t know…” Carter admitted, but even as the words slipped out his posture tensed. I saw his dark eyes flickering around, studying the scene. I tried to follow his gaze, to absorb what he was seeing, but in the next breath everything changed.

“Sean!” Carter shouted, lunging forward, tearing away from me. In the same motion, he shoved me toward the cops, yelling at them, “Watch Ellie!” I didn’t have time to respond. The world blurred as I fell towards the police officers. I saw my husband diving towards his boss, caught the glint of headlights on bronze as Carter disappeared and the Talos took his place. In the same instant, even as I was pitching forward, Mr. Costas vanished as the mighty Minotaur replaced him.

I still didn’t understand what was happening, not for the first few seconds of confusion. I heard shouting. Heard a gun go off. Heard scuffling, like feet and bodies moving. Then I landed in the dirt next to Detective Ewing who instantly dropped to one knee next to me, gun in hand. Her partner knelt beside her.

“What was that?” I gasped. “What’s going on?”

“I think—”

We heard a growl. A very non-human growl. It raised the hairs on my arms and sent shivers down the back of my neck. It was echoed by another. Long, low, rolling, sonorous. And another. And another. And another. They came from everywhere, echoing each other, bouncing off the very darkness surrounding the two groups of shifters.

Detective Ewing and I were glancing all around, trying to figure out this new threat—what it was and where it was coming from. In the meantime, mere paces away, the Talos and the Minotaur stood back-to-back. I still wasn’t sure what Carter had seen, what had spurred his reaction, but I was guessing Ciara had been arguing with Sean in an attempt to distract him and pull everyone’s attention to their argument instead of Nosizwe’s people and what they were doing. It had worked, too, except for Carter. Even I had been focused on the arguing couple. Carter alone had noticed the threat, whatever it was.

All of this had occurred within mere seconds, and my brain was still wrapping around it when we heard the chorus of animal growls. Clearly, a brand-new menace was on the horizon.

“What the hell?” I heard Detective Tozzi grumble. “I hate—I hate—being mixed up with them. You never know what kind of crazy crap you’ll have to wade through. I tried to warn you, Candace. I tried.”

“Shut up, Gary,” she snapped. “We’re not done with that discussion, but it’s one we’ll have to have later. Ellie, do you have a piece?”

“I wasn’t getting out of that car unarmed,” I answered, and pulled my Beretta from the clip securing it to the back of my jeans. Carter’s sword had been next to it a few minutes ago. I wondered briefly where the sword was now, and then another round of growls tore through the night. Half of us—Sean’s people, the cops, and myself being that half—were scanning the perimeter anxiously. The growls were too loud, too numerous not to be taken seriously. It hadn’t escaped my attention that we were on a game preserve, meaning any kind of wild animal could be out here. But what kind? How many? Would our bullets stop them? How many bullets would it take to stop them? Did we have enough?

Movement at the edges of the darkness.

“Over there,” I breathed, jerking my head that way.

At the same second, Detective Ewing said, “It’s over there!” and pointed to the left.

“Behind us,” muttered her partner.

My heart sank. Where I’d been looking, a paw crept from the night shadows into the pool of light—huge, furry, striped. I shot a glance in the direction Candace had indicated. Another paw. I threw an anxious look over my shoulder. Another paw, followed by a leg. A massive, striped shoulder. A furry muzzle. Teeth, gleaming in the soft light. Whiskers. Yellow eyes. I looked to the sides, in front of me. Everywhere it was the same.

We were ringed in by big cats. Tigers. Lions. Panthers.

Chapter Thirty

Detective Ewing had known they were in trouble the instant the conflict had shifted, when the undercurrents started swirling around Gary and her instead of between Sean Costas and Elia. Nosizwe. Whatever the woman was called. However, she hadn’t expected to full-on confront Sean Costas. Nor had she ever, in her wildest dreams, expected this. Animals. Wild animals. Tigers. Lions. Panthers. Maybe a cheetah too. Or was it a jaguar? She hadn’t spent enough time in zoos or watching nature documentaries to be able to classify all the different big cats successfully. Nor did it really matter, with hundreds of pounds of raw, lean muscle backed by dozens of rows of sharp, gleaming teeth and long, lethal claws slinking towards her.

“What the devil is happening here?” Gary muttered.

Since they were all in this together, facing the same threat, she could forgive the ugly revelations about her longtime partner. For now. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t hash it out later. Provided they survived tonight. Right now, the odds weren’t looking too good. However, despite the ugliness of having a mafia boss like Sean Costas order her partner to kill her, there was still comfort to be found in having her partner’s back pressed against hers. I’ve got your back wasn’t simply a cliché at this moment. It was a physical reality as she, Gary, and Ellie had slunk wedged into position, all three of their backs together.

“C-Carter?” Ellie said softly. Candace could hear the stammer in her voice. The girl held her gun steady, but she was so close Candace could feel her shivering.

Slowly, after a nudge from his boss, making no sudden movements that might set off a firestorm, the gleaming bronze man crept towards their trio. A walking bronze automaton was the