Page 38 of Nazab

“That’s where I keep getting stuck,” she said with a scowl. “We all saw him lose his mind when he thought he was chasing after me.” It was his turn to scowl at that reminder. “I know it’s too dangerous to use me as bait,” GG said before he could protest again. “But we need to come up with something that will lure the bulk of our enemies away from their base.”

“Whatever distraction we use will need to last long enough for Amaros and his brothers to evacuate dozens of captives,” Dalt said. “So far, Tolas and the others haven’t come up with a plan they believe will work. Rahab might be unstable, but he’s not stupid. We’ll only have one shot at this. If we fail, we’ll never be able to break the women out. Not until after we eventually win the war.”

GG’s expression became haunted and he put his arm around her. “We have to do this, Dalt,” she said. “Wynter and I got Faye, Paris and a few others out when we escaped, but I’ll never rest easy until they’re all free.”

“I know, sweetheart,” the cowboy said in sympathy. “I know how important this is to you and how badly you want to rescue them. I feel exactly the same way.”

She drew away far enough to turn her head to look at him. “You only jumped on board with my plan after the deal we made,” she joked.

He was glad to see her mood had lightened slightly. “Finally getting to become a dad is a hell of a motivator, honey,” he drawled. “Putting a bun in your oven is something I dream about every night.”

“It was kind of Sin to duplicate contraceptives for me, so we won’t have to be so careful,” GG said with a grin. “It’s a pity they don’t work on cambions, though.”

“The knights sensed their females were still fertile when they trialed taking the pills,” he said. “I wonder if they’ll end up having a whole bunch of accidental babies eventually.”

“Probably,” GG said with a snicker. “I think most of the girls want babies sooner rather than later. The only thing stopping them is the war that’s looming over us all.”

The threat of being caught by their enemies kept them both penned inside the skating rink most of the time. Wynter and Tolas visited them weekly and took them to see Pastor Hogan as well. The only other time they left their home was during Vic and Cam’s monthly trip to skate on the rink. GG and Dalt spent a few hours inside a warehouse nearby, having a date night. Other times, they visited the preacher.

“I just hope this war doesn’t drag out for a couple of decades,” Dalton said. He wanted his friends to destroy the Soldiers of Chaos so the world could have a chance of normalcy again one day.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

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IT WAS LATE AFTERNOON by the time Nazab and Monica returned to their base. The wind had grown worse, so he had to adjust his plans a bit. “Come with me, female,” he said after parking the truck behind the house. He didn’t want it to be spotted by anyone who might pass by. Not that there was much chance of that.

“Where are we going?” Monica asked curiously. They’d only searched two of the sites he’d chosen so far, since they’d been spread so far apart.

“I’m going to teach you how to shoot,” he reminded her.

“Oh, yeah,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “I need to take the clothes off the line first,” she added. He retrieved the basket, then helped her fold up the now dry clothing before taking the basket inside.

Nazab had found a few guns and had scrounged up ammo to teach the cambion how to shoot. Offering her his arm, warmth suffused him when she hooked her arm through his. The terrain was uneven as he escorted her to the nearby woods. “It’s too windy to shoot at your targets out in the open,” he explained when she gave him a questioning look.

“What sort of targets am I going to be shooting at?” she asked warily.

“Nothing that’s alive,” he said with a grin, aware that she wasn’t in favor of killing animals for sport.

“You want me to shoot rocks?” she teased him.

“I was thinking of trees,” he retorted, using the rifle he was carrying to move a branch out of the way.

“Trees are alive,” Monica pointed out.

“Touche,” the knight said wryly. “You can shoot logs and tree stumps, then.”

“I’ll be surprised if I can actually hit anything,” his female confessed. “Guns have never been my thing.”

“Your Aunt Pansy didn’t own any?” he joked.

“Nah, wooden spoons were her weapons of choice,” Monica said, then snickered. He loved her sense of humor and was glad she wasn’t serious all the time. He was more lighthearted than most of his brothers, but Jacquin could be a prankster.

“This will do,” Nazab said when they came to a clearing. The trees sheltered them from the worst of the wind as he examined the space. “What about that stump?” he asked, pointing at a rotten stump on the far side of the clearing.

“It’s already dead, so I won’t feel bad if I shoot it,” his cambion decided.

This was the first time the warrior had held a gun, so he familiarized himself with it first. “We’ll need these,” he said and pulled two packets with ear plugs out of his pocket. He’d nabbed them from the town after he’d hunted down all the humans with black souls. They put the ear plugs in, then he aimed at the stump and pulled the trigger.