She finally slid to a stop and flopped onto her back. Dizzy, sick, her lungs felt like fire as she cast her stunned gaze up at the night sky. What had just happened? Disoriented and out of breath, she fought for her bearings. And her breath, which seemed to come in shallow gasps.

She’d hit her back and knew it had knocked the wind out of her. She couldn’t breathe, and the urge to panic was strong. The need to find Pax was stronger. She fought to maintain slow, calm inhales and exhales until she could breathe normally again, then she rolled to her side, careful to gauge for any injuries.

Other than feeling bruised as hell from her bumpy roller-coaster ride down the embankment, she was okay. Nothing was broken. She didn’t feel any sticky wetness sliding down any of her limbs, so she wasn’t bleeding. She removed her helmet and goggles and lifted herself on shaky legs, staying bent over to fight back the dizziness that still assailed her.

The gun. Russ had fired a gun at them. Why would he do that? And where was he? She searched the area around her, but dammit, it was dark and she couldn’t see, couldn’t hear anything.

No. Pax first. Pax had been thrown in the same direction. She had to find him, wanted to call out his name, but what if Russ was out there somewhere? He had a gun. He’d shot at them.

None of this made sense. She didn’t know what to do.

Until she heard a hissing noise. She stilled, trying to determine direction. What was that sound? Pax’s bike? She had to take the chance and start walking, though her legs felt like rubber. Unsteady, she maneuvered slowly across the steep terrain toward the sound.

There! Smoke rising and something metal glinting in the moonlight. She hurried as much as she could on her wobbly legs, Pax’s overturned bike taking shape as she got closer.

It rested, crumpled and bent, against a thick tree. She scrambled around the tree and farther down the embankment and found Pax lying on the ground, unmoving.

Oh, God. She dropped to her knees next to him and felt for a pulse, relieved to the point of tears when she found one.

“Pax,” she whispered, bending low so only he could hear her. “Pax, wake up.”

Nothing. She didn’t dare remove his helmet or try to move him, because she had no idea how badly he was hurt.

She pulled her hand away from his chest and lifted it toward the tiny sliver of moonlight.

Blood.

No. God, no. She unzipped his jacket and felt for injury, squeezing her eyes to blot out the sting of tears when she felt the blood seeping from his upper chest.

Gunshot. Had to be.

Dammit. Russ. Why?

She scrambled back up to Pax’s bike and flipped open his saddlebag, pulling out a blanket, a bottle of water and—yes, thank God—a first-aid kit, the whole time lifting her gaze toward the road at the top of the hill, hoping like hell she wouldn’t see Russ aiming a gun at her.

She hurried back to Pax and opened the first aid kit, then did what she could to staunch the flow of blood from his wound. But he needed to be in a hospital—now. She grabbed to pull her cell from her pocket, tears stinging her eyes as she realized it was in pieces, no doubt crushed during her fall from the bike.

Shit.

Pax stirred, his lids lifting.

She held on to his arms. “Pax.”

He turned his head to the side and grimaced lifting his legs, and Teresa could have cried for joy that he could move.

“Don’t move.”

“What the f**k happened?”

“Russ shot you, and the bike went down a hill.”

His eyes opened and he lifted his hand to her. “You okay?”

Her heart ached. He had a bullet in him and was lying on the ground, and he asked about her. “I’m fine. You’re shot.”

He moved his hand to his chest. “How bad?”

“I don’t know. You’re bleeding.”

“Where’s Russ?”

“Up there somewhere. I’m not sure.”

“You need to get out of here. Call for help.”

She shook her head. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Get my phone. Right zipper pocket.”

She fumbled with the zipper and yanked his phone out. It was in one piece, unlike hers.

“Call General Lee. He’ll get the feds here. Then run and hide.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

He grabbed her wrist, his grip surprisingly strong. “He’ll kill you, Teresa. You have to look out for yourself. Now, make the goddamn call.”

She called General Lee, who was curt but listened to what she told him. He said he’d use the GPS on Pax’s phone to get help their way as quickly as possible.

