Inferno (15 page)

Danny blinked up at him, his eyes slowly widening. The man clearly didn’t understand the danger he was in. “Now, Danny,” he shouted as he tried to give Danny a little shove without letting the man know how much pain he was in. “Go now. Run!”

Danny spun and took off back across the pavement to the other side of the road where Ben was still talking to the fire chief. It was amazing that he only tripped once, catching himself before he hit the ground.

Abe held his breath the entire way, his panic so close to the surface that he could barely breathe. Danny had to get to safety.
“Ben!”
Abe shouted silently. Ben would protect Danny.

Ben’s head snapped up, the man obviously having heard the urgency in Abe’s voice. His entire body tensed when he saw Danny racing toward him.
“What’s wrong?”

“Protect Danny.”
Abe clenched his hands as he stepped back from his truck, moving into the shadows cast out from the alleyway. He didn’t know how long he could keep from shifting. His bear wanted out to protect Danny as much as to hunt down whoever had hurt him.

Abe pressed back against the brick wall of the building making up one side of the alley. He reached over his shoulder and felt for the wound in his upper back. The bullet was still lodged in his muscle. Pain lanced through him as his body worked hard to expel the bullet.

He was just lucky it wasn’t made of pure lead. He’d be dead right now. Once introduced to the blood stream, bear shifters had an almost impossible time getting lead out, nearly always dying even if the injury was slight. Pure lead could be deadly to a shifter.

The distraction caused by the excruciating pain in his shoulder combined with the thick scent of his own blood dripping down his back hampered Abe’s ability to sniff out the idiot that put a bullet in him.

He knew whoever pulled the trigger had to be close. He hadn’t heard the sound which meant a silencer of some sort. Long range would have had some sort of sound, even a displacement of air. He had heard nothing. That disturbed Abe on a level he wasn’t ready to address yet. He should have been prepared for anything and he wasn’t.

God, he wanted out of the city.

Abe grunted as the bullet was finally forced out of his body. His flesh was on fire, burning, aching. Having been shot before when some old man tried to protect his pot farm from invading firefighters, Abe knew how much work it took to heal a bullet wound, and how much it hurt. He wasn’t looking forward to the next few hours. The pain from his flesh knitting back together was going to hurt almost as much as the bullet did.

He also knew if he didn’t get somewhere safe, he was going to find his furry ass shot with a tranquilizer dart and carted off to some refuge for bears. He refused to have his ear tagged by anyone. Well, maybe Danny, but he was the only one.

Once he could take a step and breathe at the same time, Abe stumbled down the alleyway. He needed to find some spot where he could hide and shift, and he needed to do it now. In a few minutes, he wouldn’t have a choice in the matter.

Abe kicked at the first door he came to. It wouldn’t budge. He lurched further down the alley to another door. One hard ram with his good shoulder and the rickety old door gave way. Abe stumbled inside. He had just enough time to shove the door closed before hair began to sprout along his arms, his bones aching as they started to reshape themselves.

Abe cried out as he dropped to the floor and gave in to his shift. His bones lengthened and shortened, muscles stretching and pulling. His face pushed out, reshaping into a muzzle. Silky skin disappeared under a coating of brown fur that covered his entire body right down to the tops of his paws.

Panting heavily from the exertion of his shift, Abe raised his muzzle into the air and sniffed, scenting for signs of danger. Dirt and grime were thick, the underlying scent of the city’s heat prickling his senses.

Abe knew not to let loose with a roar but it was a close thing. He felt hemmed in as if a cage was already starting to close around him. He longed for the freedom of the forest around his home territory, for the fresh scent of the woods and the soft salty breeze that blew in from the ocean.

Bears were not meant to be in cement dens. They were meant to roam, to be free. Abe growled as he glanced toward the closed door. Bears were also meant to protect their mates and Abe’s was currently in danger.

“Ben?”
Abe had never been so grateful to have a twin link as he was when he felt Ben’s awareness of him through their bond
. “Is Danny okay?”

“He’s safe, brother,”
Ben replied.
“Where are you?”

“Some door off the alley.”

“What happened?”

“I’ve been shot.”

Ben’s outrage was like an electrical shock through their bond. Abe felt it prickle along over his skin, making his hair stand up.
“You’ve been what?”
Ben bellowed silently.

“I was talking to Danny by the truck. Someone shot me.”

“Who?”

Abe’s claws dug into the wooden floor beneath his paws, shredding the wood.
“I don’t know, but I think they were trying to kill Danny. I never heard anything.”

“Damn it!”

“I had to shift, Ben.”

“I know.”
They both knew that shifting would speed up the healing, cutting it down from weeks to mere hours.
“Just stay safe. I’ll take Danny to a motel and wait for you.”

“Keep him safe, Ben.”
Abe’s heart clenched with the thought of anything happening to the beautiful man.
“I need him.”

“I know, Abe,”
Ben replied.
“We both need Danny.”

Abe wasn’t sure need adequately described the growing feeling deep in Abe’s gut. The mere thought of anyone harming Danny made him want to tear the entire world apart. If anything happened to the sweet little man, no one would be safe.

Ben held Danny close to his side as he walked them toward the truck. He scanned the area with each step they took, searching for any sign of danger. Abe said he never heard the shot. That meant either someone was using a silencer or some other device to deliver the bullet. That also meant they were dangerous.

Ben wasn’t taking any chances with Danny’s safety. They were headed for a hotel somewhere that Ben could keep Danny safe. He didn’t like the idea of being in one of the city hotels that had several floors to them but that would probably be the safest place for Danny. The chances of whoever was after Danny getting into some fancy hotel were pretty low. In Ben’s experience, those types of upper class places had security, doormen, and very nice locks on the doors.

