Moon - New Moon Part 25

He pressed his finger to his lips, then brought his mouth to her ear and spoke in the barest whisper, "He has a gun. It's a deadly weapon."

Had she ever seen a pistol? Did she know how much damage it could do?

He thrust her behind himself as the thug moved toward the back of the store. He could feel her tension-and his own.

After the clerk and the man with the gun pa.s.sed, he and Rinna could run out of here and call the cops. But by the time they arrived, the woman might already be dead.

Rinna took the decision away from Logan. He felt her move, and before he could grab her, she was creeping silently around the other end of the aisle. She turned and stared at him, then toward the clerk and her captor. He knew she was telling him that they could take the guy by surprise.

She didn't even know the clerk. But she was going to the woman's aid.

He was pretty sure she didn't understand how much damage a firearm could do. And he couldn't warn her, not without giving the two of them away. So he picked up a can of pork and beans, ready to hurl it and duck back as the man pa.s.sed him.

Before he could act, all h.e.l.l broke loose.

Part of the wall to his right wavered, and he knew in a moment of sick fascination that the portal was opening once more.

His a.s.sessment was confirmed when he looked through and saw the stone chamber from which he and Rinna had escaped. But the chamber wasn't empty.

In the next second, two of Falcone's soldiers burst through. They had exchanged their comic opera costumes for twenty-first century American civilian clothes, but their unkempt look gave them away. Also their weapons. One held a spear and a knife. The other had a bow and arrow and a mace.

The man with the gun saw the soldiers at the same time Logan did. "What the h.e.l.l?" he shouted, turning and firing several shots in rapid succession.

One of the men went down. The other kept coming.

Logan saw Rinna gasp as she took in the scene. Falcone had sent his warriors after her-and they had stepped into a situation that they could hardly understand.

"Go. Get out of here," he shouted.

She hesitated.

"Go. I'll meet you outside."

She gave him a long look, then ran for the wide doors at the front of the shop and ducked out.

He jerked his attention back to the interior of the store as the robber's gun discharged and a jar of grape jelly exploded, spraying gla.s.s and grape-colored goo.

The clerk screamed and kept screaming. The man with the gun kept shooting and the other soldier went down.

While the thug was occupied, Logan came up behind the robber, then slammed the can of beans he was still holding into the man's skull.

In the distance, he heard the sound of police sirens. Obviously the clerk had been able to press a concealed alarm before the a.s.sailant had hustled her off to the back of the store.

The woman was staring at him as though coming out of a daze. "Help is coming," he said.

"Don't I know you?"

"No."

"You were in here before."

He repressed a curse. "You're mistaken," he said firmly as he turned and walked away.

Across the parking lot, he saw a white hawk perched on the branch of a tree. Thank G.o.d, Rinna was safe. But they had to get away from the scene before the cops arrived. No way was he going to get caught in this situation and have to explain about portals to another world.

Once he reached the door, he bolted across the parking area, putting a couple of parked cars between himself and the building. When he reached the woods, he began to chant, tearing off his clothes as he said the words of transformation.

He landed on all fours, leaving his clothing behind as he sped into the woods, just as two cop cars with their sirens blasting rounded the corner.

Rinna flapped after him. He kept running through the woods, thankful that they were in a fairly rural area, which was good for the wolf and the bird.

After ten minutes, he realized he was winded, and he remembered that he was still recovering from a bad injury. But he pushed himself because he wanted to put distance between himself and the store. He kept going until he finally stepped on something sharp with his right forepaw.

He yelped and sank to the ground. Turning up the paw, he saw an embedded thorn, which he extracted with his teeth. Then he forced some blood from the injury to help prevent infection. After that, he tried to push himself up, but he was too tired to go on.

The bird flew to his side, tipping her head as she looked at the wound. He couldn't talk, couldn't tell her what to do, and when she flew off, his heart leaped into his throat.

Logan scanned the sky, looking for the bird. When she failed to return, he felt his throat close. At first he hadn't trusted her. But that hadn't stopped them from growing close in a very fundamental way.

He had longed for a mate. Perhaps that was why they had bonded so quickly. Or was it always like that for the Marshall men? They met the right woman-and the process started.

He'd like to ask one of his older brothers or his cousins how it had been for them. At the same time, he couldn't quite picture himself revealing so much. Maybe Megan or Antonia or Savannah would talk to Rinna about it, and she could tell him. Yeah, right. He was getting ahead of himself again.

Still breathing hard, he curled on his side, closing his eyes, wondering if his possessive thoughts had driven Rinna away. When he got some strength back, he would look for the bird. Or would that do any good if she didn't want to be found?

With his heart aching, he considered what he knew about the family history. He'd overhead the women talking about how his brother Grant had lost his life-mate. He'd been suicidal until Antonia had brought him back to life.

When he'd heard the story, it had just been words without his being able to truly key into the emotions. Now he could understand.

Rinna was his mate, and if he lost her, he would lose his sanity. Perhaps even his life.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

HIGH ABOVE THE trees, Rinna looked down, searching for the spot where she had left Logan. She had flown away, thinking that if she wanted to keep going, she could fly off into the distance. Fly far north or far south where Falcone would never think to look.

But she had known she would not leave, could not leave. Something had happened between herself and this man, and she ached to know what it was, even if she was also afraid of where the connection would lead.

So she circled the area. First she flew back to what he had called the convenience store and watched uniformed men bring out a man on a cart, the one who had the weapon that sent the deadly missiles into goods and people. He looked pale and sick. The men in uniform could have killed him in there. But he was still alive.

That was not the way of her world, and she struggled to understand. If warriors in Sun Acres had caught a man who was robbing and killing, they would likely execute him on the spot, unless they thought he could give them information. Maybe it would turn out that he hadn't been doing anything wrong. But by then he would be dead.

Too bad for him.

Less than a mile away she saw a house with a line in the rear yard and laundry flapping in the breeze. n.o.body was there and she swooped down, inspecting the clothing.

She saw T-s.h.i.+rts and short pants. Diving at the line, she pulled out some of the pins that held the clothing in place, then tossed items of apparel to the ground-one eye on the house, lest someone come outside with one of those weapons and shoot at the bird thief.

But n.o.body came, and she was able to take away her booty. The clothing was short and thin. But it was enough for modesty.