“Help’s on the way,” she said, zipping the phone back in his pocket so the authorities could find Pax.

“Now get out of here.”

“No. I’m not leaving you.”

“Teresa. He’s coming down here to find us, to find you. You have to hide. I’m a sitting duck here. The bike will draw him to me and give you time to get away.”

“He’ll kill you.”

“It’s not me he wants. It’s you.” He shifted, hissing as he reached inside his jacket for his gun and handed it to her. She stared at the gun in her hand and then back at him.

“Take this and shoot the son of a bitch if he gets anywhere near you. Now, get the hell out of here and find a place to hide until the feds get here.”

She didn’t want to leave him there, injured and now unarmed. He was willing to die to protect her.

What kind of man would do that?

The kind of man she loved.

Oh, God.

“Pax, no.” She laid her hands gently on his shoulders, realizing the impact of her thoughts. She loved him. “I can’t.”

He lifted his hand, cupped her cheek. “You have to. I need you to survive this.”

But he wouldn’t. He would lie there and bleed to death, or sacrifice himself so she’d be safe.

“Go. Teresa, goddammit. Go.”

Crying now, she leaned over him and kissed him. “I love you.”

Something shone in his eyes, a light she’d never seen before.

“Get out of here,” he whispered. “Head east, and when you hear the feds, scream and run to them.”

She nodded and stood, moving away, her tears falling so hard she could barely see. She swiped them away, knowing she was never going to see Pax again, that he would die because he loved her.

She held the gun in her hand and walked steadily away from him, her heart shattering with every step.

TWENTY

SHE HAD TO GET AWAY. SHE HAD TO BE SAFE.

She’d said she loved him. Was that because she meant it or because she thought he was going to die? Pax didn’t know, didn’t really believe in love, but damn, right now he really wanted to.

He’d shifted himself into a sitting position against the back of the tree, and now he reached up to pull off his helmet, tossing it to the ground. His chest burned like the fires of hell and he was weak as a baby, which really pissed him off.

But he’d gotten Teresa out of there, and that’s what counted. He had to believe she was going to get out of this. She was smart, resourceful, and would do what it took to make sure she didn’t get hurt.

He reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone, punching in AJ’s number. Still no answer. Shit. AJ was fine, too. He had to be. AJ had to take care of Teresa because Pax wasn’t going to be able to.

He would have liked that chance, though.

Now all he could do was lie here and wait to die. Not the way he’d imagined, going out in a blaze of glory, but not much of his life had turned out like he’d imagined.

He leaned against the tree and prayed like hell that Teresa was running.

TERESA LOPED ALONG AT THE FASTEST PACE SHE COULD UNTIL she couldn’t run anymore, until her breath wheezed out and she had to stop, bend over and wait for oxygen to fill her lungs. Her chest hurt. Hell, every damn part of her body hurt. But she was alive and moving, and Pax had given her that chance. No way was she going to throw it away.

The thought of him lying back there, wounded, made her ache. Part of her wanted to go back there and be with him. She had the gun and she could fight off Russ, shoot him if necessary, but she’d never shot a man. Oh, sure, she’d taken the training and gotten her concealed carry license after the rape, wanting to make sure she could protect herself, but she’d always doubted she could pull the trigger.

Russ had shot Pax. She could pull the trigger. Lifelong friend or not, he had turned on them. And without her by his side, Pax was vulnerable. But if what he said was right, if Russ was after her and not him, then getting far away from Pax was the only way she could protect him.

She saw lights hovering at the top of the embankment. She froze, then scurried behind a tree.

The feds? The only thing she could see was headlights. Car lights, not a bike. And she hadn’t seen Russ. Had he taken off after he’d shot Pax, thinking both of them were dead? She had no idea.

Then she saw two guys dressed in black come over the hill, running at a fast clip down the embankment. And they were headed toward Pax’s location.

