Broderick: A Sabine Valley Novel, Katee Robert [book recommendations website .txt] 📗

off the building as they approach. They look up as my shadow passes over them, but by then it’s too late. I hit them hard enough to drive the breath from my lungs, but who needs to breathe when fury is propelling them? I straddle them, easily dodging a punch, and grab their throat, slamming their head back into the pavement. Once. Twice. On the third time, their arms fall back to the street and lie still.

Not dead. Unconscious.

I keep one hand on their throat and fumble through their robes with the other, searching for… Ah, there it is.

I yank back the hood to find a man with light-brown skin and black hair. He shudders and opens his eyes. Good. I hold up a dart, careful to keep my fingers away from the sharp end. “Is this what you shot my girlfriend with?”

“Fuck off, Amazon.”

“Hmm. Thought you might say that.” I release his throat and grab his arm. It’s a better location, because it will give him time to react instead of knocking him out cold the way he did Shiloh.

Hang on, love.

I jab the dart into his forearm and jump back. Predictably, he doesn’t hesitate. He scrambles at the pack at his waist, pulling out a tiny vial of green liquid and downing it. The man shudders with relief. “You bitch.”

I shift a little farther away, eyeing him. A beat passes, two, three. When he doesn’t keel over and die, I decide he’s actually given himself the antidote instead of taking some other poison. More, the dart should have taken him out by now if it wasn’t counteracted. Good. While he’s still finding his feet, I punch him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Then I make sure he won’t ever get up again.

The squeal of tires against the street brings my head up. I dig through the assassin’s pouch as Broderick screeches to a halt next to me. It takes a few seconds to find another vial filled with green liquid identical to the first one and then I run to the truck and yank open the door. “I have the antidote.”

He’s too pale, the lines bracketing his mouth looking deeper than I’ve ever seen them. “Are you sure it’s the right one?”

“As sure as I can be.” I wait a beat, but he doesn’t try to stop me as I reach for Shiloh’s limp form and carefully tilt her head back. “Hang in there, Shiloh. This won’t be comfortable.” I drag in a breath. “She’s still breathing, but I don’t want to take any chances. Pour it in while I help her swallow.”

“Okay.” He takes the vial from me, and I hold her mouth open as Broderick dumps it down her throat. Then I do my best to ensure all the antidote actually makes it to her stomach.

“Please don’t be too late. Come on, love. Come back to us.”

Time ceases to have meaning as we watch her, waiting to see if the antidote works. A million things flash through my mind in those short minutes. The possibility that the assassin faked me out. The implications of a Mystic this far inside Amazon territory. How desperately I don’t want to make Shiloh choose between me and Broderick.

Because she will wake up, damn it.

“Shiloh…” My voice breaks. “Gods, this is so fucked up.”

Broderick takes my hand. He’s obviously just as terrified as I am, but he’s still so fucking steady, still offering support even when he needs it just as badly as I do. I can’t stop shaking. “What if—”

“She’ll wake up.” He says it quietly. Firmly. “Give it time.”

“Okay,” I whisper.

“You did good, Monroe. That was quick thinking to get the antidote.” His thumb ghosts over my knuckles. Only a fine tremor in his hand lets me know he’s just as fucked up over this as I am. “How the hell did you catch up to them so fast?”

“I’m a bad bitch.” I try to smile, but I can’t quite pull it off. “They don’t get to come here on my territory and fuck with my people.” I look down at Shiloh, measuring her slow inhales and exhales. “I don’t care if she’s an Amazon or not, Broderick. She’s mine.” I meet his gaze. “She’s ours.”

“Yeah. She is.” He gives my hand a squeeze. “We—”

Shiloh drags in a ragged breath and whimpers. “Fuck, that hurts.”

“Shiloh!” Broderick and I say her name as one, and nearly smack our heads into each other in our effort to help her sit up. We ease her against the seat between us. She’s pale, and the black marks on her throat are still fading, but her eyes are open, and she’s breathing deeper now.

She lifts a hand and touches a trembling finger to my cheek. It comes away wet, which is when I realize I’m crying. “That close?” she murmurs.

“Yes.” I won’t lie to her. Not even about this.

She leans back and closes her eyes. “Damn.”

Broderick clears his throat. “We need to get back across the river to Raider territory.”

It’s the smart thing to do, and it makes sense why he’d want to get Shiloh back to safety. I even agree with the plan…with one caveat. “Drop me off at the main tower.”

He shakes his head. “You know I can’t do that.”

“You don’t have a choice.” I don’t want to speak the next bit, but we’ve come too far and if I trust them. “There is absolutely no way a Mystic assassin would make it to this point without getting tagged by one of our patrols.” I hold up a hand before Broderick can argue. “We have precautions against exactly this sort of thing, the same way you do. We know how they work, and we guard against it.”

“What are you saying?”

I don’t want to say it. I truly don’t. But with both of them looking at me, I can do nothing but tell the truth. “Someone gave him permission.”

Shiloh closes her eyes, but not before I see the truth there in