Keepers & Killers (The Alchemy Series) by Donna Augustine Read Free Book Online

you want?" I had no other plan than to buy Cormac 's body time to repair some of the damage.
    "I want this world and I want you dead. All of you."
    He was bluffing. If he wanted me dead, he'd have me shot right now. "Than do it."
    "Not yet." He was gloating.
    "What are you waiting for?" I goaded in anger. Have I mentioned I have more balls than brains?
    "The right time. Payback." He smiled a sadistic smile.
    "For what?" I couldn't understand the hatred I felt pouring out of him.
    "Because you and your people made me and then turned on me because you couldn 't stand that I was superior," he sneered, as he lost some of his superior appearance and control.
    "I didn 't turn on anyone."
    Another shot fired and I crouched over Cormac, thinking they were going to try and finish him off. I looked to the building top, and tried to locate the sniper and saw a man I thought was Burrom by his small stature. The small shape did a leaping arch that struck the sniper in the throat with an agility that surprised me. I 'd be surprised if he hadn't crushed the sniper's windpipe. So much for questioning him afterward.
    I made a move toward the senator and he jumped back away from me. He was afraid of me. Why? But before I could take another step, bullets rained at our feet.
    I looked up to see Burrom with the gun.
    "I don't know who you are," he called down from the rooftop, "but take your fight elsewhere."
    The senator and I stared at each other as we both debated our options. My gut said Burrom wouldn't shoot me, but I felt torn in two. I wanted to pursue the senator but I didn't know how badly Cormac was injured. I stared at him for another second that Cormac didn't have and I saw him gloat.
    I envisioned ripping him from limb to limb when in actuality I was running back to the car. I found the keys lying close to where we had gone down.
    I looked up to the rooftop where Burrom still stood guard with the gun in his hand. He gave me a nod and indicated he had my back as I quickly - or as quickly as I could - dragged Cormac into the passenger side.
    I jumped into the driver 's seat, planning on running the bastard over if he was still standing there, but he was gone. I tried every button on the dash and steering wheel until I figured out how to get the Bluetooth working. "Call Dodd," I said, and hoped Cormac didn't have him stored under some weird pseudonym.
    "Hey Boss. How 'd it go?" I heard his deep voice answer.
    "Not good." It took supreme concentration for me to keep the panic from my voice.
    "Jo? Where's Cormac?"
    The panic in Dodd 's voice didn't help matters.
    "He 's here with me…but barely."
    "What do you mean? Why isn 't he speaking?"
    "He took some bullets and I think he might be bleeding out." I looked at Cormac 's lifeless form.
    "Does he have a pulse?"
    I reached over with my right hand and tried to get a read, as I flew through the streets.
    "Does he have a pulse?!" Dodd 's voice filled the car as he screamed.
    "I 'm trying! Hold on!" My hands shook so badly it was hard to feel the faint pulse, but it was there. "Yes."
    "Is he still bleeding?"
    "I think so." I looked over at the pool of blood on the seat under his crumpled form and thought it looked larger than it had been.
    "How far away are you?"
    I knew this area like the back of my hand but I still had to look at the street sign as my brain froze. "Only a couple of blocks away." I ground the car's gears as I tried to shift into fourth.
    "Pull directly into his private garage. I 'll make sure all the gates are open and I'll meet you there."
    And then I was alone, or at least it felt like it. Cormac hadn 't moved once. My brain replayed the scene and I couldn't remember how many bullets had been fired, maybe too many to count. I glanced over to where he was slumped against the seat and hoped he would start speaking. I'm not the squeamish type but I'd never seen so much blood come from anyone. Stop. Looking. Just drive…you're almost there. I gripped the steering wheel harder