Protecting His Witch (Entangled Covet) (Keeper Of The Veil series Book 1) by Zoe Forward Page A

go,” ordered a male.
    She blinked through her double vision toward the source of that voice. Matt. Her heart jumped, and her stomach did a small crazy flip. Complete and utter confidence surrounded Matt. Ice-cold anger reflected in his gaze.
    Relief flooded her.
    “Or you’ll what?” asked her attacker.
    Matt’s grin promised pain. This was the predator she’d sensed yesterday. The volatile danger radiating from him sang to every one of her senses and reassured her.
    “Have you come to save one of your pets?” Her captor moved her to stand in front of him as a shield.
    “I am not what you think,” Matt replied.
    “We know about you. And her.” Her captor wrapped her neck in a headlock and pressed a gun to her temple.
    Renewed shivering shook her body. Her gaze didn’t leave Matt while her mind whirled with regret and shock. I’m going to die. Her captor choked her neck tight. She couldn’t get in air. Panic rose sharp and fast. She gasped and choked. Her mind whirled.
    Matt raised his hands to shoulder level. In a low, mesmerizing voice he said, “Kat, take a breath. Breathe for me, baby. Nice and slow.” He addressed her captor, “You don’t want to shoot her.” He took two steps closer.
    “Get out of my way.”
    “Put the gun away,” Matt said in that soothing tone. He took another step forward.
    “If you take one more step, I’ll blow her brains out. Now back the fuck up.” Her captor subtly eased his hold around her neck.
    She sucked in air.
    Matt jumped forward to grip her captor’s gun hand, folding the weapon away from her head and into her captor’s chest. Matt slammed his elbow into her captor’s nose. The force of the hit pushed her captor slightly backward. He released her. Momentum slammed her onto the sidewalk. Pain streaked through her at the jarring landing. Dazed, she watched Matt fight. The freezing water seeped into her clothes.
    Matt didn’t release the guy’s gun hand, keeping the weapon pressed tight with its muzzle aimed into her captor’s chest. Then he gripped the back of her captor’s neck to pull him down while he kneed upward into his face several times, never releasing his grip on the gun, which was still pressed tight to his chest. There was so much blood that her captor’s face was barely visible.
    Matt kneed him in the face once more and asked, “Are there more of you?”
    “Fuck you,” her captor grunted. Then he pulled the trigger, which released the bullet through his own chest. His body slumped to the ground. Dead.
    “Damn it,” Matt cursed. He peered up the street for a few seconds. Then he patted down the body, recovering a brutal serrated knife. He knelt next to her and popped apart her wrist binding with the knife. “Are you okay?”
    She couldn’t stop shaking, her teeth chattering. So cold. Her gaze locked on his face.
    He put his arms around her and pulled her close. If he hadn’t been nearby…oh God. She bit back a sob as the reality of her almost death crashed in. She burst into tears, and sobs racked her body.
    Pressing her face against his solid chest, his fingers slid through her hair and over her back in soothing motions. “You’re okay now.” His hand slid upward over the nape of her neck, his fingers slowly massaging.
    The sobs diminished. Kat wanted to stay right here. Safe. Warm. After a few residual sobs, she murmured against his chest, “I’ve never seen anyone die like that. I’ve never seen anyone killed.”
    “I didn’t have a choice. One of us had to die. It wasn’t going to be me or you.”
    With the back of her hand she swiped moisture from her eyes and then pulled her head away from his chest. Her uncontrollable shaking was lessening. She should say something meaningful or maybe even grateful, but her mind remained a mishmash of frozen fear.
    Sirens echoed in the distance. He glanced up the street. “We’ve got to get out of here. Gunshots in this neighborhood means someone called the police. Do you think you can