Nathan shook his head and grunted. “Bullshit.”
I held up both hands. “I’m not going to debate the events. One woman died, one woman was crippled and I’m sorry for that. But this feud can’t continue.”
Bran picked up the bat and walked away from the desk.
Nathan chuckled, a low menacing sound that set the hairs on the back of my neck on edge. “What are you going to do about it?” He turned a fraction of an inch to glare at Bran, who had moved behind the couch. “And don’t think you can get the jump on me, kid.” He motioned at Eddie. “I’m a hell of a lot faster than that fat bastard.”
“Let’s see.” Bran swung the bat toward him with one hand, a surprisingly half-hearted attack given the way he’d been glaring at the enforcers.
Nathan twisted around with frightening speed, even for a Felis, and blocked it with his forearms. The bat stopped still, hanging between them.
Nathan’s hands curled around the varnished wood as he prepared to wrestle it from Bran’s grip.
“Boom,” Bran whispered.
He spat the candy into Nathan’s face, startling the Felis.
Before he could react Bran jabbed the stun gun into the side of Nathan’s exposed neck, a perfect counterattack.
I couldn’t see his face but I could imagine the look of surprise as he realized he’d been bluffed, thinking my mate was nothing to worry about.
I’d been bluffed, as well. I’d forgotten about the weapon stashed in my desk, lying dormant since our trip to Pennsylvania. Bran had taken it when he’d gone for the candy, keeping it hidden until needed.
Eddie didn’t move as the Felis enforcer shook and twitched, the electrical charge short-circuiting his body functions for a brief time. Instead of going to help Nathan he watched Bran like a predator studying his next prey, studying every move.
He was remembering Bran body checking him in the park.
There’d be a reckoning for that but this wasn’t the time or place. He’d already been surprised once by Bran—he wasn’t going to risk getting taken again.
Bran pulled the gun away after a few seconds and watched Nathan collapse against the cushions.
Bran’s left hand came up, still clutching the baseball bat, and pointed the rounded end at Eddie.
“Time for you to go. You’ve worn out your welcome.” He gestured at the still-twitching body on the couch. “Take him and get out of our house.”
Eddie got to his feet slowly. “He ain’t no kin of mine.”
I stood up as well. “Kin enough for you to drag him off my property. Dump him in the street, I don’t care. But I’m done talking about this. You tell your master I won’t be answering to his lapdogs. If he wants to talk to me he’ll have to do it in person.”
Eddie crossed to the other side of the coffee table and picked up Nathan like a rag doll, hefting the semi-conscious Felis’s body with ease. He eyed Bran who stood there, taser in one hand and baseball bat in the other.
I held my breath. If Eddie Changed, if he shifted to full Felis and attacked, I wouldn’t be able to stop him from tearing Bran apart. I doubted Bran could hold him off, having used up his one surprise attack on Nathan.
Felis weren’t supposed to kill humans.
Didn’t mean it didn’t happen.
“He misjudged you. I won’t.” Without waiting for a response Eddie turned and walked out of the house, dragging Nathan along.
Bran strode to the front door and kicked it shut.
I sat down again, slumping into the cushions in a controlled fall. The room spun for a minute before settling into place.
Bran vanished from sight and materialized on the couch beside me, his arms cradling me. The stun gun and bat were nowhere in sight.
“This is finished,” he murmured. “We are done.”
I didn’t struggle against him. “Not over.” My arms felt heavy, my eyes closing of their own accord. “It’s not over. Not yet.”
I’d hit the wall. Between the concussion, tree-climbing and scrambling to deal with two angry enforcers I had nothing left.
“Sleep. I’ll take it from here.” Bran’s voice came from a distance. “I’ll take care of you.”
I felt him lay me down on the couch, carefully stretching my aching legs out. Jazz let out a trill from somewhere and brushed against my hand as I slipped away into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter Nine
The couch was bumpy and moving and I was sitting up again, my head bouncing against a pillow. My back was twisted and bent and my feet vibrating to a steady rhythm.
This was not right.
I forced my eyes open to find myself propped up in the passenger seat of my Jeep as we roared down the highway, a pillow offering scant neck support.
Bran risked a glance over before returning his attention to the traffic around us. “There’s a soda in the cup holder. Figured you’d need the caffeine and I know you hate cold tea.”
I fumbled for the cool can and pressed it to my forehead before pulling the tab and taking a sip.
The scenery was familiar, rolling farmland spotted with housing developments every once in a while, breaking up the wilderness.
We were headed north, out of the city.
Bran kept his eyes on the road. “I called Jess and told her we were on our way.” Before I could speak he put up one hand. “Don’t even try and argue this one with me. Those bastards came into our home, invaded our space. If I hadn’t come home when I did God knows what would have happened, what those two could have done to you there, alone.”
I started to say something but didn’t get past a peep before he continued.
“You’ve got those kids someplace safe but we are not going to sit around and wait for them to attack you again. I got lucky but that’s not going to happen again.”
I couldn’t dispute his findings. He’d gotten the jump on Nathan once and that’d been a fluke. He’d slammed Eddie in the middle of a scuffle when the enforcer hadn’t been prepared to fight a human.
They wouldn’t let him do it again. They weren’t going to stop until they got the kids.
I closed my eyes and ran through my options, fighting the urge to fall asleep again. There weren’t many and none that included me being at half-strength.
“Okay. What did Jess say?” I sat up straighter and sipped the drink, feeling a bit more alive as the caffeine started to kick in.
“She asked where you were, what was going on and then berated me for taking so long to call.” Bran chuckled. “She said she’d have some brekka for us when we arrived.”
I rubbed my eyes and looked at the dashboard clock. It was approaching noon—I’d lost a few hours of straight sleep somewhere between the couch and the Jeep.
“I took a bit of a roundabout route,” Bran said, almost apologetic. The average drive to the farm took two hours and if we’d left not long after dealing with the Felis enforcers we’d have been there a good hour ago. “Ducked down along the Lakeshore and headed west to Oakville before circling back. It may not stop them from tracking us but at least they’ll have to work for it.” He tapped the dashboard. “Good gas mileage as well. They’re more likely to run out before we will.”
“Good idea.” I took another deep drink and burped a very un-feminine burp.
Bran chuckled. “How are you feeling?” He risked another glance.
“I ache all over. And not in a good way.” I patted his thigh. “You done good, partner. That was fucking amazing.”
Bran grinned. “Owed the bastard for what he did to you. It’s not even but it’s a good start in my book.” He pointed at a green and white sign on the side of the road, rapidly growing larger as we approached it. The fork and knife images signaled the possibility of hot food. “Want to stop for a rest and a bite to eat?”