The First

Chapter 49

Ross moved quick and quiet.

He didn't want to alert Savannah of his presence, not until a clean shot opened. Darts lose velocity much faster than bullets. At this range and angle, he didn't know if it would hit its mark. Besides, he only had two left in the magazine.

Even while he skirted through paths in the tall grass, half a football field away from the girls, he heard Savannah's teeth snap. Headlights from the truck lit the two. Fear exuded from Teagan's posture. It bore deep into his heart.

I can't let it kill her. His thoughts always and effortlessly turned to his own daughters. What would he do if he'd found his girls in the same situation? No doubt he would do everything he could to draw the assailant's attention.

On the ground, next to her car, he noticed Alexa. She writhed in a perpetual state of half-awareness, attempting to sit up but unable to complete the task. She'd been tossed a considerable distance and Ross figured she had to have at least a concussion, if not a couple of broken bones.

C'mon lady ... hang in there.

To have a good chance of stopping Savannah he had to hit her in one of their known soft spots. Because she had clothes on, his first choice went out the window. What if he shot her in the eye? It would ensure quick absorption of the agent.

Sweat dripped from his forehead and drenched under his arms and back. As he moved through the tall grass, he stumbled on a thick clump and fell on his face.

"Goddammit."

Mud caked across his forehead and eyes. After he wiped the muck away with his jacket sleeve, he had to refocus on Teagan's position. It didn't look good. Blood streaked across her face.

Savannah ran almost faster than he could see, appearing next to Alexa, and in range. With a keen eye steadied down the barrel of the gun, he took aim and shot. Savannah caught the dart inches in front of her right eye. Before he could take aim again, she had him by the throat with one hand and lifted him off his feet.

Ross coughed and gagged until she decreased her grip on his throat.

"Savannah. Stop." It felt like she stuffed a rock down his gullet.

Her white-blonde brows crinkled. The expression on her face flattened as if she had no idea what to do next. She dropped him to his feet and kicked him in the chest. The force of her barefoot sent him flying. Mud and grass cushioned his fall. A shock of pain traveled through his body.

Holy hell. Where'd the wrecking ball come from?

When he attempted to sit up, a brick wall fell on his chest in the form of Savannah. The earth around him dented into the shape of his body, like an outline of a dead person at a crime scene. Her legs locked onto his waist, claws poised to rip out his Adam's apple. If he moved, they would.

After an eternity of waiting, she leaned over his face.

"This object ..."

His eyes crossed and he realized what she had between her fingers. The dart almost touched his nose.

"... it's not the same as what the other weapons fire. What is it?"

Ross wasn't sure what to tell her. She'd dropped a nuke on him--she spoke.

"Tell me." Her nails dug deeper into his skin.

Blood trickled across both jugular veins, traveled around his jawline, and pooled in his ears.