He slowed when he neared the truck. Something was off. It took him a moment to figure out that all four tires on the truck had been slashed. There was no way he was driving that truck anywhere until he got the tires fixed.

Damn it
.

Ben shoved his hand through his hair, frustrated and angry and scared down to his toes. They were sitting ducks standing there on the street but Ben didn’t know what to do in that moment. He floundered, feeling uncertain, an emotion he wasn’t very familiar with.

“We have a problem, Abe,”
Ben said as he pulled Danny to a stop next to a tree planted in the small space between the sidewalk and the street.
“Someone slashed the tires on the truck.”

“What?”
Abe snapped back almost instantly.
“All of them?”

“Yes.”

“You need to get Danny out of there.”

“And take him where, Abe?”

“Take him home, Ben.”

Ben glanced at the useless truck and grimaced
. “And just how would you like me to do that? Flap my arms and fly?”

“Just do it, Abe. I’ll follow as soon as I can.”

“Don’t you think it would be easier if we all went together?”

Abe sighed, a resigned sound.
“I’d love nothing better, bro, but I think having someone follow behind you is a safer bet.”

Ben blinked in surprise, or shock, maybe both. As angry as he was, Abe was still using his head. Ben was just losing his. He was pissed that someone dared to try and harm his mate and shoot his brother. And he was terrified that they would try it again and Ben wouldn’t be able to save them. Abe or Danny, Ben would be devastated if something happened to either of them.

“Okay, I’ll figure something out,”
Ben told his brother as he turned back toward the firemen still trying to put out the fire. He kept a protective arm wrapped around Danny’s waist. The man was walking but he was silent as if too freaked to even say a word.

“Hey, honey, how are you holding up?” he asked as he headed for the fire chief he had spoken to before.

“I want Abe.”

Ben would be lying if he said that didn’t make him twinge a little. Jealousy wasn’t something that usually occurred between twins simply because they grew up knowing they would share a mate. But this mating was about two seconds old.

Ben was jealous, plain and simple. He wanted Danny to want him. “He’ll be here soon, Danny.”

“He was hurt. I could smell it, Ben. He needs us.” Danny’s fingers gripped his shirt so tight they were turning white. “He’s out there all alone with no one to watch his back.”

Ben didn’t know which statement to address first. That Danny could smell that Abe had been injured or that the man was freaked because he thought Abe needed someone to watch his back.

Abe would be thrilled.

“Abe is a big boy, Danny. He can take care of himself.”

The deep frown that crossed Danny’s face let Ben know instantly that he had stepped in it. He was in trouble.

“You’re right. He was hurt but he’s shifted and he’s healing right now. He’ll be fine.” Ben swallowed hard when Danny scowled at him. Who knew his mate could even make that face. “I wouldn’t lie to you, Danny.”

Danny’s arms crossed over his chest just about the time his beautiful moss-green eyes narrowed. Ben was fascinated by the glower on the man’s face. The whole picture would have been a whole lot more impressive if Danny didn’t go to take a step closer to Ben and trip over his feet, nearly falling on his face before Ben caught him and pulled him up close.

“Careful, baby.” Ben’s heart thundered in his chest. “You don’t want to have to make another trip to the emergency room, do you?”

“Where’s Abe?” Danny whispered as he leaned close and rubbed his cheek against Ben’s shirt. “I know you’ve talked to him. Is he okay? Really okay?”

Ben pressed his lips against the top of Danny’s head to hide movement from anyone who might be watching. “He was shot, Danny.” Ben held Danny tight when he felt the man jerk in his arms. “He’s okay. Bears are a hardy lot, especially bear-shifters. We tend to push things like bullets out of our bodies when we heal, and that’s what Abe is doing right now. He’s already got the bullet out and is healing as we speak.”

Danny’s body sagged as if Danny was feeling a mixture of relief and grief. “This is all my fault,” Danny cried against Ben’s shirt. “He would be fine if he had never met me.”

Ben felt tears prickle his eyes at Danny’s anguish. The sweet man should never feel such heartache. He should only feel joy and happiness. “Baby, no. This is not your fault.”

“It is,” Danny insisted. “That fire was set to kill me, not you two. And whoever was shooting at us was probably aiming for me, not Abe. If you two had stayed in Pacific Cove, Abe wouldn’t have been hurt, your truck would be okay, and…” Danny sniffled as he turned to look at the crowd of people standing across the street from the fire. “And all those people would be safe in their beds instead of standing out here watching their homes burn to the ground.”

“Oh, baby.” Ben cupped Danny’s chin with his fingers, turning it back toward him and tilting it up until he could see into Danny’s eyes. His smile wobbled as he reached up with the other hand and wiped away the tears on Danny’s long, thick eyelashes. “The only person responsible for what happened is the person who did this.”

“No, I—”

Ben pressed a finger to Danny’s lips. “Did you ask to have a fire set outside your apartment?”

Danny shook his head.

“Did you do anything to make anyone mad at you?” Ben chuckled when Danny started to shake his head but then stopped and shrugged instead. “You don’t have a malicious bone in your body, Daniel. I think you go out of your way to not make people angry with you.”

Danny’s head cocked to one side, his forehead creasing. “Why do you and Abe think you know me so well when we just met?”

“Because mates are designed to be compatible.”

“Now that doesn’t make sense,” Danny protested. “That doesn’t leave any room for mystery or discovery.”

Ben’s eyebrows drew down in a frown that matched Danny’s. Now he was confused. “Mystery or discovery?”

“If mates are so compatible, then what is there to try for once you find each other? I mean, it just seems to me that you find your mate, you claim him, and then you’re done. You were chosen by fate so where’s the romance? The excitement of discovering what each other likes or dislikes? Where’s the heart-pounding mystery?”