Haley

“Sometimes you have to exterminate them.”

The words echoed heavily in her ear as the implication behind them went home. Reashallow meant to kill them all. And he had the firepower to do so. One thing that she’d learned was rare in shifter warfare was the actual use of guns. Even the tranquilizers were rarely brought into action, and then it was often in situations like hers, where a human was trying to assist.

There was nothing they could do. Even as the four uninjured brothers moved until they were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, blocking any immediate line of sight at the women, Haley knew it was hopeless. It was possible that she and the others could get to the vehicles before Reashallow and his goons finished cutting down Maximus and his family. But then what? They wouldn’t outrun the helicopter. No, they needed something else.

“What do we do?” she asked from behind Maximus, not bothering to try and move so she could see. The big shifter was arm-to-arm with his brothers, and this time she was content to let him be protective in this instance.

“I don’t know,” he replied heavily, looking to the right where Kean was on the ground, with Madison by his side.

It was clear to Haley that he wished to be standing in front of Kean, protecting him that way as well. But the distance was too great. Reashallow would put a bullet in them before they got more than halfway there.

“I don’t know how to get close without getting shot,” he said, the frustration evident in his voice.

Haley thought frantically. She and the other women still had their tranquilizer guns. Could she do something to help? It seemed unlikely. To take the shot, they would have to find a firing lane, line up the shot, pull the trigger, and then ensure they hit their target. As if that wasn’t enough, they would have to ensure they did all that before any of the gunmen could pull their own triggers. It was a tall order, and too fraught with risk.

“What’s he doing?” she asked, realizing that nothing had happened.

“Polishing his gun,” Maximus replied, obviously seething with anger at the insult.

“Would you prefer that I use it?”

Haley ground her teeth together at the condescending reply from Reashallow, who had obviously overheard what they’d been saying. The man was so arrogant it spread off of him in palpable waves.

Wait a minute. There’s an idea. We can use that against him. He knows we’re beat. Doesn’t just think it, but he knows it deep down in his core. Now think, Haley, how can you use that knowledge?

Reashallow would be expecting them to try something. There was no doubt in her mind that he was ready for any sort of sneaky play. It was a good thing she hadn’t tried to shoot him earlier. It probably would have been the last thing she ever did. So how did she do something without Reashallow expecting it?

No, wait. That was the wrong way to think about it. The real question was what would he least expect? She smiled. When it was phrased like that, the answer was easy to see. She fiddled for a second, before standing up straight.

“Follow my lead,” she said, her voice barely audible.

Then, without waiting for confirmation, she pushed her way between Maximus and Gavin. Immediately the guns of Reashallow and his personal guards snapped up, pointing directly at her, without wavering.

“I surrender,” she said meekly.

“Of course you do,” he said dismissively. His gun didn’t so much as budge. “Now stay still.”

“I’m serious,” she said. “I’m human. I’m not going to die for these guys. They’ve dragged me around everywhere they’ve gone ever since they took me from my studio.” She paused. “I’m sure you saw the video,” she said, doing her best to sound irritated at the brothers and relieved to be free.

Reashallow’s face didn’t move. Much. But she caught one of his eyebrows lowering just slightly in what could generously be termed a frown. Compared to what she’d heard about him before, this was an astronomical amount of emotion.

“Get back here!” Maximus roared from behind her. “I command you.”

Haley jerked in surprise at his tone, but she tried not to let her true reaction show through. After all, it wouldn’t do for Reashallow to see that she was pleased with Maximus.

“No!” she snapped, half-turning to throw the words back at him. “I’m done. You tried to prove to me that what you were doing was right, and at first I believed you. But all you’ve done is destroy things and kill people. You’re savages!”

She felt bad about saying such things to Maximus, but she had to make it believable. Reashallow was no idiot. If she wanted him to believe her, she had to say believable things.

“You lying bitch!” Maximus roared. “I trusted you!”

She snorted. “Well of course you did. You found a pretty face and decided that I was to be yours. You never asked me, or gave me a choice in the matter. You said that was the way it was going to be and acted like the world would just obey your commands. So I’m not surprised you’re shocked by the fact that maybe I didn’t want to be with you all this time.”

It was the exact opposite of what she truly meant. In normal conditions, that wouldn’t bother her. But as she had yet to tell Maximus that she loved him, it cut her to say such hateful things to him, without him having the memory of her telling him the truth to fall back on. Nor could she face him straight on and show the anguish that currently wrenched at her soul.

“Ungrateful bitch,” Maximus growled, taking a step forward.

The guns swung away to point past her, at Maximus.

“Stay back!” she yelled, her voice almost cracking. Her very real hatred of herself for what she was being forced to do gave her all the pain necessary to sound as upset and angry as she wanted Reashallow to believe she was.

“Well, well, isn’t this just lovely,” he said, stepping forward until he was less than an arm’s reach from her. Haley tried not to shudder as he kept his pistol pointed over her shoulder at Maximus, while his left hand came up to cup her jaw, turning her head to the left and the right as he examined her. “This is what you find pretty?” Reashallow said, punctuating his words with a sarcastic laugh. “You shifters have worse taste than I thought.”

Haley wanted to bristle at his words. No, that wasn’t accurate. She wanted to punch him in his perfect face. That wouldn’t work though. If her plan was to work, Reashallow had to be on her side, or at least not against her. She was hoping to use his overconfidence against him. All of his attention was currently focused on her face and on Maximus. She needed to keep it that way, so that he didn’t notice the bulge in the small of her back.

“I have my doubts about you,” Reashallow said to her dismissively. “But you may prove useful. Take her.” And with that, he pushed her behind him, toward the two gunman.

To help with the charade, she cried out and stumbled, coming to a halt between the two of them, before cowering while Reashallow turned to face Maximus once more, his pistol still leveled at the eldest Koche brother.

Haley shuffled back until she was just out of eyesight of the two gunman. Her throat was dry, her mouth parched, all moisture having fled her. It was now or never. She had to act. There was no guarantees on how much longer Reashallow would stall before he decided to shoot.

Steeling herself, she prepared to act.