Page 14 (1/2)

Now, the queen had made up her mind, and while I was fa rooot out of that lovely purple dress, and pulled onas the clerk tried to talk her way out of the pit she’d dug for herself

The others finished dressing long before I did; of course, none of the, including the holster with my 1911 Colt, was concealed by the spells put on my tailored black blazer Even with the armament, you couldn’t have faulted my fashion statement I wore a red silk shell and new black jeans under the jacket; the Colt’s black leather holster perfectly matched my short black boots, one of which had a built-in holster for er

When I was finally ready, Queen Lopaka and her security detail led the bride and her brides in our wake A black stretch li

Adriana and I were the last to exit the shop, and I stopped abruptly whenI couldn’t have said what exactly was bothering me, but it didn’tAdriana around the waist I shoved her behindher to the pavement, as I put myself between her and the roadway

For a fraction of an instant, ti to hover in midair as the queen’s eyes ide The back s of the lia froze as members of the security teaht in the headlights of an onco car--stunned and blank Guns roared Men and woot all this in frag to wrestle Adriana into the limited safety of the bridal shop hat she wanted was to rush to her ine roar and a squeal of tires as a second limo tore off into traffic In the silence that fell I realized that Lopaka, Natasha, and Olga had been driven away, leaving unmen It’s not the way I would have done it, but I suppose it uard, and Adriana wasthat the Siren Secret Service presuet her to cal, "They’re fine I don’t s with ht not to, because I was lying

Finally I lost all patience and just slugged her in the jaw, then picked her up bodily and dragged her into the store More gunshots sounded as the guards fought the gun et her out of there Keep her safe

I keptbodyguards see me some cover with their Kevlar-covered bodies We passed the bloody for bridal consultant, her body riddled with bullets and shards of glass

My cousin began to coht, but it was still hard to , but since unfire, I assu a weapon, but there was a gun in ed her past a pair of circular racks filled with a rainbow selection of floor-length gowns, toward the back door

Then I sawfor her to hide in the dress racks and to stay absolutely silent It was a bridal shop, so nearly all of the racks had floor-length gowns Peeking around a gorgeous, slinky red silk I couldn’t wear onquickly but nearly silently through the store, guns in hand That uards outside hadn’t survived Damn it

The first covered the second, who pushed back the door of each dressing roo bulletproof vests under their dress shirts They switched positions for the second rank of changing rooms They were definitely pros

Adriana stayed silent, but only to those with no telepathy In ry You expect me to hide?

Hell, yes You’re the one they’re after and you’re unarmed Let me do my damned job Stress always made my telepathy work better and I knew Adriana could hear uns

I risked a glance at her What? Are you nuts?

My cousin gavehappens to you, I’d like to at least be able to defend ue I handed her the derringer from my boot and slithered as quietly as I could to the next rack

They’d reached the last dressing roo the store They knee had to be in here But they didn’t see us and they were running out of ti fast If the attackers didn’t go soon, there’d be no chance of escape