“Yes.” The word sounded broken, hollow. A tremor raked me. Two men stumbled out of the SUV, blood dripping from their necks. Both had weapons drawn.

Without thought, I stretched out my hands. I don’t know what I expected to happen, and wasn’t given a chance to ponder. A bolt of lightning instantly slammed into the first man, throwing him backward and into the other man. The two sailed several feet before hitting the SUV. Both slumped to the ground.

“Holy shit, Viper. How did you do that?”

“I don’t know!” I said, pointing my hands toward the ground before they could do any more damage. “Come on. Rome needs us.”

“He didn’t give the signal.”

“I know.”

“Oh, hell.”

I sprinted into action, racing into the thick of the rain. No, not rain. With my fear, the rain had turned to snow. The cold infiltrated my bones.

When I reached the porch, I withdrew the Taser Rome had given me. If I’d had a gun, I would have pulled it out, too. I would have shot someone, with no hesitation. And yes, now I knew for sure I’d stab someone, if necessary. Anything to protect Rome.

Tanner stepped up beside me, panting. Water dripped from his hair onto his face, and ran like a river from the clothes now plastered to his body. “We opening a can of whoop-ass now?”

“Fo sheezie,” I said.

He paled, but slid a gun from the waist sheath hooked to his side. He rolled the… whatever the hell that was called. Cylinder? I don’t know.

“Locked and loaded,” he muttered.

I hadn’t realized Rome had given him a gun, and blinked at it, stunned for a moment.

He kissed the barrel. “I’m a wild man, Viper, and I’m ready for action. Let’s get this showdown started.”

I positioned myself beside the front door. It was opened slightly, so getting in wouldn’t be a problem. “Guard my back, you hardened outlaw. Okay?” I could hear the scramble of feet, the scrape of furniture. At least there was no more gunfire.

Tanner closed in behind me. “I used to hunt with my dad. I’ll hit anyone who aims at you, promise.”

I couldn’t believe I was doing this, but I didn’t want to leave Rome in there alone. No telling how many men he was up against. “On three. One. Two. Three.” I kicked my way inside, Taser raised and ready for action. The lights were out, but my eyes had already adjusted to the darkness so I could make out the total chaos. Overturned tables and chairs, pillows strewn in every direction.

It was oddly silent now. The sound of footsteps had faded.

Suddenly a huge, black blur sprang at me. A part of me realized it was Rome in his jaguar form, but the rest of me acted on pure, terrified instinct. Those lethal claws were coming at me, and Rome might not realize exactly who it was he was attacking.

When he hit me, his massive body knocking me down, I allowed my instinct free rein and nailed the beast with the Taser, shooting volt after volt of electricity into his heart. We fell to the ground, the cat roaring and convulsing.

Behind me, a shot suddenly rang out, the sound so loud it nearly busted my eardrums. In the next instant, a human man (who, I would discover, had been about to shoot me) collapsed on top of me and the now-immobile cat.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

SO I’D TASERED MY boyfriend. Other girls have done worse. I felt bad, really, but I wasn’t going to beat myself up over it. He’d come at me, claws and fangs bared.

Anyone else would have done the same thing.

Yeah, he’d been in the process of saving my life. Had I known that at the time? No. Had he given me any type of warning? Again, no. I might feel (slightly) bad about this, as mentioned above, but I wouldn’t accept blame. Rome was the only one at fault. Well, the assassin who’d been behind me was at fault, too. But not me!

Tanner switched on his flashlight and moved it over Rome, whose body still vibrated from the electrical charge. What did that mean? Crap, maybe I needed to examine him or something, and make sure I hadn’t damaged him worse than I’d thought.

While I scooted out from under him, as well as the dead body draped over his back, Tanner’s babbling assaulted my ears. “I shot him. I shot him dead. One bullet, just boom. Did you see me?”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” I said. God, Rome weighed a ton. “He was a bad guy, and he wanted to hurt us. You had to kill him.”

“Beat myself up?” Grinning like a loon, he whooped. “Did you see my kick-ass aim? I had my eyes closed, but it was dead center-excuse my pun-and he went down like a horny boy in a whorehouse.”

The implication of his words slammed into me harder than a bullet, and I gasped, my mouth agape. “You’re telling me you aimed that gun in my general direction and your eyes were closed?”

Some of his excitement waned, and he gulped. “Well, yeah.”

“The fact that you could have hit me doesn’t bother you?” My eyes narrowed on him, the rims burning. “The fact that you could have hit Rome doesn’t freaking bother you?”

Tanner’s chin raised stubbornly. “What would a bullet have mattered? You Tasered him.”

My jaw clenched. “For God’s sake, he was coming at me.”

“Yeah, to help you. And how did you repay him? By frying him up like an egg.”

“Shut up and get over here. I need help. My legs are trapped under two tons of cat.”

Tanner kicked the dead guy off of Rome. “I think the pussycat’s coming around.” He bent down and clutched Rome by his-its-head and shoulders, lifting. “My God,” he grunted. “You weren’t lying. What kind of cat chow has this heifer been eating?”

I wiggled free and glanced at the cat. He’d stopped shaking, at least, but his eyes were slitted on me. His lips were pulled back from his teeth in a lethal snarl. I’d never been Tasered, but I knew the electrical currents had rendered him immobile. Thank the Lord. He might have pounced on me for real if he could move.

“What?” I said to him, all innocence, with fluttering eyelashes and a dainty shrug. “This is your fault, and you know it.”

Tanner released Rome, who thumped to the floor. “Oops. Sorry.”

Licking my lips, I glanced around the room-anything to keep from looking at Rome. “Are there any more bad guys in the house?”

“Not that I can see,” Tanner replied.

“So… what should we do next?”

“Aren’t we, like, supposed to question someone and look for information about the doc and his evil potions?”

I nodded. “Yes, of course. While Rome ’s recovering, why don’t you look for a survivor and I’ll search for the information.”

Tanner’s head canted to the side, and he surveyed the destruction. “Uh, I’d rather search for information.”

“Fine. Jeez. Let the delicate woman search the menacing criminals for signs of life.”

“Thanks,” he said, flouncing off, his flashlight in hand, leaving me in the dark.

“Tanner!” I shouted at his retreating back.

“Don’t make an offer you don’t want accepted,” he threw over his shoulder. He disappeared down the hall.

“Smart-ass,” I muttered. To Rome ’s prone body, I said, “We really need to teach that punk some manners.” I reached toward the wall, feeling blindly for the light switch.

Rome growled.

My hand stopped in midair. “No light?”

Of course he didn’t answer.

“Blink once if you want me to leave the light off, twice if I can turn it on,” I said, turning on my flashlight-duh, I’d forgotten I had one, too!-and shining it in his face. Well, I needed some light, whether he wanted me to have it or not.

He blinked once.

Great. I got the privilege of finding a live body/killer with only a flashlight. Yippee for me. “Growl or something if you need me,” I sighed. I planted a kiss on his nose and scampered off, only thin beams of amber illuminating my path.

The house had wide, spacious rooms that looked very much like the foyer, with furniture overturned and broken glass scattered in every direction. I counted nine of Vincent’s agents, both upstairs and downstairs. Rome had made short work of them, and though he’d wanted to keep one alive, none had survived. The ones I’d heard moaning earlier were now quiet.