“Stay behind me!” Rafe commanded.
“You’re already injured!”
Yeah, and it hurt like hell, but he wasn’t going to die from it. He needed to keep Philippe safe. With his good arm behind his back, partially wrapped around Philippe, locking the damn vampire to his side, Rafe retreated. He headed for the older maple trees closer to the nursing home. The thick trunk would offer them some much-needed cover.
Of course, getting Philippe to move in that direction wasn’t the easiest when the clan leader kept trying to place his body in front of Rafe’s. Additional shots were fired, but none of them hit either Rafe or Philippe. The shooter must be having a little trouble now that they were moving. Rafe would take it.
Putting the tree between them and the shooter, Rafe sighed as he pressed his back into the bark. The rich scent of dead leaves and wet dirt rose up around them. He had a matching set of four new holes in his body, thanks to the bullets passing straight through. They all hurt like the fucking devil and were steadily leaking blood he could ill afford to lose. Intellectually, he knew they were all healing, but it was little reassurance.
And to add to it all, his phone was insistently vibrating in his pocket. He knew who was calling.
“Can you see the shooter?” Rafe asked as he carefully reached for his phone.
“No, and the gunshots have stopped. Do you think he’s left or…”
“Moving to a better position?” Rafe supplied when Philippe’s words drifted off. “Not sure. Can you feel him?” Rafe couldn’t any longer. The power he’d detected earlier had been difficult to pinpoint. Now with the pain surging through his body mixed with worry over Philippe’s safety, he couldn’t concentrate enough to locate the vampire.
“No.”
“Keep searching,” Rafe ordered as he answered the call. When he spoke into the phone, his voice instantly became gentle but firm. “Hey Bel, I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not!” Bel shouted, causing Rafe to wince. Bel was not one to shout, but Rafe didn’t need to hear the panic in his twin’s voice. He could feel it crawling along his flesh with the sharp points of pain. “Where are you? What’s happening?”
Rafe glanced at Philippe to find the vampire watching him with a stunned expression. He had to agree that it wasn’t the best time to take a call, but Bel needed him. “I’ve just found a bit of trouble with Arsenault—”
“Did he attack you? I will rip his fucking eyes out. I’ll drag his screaming body to my lab and experiment on him. He’ll beg me to turn him into fucking goo if he laid a hand on you!”
Rafe winced, trying to curl around the phone. Bel was shouting loud enough for Philippe to hear him. The worst part was that he completely believed Bel would do all those things and more.
“No, Philippe hasn’t hurt me. I’m fine. Already healing. Just go back to your lab. Everything is in hand, I promise.”
Bel growled into the phone. Rafe moved the device from his ear and actually stared at it for a heartbeat. Bel growled at him again.
“Don’t patronize me, Rafe!”
“I’m not. I swear, I’m fine. Healing up nicely and I’m going to grab a bite at home very soon.”
There was a long pause and Rafe closed his eyes for a second, praying to whatever gods there may be that Bel didn’t come hunting for him.
“Fine,” Bel bit out. “But I’m sending Ozzie to you.”
“Don’t you dare send that bloody bird!”
“I’m sending him!” Bel ended the call abruptly. He had a feeling his brother wished he could slam the thing down in his frustration, but there was little good that would do with a cell phone.
“A brother?” Philippe asked softly.
Rafe looked up at Philippe again to see him peering around the tree. He had placed his body over Rafe as much as he possibly could in protection. Hints of his cologne drifted past his nose, but the delightful scent was marred with hints of fear. He didn’t want Philippe to feel such a thing.
“Beltran.”
“He can feel when you’re hurt?”
Rafe sighed and closed his eyes again for only a second. “It’s a twin thing.”
He could feel Philippe stiffen a little, and Rafe opened his eyes to find Philippe looking at him now. “He’s your twin? I knew you were all brothers, but I had no idea that you had a twin.”
A half smile lifted one corner of his mouth. This was not the time to discuss it, but he couldn’t look away from the surprised wonder in Philippe’s soft green eyes. “We’re not identical.”
“Thank God for that. The world could not handle two of you.”
They were so close now. It wouldn’t take much for Rafe to lean forward those last couple of inches to press his lips to Philippe’s.