Teresa’s pulse kicked up hard and fast, indecision wracking her. Suddenly hiding to save herself seemed cowardly. She had the gun. Pax was wounded and could do nothing to defend himself. What if those guys weren’t the feds? If they were, she could go to them and lead them to Pax. If they weren’t . . .

They were getting closer to finding Pax. Pax, who loved her enough to sacrifice himself to keep her safe.

She loved him, too.

She knew what she had to do—whatever it took to keep Pax alive, even if that meant calling attention to her location.

She stepped out from behind the tree, her hand, and the gun, in her pocket.

“I’m over here!” she called.

They turned and ran toward her, and she knew as soon as they got within sight that they weren’t federal agents. Their leather jackets gave them away.

Panic bled through her, making her sweat.

She turned and started running, but she knew she wasn’t going to be able to outrun them. She was bruised and sore, and her legs weren’t going to be able to put up the fight she needed them to. The only alternative was to turn and shoot.

She pulled the gun out and turned around, but it was too late. They had gotten too close. One of them tackled her, the gun flying out of her hand as he did.

She landed with a thud and tried kicking the guy off of her, but the other one grabbed hold of her arm. She tried to wrestle away, but it was useless. They were stronger than her. The two of them dragged her up the embankment, tied her hands behind her and tossed her into the back of a black van.

And even worse, she had no idea if there were more of them down there looking for Pax, who was unarmed and vulnerable.

Dammit. Tears pricked her eyes as the van started up and pulled away. She shoved the waterworks aside, letting anger settle in instead. She was still alive, and as long as she was alive there was a chance she could get out of this. If they hadn’t killed her on the spot, they wanted her alive for a reason. She just didn’t know what that reason was yet.

She should have shot them. Now she was in deep shit and no one knew where she was. She could only hope Pax was okay, that maybe by signaling to them she’d managed to at least save him.

AJ HAD BEEN IN THE LEAD ON A WINDING ROAD WHEN THE FISTS sprung their trap at the curve. AJ had gone one way, the Thorns had gone the other and the Fists were in the middle, effectively cutting AJ off from the Thorns.

While the Thorns fired back at the Fists, AJ had taken out his phone to call for backup, only to find his goddamn cell couldn’t get service in this remote area.

He’d been in a ditch, and low ground meant sitting duck, and that just hadn’t been acceptable. So while the Thorns leveled bullets at the Fists, AJ rolled out of the ditch and headed for the rocky hill behind him, staying low and out of sight. And maybe that would help his cell service so he could get them some goddamn backup.

It had taken him a half hour to climb the damn hill. Jagged edges, a few sheeted spots and sharp drop-offs meant he couldn’t scale it fast. By the time he reached the summit, he was sweating and damn glad to have made it. And still no f**king cell service. Shit.

But he was on the back side of the Fists/Thorns battle now, which seemed to have turned into a standoff. The Fists were holding their ground and preventing the Thorns from breaking entrance into the compound. The Thorns were holding firm.

AJ saw a metal building at the crest of the hill. Looked like an abandoned warehouse, the faded red sign scrawled above the double front door proclaiming it a former auto salvage yard. A few hundred rusted-out auto body carcasses still littered the landscape behind the building, a graveyard for old Chevys, Fords and Dodges.

He’d counted six guys wandering around inside the building.

A van pulled up under the floodlights of the old metal building, and two guys dragged someone out the back and into the building.

Fuck.

It was Teresa. She was bound and struggling as they pulled her along.

Even worse, Russ had led the van into the parking lot in front of the building. He had to be working with the Fists.

Dammit.

Maybe it was lucky that AJ had found his way here after all. At least he knew Teresa was here. And she was alive. But where was Pax? It wasn’t a good sign that he wasn’t with them. It meant something bad had happened to him, because no way would Pax have let Teresa be taken by Russ.

Okay. He had to take a deep breath and clear his head. He had to figure out what the hell he was going to do, because he was outnumbered. And trapped. No point in heading back down to where the Thorns were. No way was he leaving Teresa.

And now the two who had brought Teresa wandered the outside perimeter. Eight total.