Beauty & The Beast (Book 1)

54. Came after you

Vincent straightens after the blow in his gut and holds a finger up to show Catherine to be quiet. She stopped breathing so loudly and he nodded to the tree. She moved behind it and peeked around. Vincent was right against her back, looking around her head. She couldn't see anything but he could.

"It's clear," he whispers after searching their immediate area.
She puffs out a held breath. He looks down at the side of her head. "What are you doin' here?" He wasn't going to lie, he was glad to see her.

"Found a bug at Alex's," she says, still looking out into the trees.

"What?" He glances away from her into the trees again too, frowning.

"Narcotics did a raid because of her clinic."

Vincent sighs, rolling his eyes. He shakes his head, his eyes scanning both her and the air around them.
"You shouldn't be here Catherine."

Too late, I am, Cat thought.

"It's dangerous," he continues.

"So dangerous you leave your fiancee alone?"

"I'm trying to keep it away from her."

"Keep what away? Whatever's out there or the fact that you might... transform?"

Vincent scoffs above her. "You can't help it, can you? Every interaction we have you have to constantly remind - "

"Every interaction?" "Yes," he says at the same time she speaks and looks at him, his eyes already on hers.
She looks away again. "The other day in the park, you said yourself it's who I am."

She closes her eyes. He had been hurt by that. She'd spoken out of anger and jealousy. "You know that's not what I meant."

"What about your dad's wedding? You know, I show up, we have one dance, you tell me to leave."

He was starting to piss her off. "I had just found out you were mutating."

"No, my DNA was mutating, not me," he looks down at her again. He was getting equally pissed off.

She turns her head to look at him. "Then I came after you." They look at each other and he clenches his jaw, looking up over her head. "Vincent, from the first moment I met you I have seen you as a person and you know it. This is your issue. It's not mine."

"No I told Alex about the experiment  okay?" Cat snorts and he narrows his eyes at her head slightly. 

"Yeah, she thinks you have PTSD." He rolls his eyes in annoyance. "That's the cover story I told my girlfriends over karaoke." She looks up at him. "It's not a bad thing when someone knows the darkest parts of you."

He stares at her and she blinks, showing him that she was honest about that. A rustling has him move back and he pulls her along. "They're here," he whispers.

"How many?"

He looks out into the dark, seeing three silhouettes moving slowly.
"Three." Cat tilts her head as if to say it's not that bad, and he ducks. "Come on." He grabs her hand and pulls.

A bullet hits the spot they just left seconds later and he lets go of her hand so they could run faster. Shots keep firing around them, Vincent jumping over fallen tree trunks and Cat having to go the long way round. They duck behind one and Vincent pops his head out an inch to see.
Cat also pops up and shoots off rounds in the dark. She misses and they start shooting back again.

Vincent pulls her down, a protective arm over her back to shield her.
It becomes quiet and a hand grenade lands a few feet behind them. Both look at it in slow motion. "Get down!" Vincent yells and then he throws himself over her, taking the brunt of the explosion.