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Tigerfor the cheetahs, his ears back, teeth bared The cheetahs looked at him in uncertainty, then the ed hi

At the same time, men poured into the house frouards must have called for backup A man like Bradley could afford the best, and the rim-faced, and hard-muscled--likely ex-military, ex-mercenary, ex-convict They aimed at the Shifters, who’d beA few of the hard-eyedher as a threat She still had the gun, held down and behind her back, but her fingers were slick on the trigger Could she shoot another hu, would they simply train weapons on her and obliterate her in seconds?

Her cry had alerted Ellison He wasdoard hiht He put himself in front of the cheetahs as the first shots were fired, a bullet bloodying his fur

Ellison turned and leapt over the last curve of staircase, landing on one of the et off a shot His Collar sparked as he rolled over the h the staircase hall, aier herded the cheetahs back upstairs, toward the room with the steel door Ronan and Broderick had ducked behind walls when the bullets started flying They were big, tough Shifters, but shots could still kill theht alone He bloodied the et a clear shot at hih the house, hunting, searching, shooting

What could Maria do? Whatever happened, she had to stop Bradley And save Ellison As soon as Ellison caht, the second man would shoot him

If this were one of the many TV shows she watched, she’d couys, who’d obligingly drop weapons and look defeated and disgruntled Maria had the feeling it wouldn’t be that easy in real life These men were professionals, ould shoot Ellison and the others, get Bradley safely away, and then go have coffee

Maria ducked into the living rooinally taken Pablo, but the room was empty She plucked a cell phone from the man Pablo had shot in the hall and punched in a number Bradley had called backup; she could too

She’d dialed Dylan’s phone, but she wanted to cry when Connor answered "You’re all right!" she whispered

"Yeah Groggy, but all right Where are you?"

"Where’s Dylan?"

"Driving Maria, I asked you--where are you?"

"At Bradley’s We need help"