Unfortunately, hearing the other prepper camp was under attack had immediately made him tense all over again. She only hoped everything would be okay. As soon as Tanner was back in her arms, they’d see about getting those tight muscles relaxed again.
She was still thinking about all the things they could do to make that happen when an urgent knocking at the door made her jump.
“Zarina, are you in there? It’s Lillie.”
She threw off the blanket and was halfway to the door before she remembered her promise to Tanner that she wouldn’t open the door to anyone but him. That was before Lillie, or someone else in the camp, might be in trouble.
Zarina shoved the lock bar up and pushed it aside, then yanked open the door to find Lillie standing there holding a handgun that looked way too big for her.
“Dad sent me to round everyone up and get them to the main building,” Lillie said. “It’s sturdier and easier to defend.”
Zarina nodded. “I’ll help you look for stragglers. Let me grab my coat.”
Picking it up from the floor where Tanner had dropped it when he’d undressed her earlier, she slipped into it, then stopped, her gaze locking on her backpack. Tanner might not be interested in taking the antiserum anytime soon, but it was still too valuable to leave lying around. Grabbing it from the floor, she slung it over her shoulders.
“Here,” Lillie said, holding out a gun to her.
It was much smaller than the one Lillie was carrying, but it was still a weapon. That kind of worried Zarina.
“I don’t really know how to use a gun,” she admitted.
Lillie didn’t so much as bat an eye as she shoved her weapon into a holster on her hip. Zarina was relatively certain it was the automatic kind, but she was only guessing. Not that she knew what that meant. She might work for a covert organization, but she was a doctor, not a soldier. She couldn’t be expected to know things like that.
“This is a basic revolver, so all you have to do is point and shoot.” Lillie attached a small holster to Zarina’s belt, then stepped back and pointed at a little piece of metal sticking out on the side of the gun. “This is the cylinder release. Just push it to swing the cylinder out. Like this.” She nudged the cylinder out, showing Zarina the backside of the five bullets. “If you have to reload, point the weapon up and push here. The shells will fall out. Put five more back in, then close the cylinder. Once it snaps into place, you’re ready to go. There’s no safety, so all you have to do is point it in the direction of the bad guys and then squeeze the trigger.”
Lillie pushed the cylinder back in and held it out to Zarina again. She carefully took it from the girl, then stared down at it, her fingers as far away from the trigger as she could get them without dropping the thing.
“I’m not sure I could do that,” she whispered. “Shoot someone, I mean.”
“It’s hard to do, so I get that,” Lillie said. “If you can’t shoot, then run like hell. Just remember there might be a time when you can’t run, and you’ll have to decide what you’re capable of doing to protect yourself or someone you care about.”
Lillie turned and walked out of the cabin, moving quickly and deliberately across the camp. As Zarina hurried after her, she couldn’t help wonder if she would ever be as confident and sure as the younger woman if she found herself in one of those situations Lillie had just described. Zarina prayed she never found herself in a position where she had to find out.
Chapter 10
Tanner’s heart was pounding like a drum by the time he ran into Chad’s camp and raced for the cabin he and Zarina shared. It was possible his elevated pulse might have something to do with the fact that he’d run back from the other camp at breakneck speed. He’d nearly killed himself half a dozen times over by jumping off cliffs and outcroppings he never would have normally tried in an effort to get there faster.
That wasn’t why his heart was beating so fast, though. It was fear that he’d be too late and get to the camp to find that those guys with the guns had attacked and Zarina was already dead.
But there was no indication the camp had been attacked. No scent of gunfire or strangers. No stench of panic. That didn’t keep Tanner from sprinting for the cabin anyway, only to slide to a stop when he realized the door was wide open. He burst inside, looking around wildly, but Zarina was nowhere to be seen.
His clawed hands clenched and unclenched as his inner beast fought to take control. The animal wanted to tear apart the camp piece by piece until it found Zarina. Tanner cursed and shoved the beast back, desperate to get the thing under control. He needed his human half in charge right now, not a raging hybrid.
It took a few seconds, but he got the animal into its cage so he could think clearly. That’s when he picked up Zarina’s scent—along with everyone else’s—coming from the main building. They must have barricaded themselves in there in case trouble came this way.
Not a bad plan if it wasn’t for the fact that he’d told Zarina to stay put before he’d left. Then again, why the hell did he think she’d do a damn thing he’d told her? She never had before.
Tanner strode toward the big building, claws and fangs retracting. He was still a few feet away
