“You think I don’t know what it means when you make eyes at him?” She pushed past him.

The idiot winked at her. “Don’t be jealous, Ros. I still like you best.”

“You’re not even mildly amusing.” She stalked up to Sean the Viking. “Our weapons. Where are they?”

“They boys and I have agreed to help get you out of here, but that’s it. You’re on your own. I don’t want this getting out of control,” said Sean, his forehead bunched up.

“Then don’t let it. They are not taking him. So you need to get us both out of here safely,” she said, not-so-quietly fuming. “We’re going to need our guns for outside your fence line.”

Sean stared at her for a moment then nodded and crossed to a large locked cabinet on the wall. The keys were produced once again and an impressive cache of firearms revealed. “If either of you break the peace out there I will use whatever force necessary to stop you. Is that understood?”

“Perfectly,” she said.

Nick came up behind her. “Ros—”

“No, Nick. I’m not staying, and you’re not getting killed by these inbred, redneck imbeciles. It’s not even up for discussion.” Anger boiled up inside her. That these people would attempt to do such a thing blew her ever-loving mind. She grabbed her fancy gun with the silencer and torch combo then nabbed a second pistol, just in case. Looked like the bulk of what they’d arrived with had been confiscated and moved to the cop shop. Handy. Managing the weapon with her left arm in the sling would be annoying, but removing it would sic Nick onto her instantly. It stayed put for now. “Neither idea is acceptable. You feeling me?”

He was quiet for a moment. “That wasn’t what I was going to say.”

“Then what?” she snapped.

With a grim face he took in the gun. “Calm down. Concentrate on what you’re doing. Are they both loaded?”

“Yes.”

He nodded and cupped her face in his hands. His poor, beautiful head had taken such a beating. She hated the scar she’d put on him. Not that he hadn’t deserved it at the time. The second one these people had added, however, made her furious.

“Alright,” he said after a moment. “We get out of here nice and quietly. You stay behind me, okay?”

“Okay.” She’d see how it went. Maybe for the moment he’d forgotten this was a partnership, but she hadn’t. Till death do them part and all that stuff.

“I’m serious.”

So was she. “Yes, okay. I heard you. Let’s get moving.”

His eyes narrowed but he let it go. “Sean, are there any shoes here for Ros?”

“Lila dropped off her boots earlier.” Sean grabbed her footwear from a bag in the corner.

“Thanks.” Putting boots on one-handed was harder than it looked. Nick knelt and wrestled them onto her bare feet. At least she wouldn’t be adding to the cuts and bruises from the gravel back at the cabin.

“She’s going to get cold,” he said. “Is there a jacket or something?”

“I’m fine.”

“Here.” Sean stripped out of his own smart leather jacket and handed it to Nick. Her man seemed less than impressed at the thought of her wearing it. He rolled the righthand sleeve up just the same and proceeded to put it on her. The thing was size huge, falling off her left shoulder without her arm in the sleeve to keep it in place. He did up a couple of buttons and stuffed her pills into a pocket. She added her spare pistol to another.

“You’re all sorted,” he said.

“We need to move,” Sean said. He grabbed an extra pistol and relocked the cabinet. “Come on.”

Out front the night seemed still, at first. Shouting could be heard from Main Street, the rumbling hum of lots of voices. Though there didn’t seem to be much light coming from any direction. Windows were sealed and the streets were dark. Without the aid of the moon she’d have been stumbling in the dark. However hyped up the people of Blackstone were, they weren’t inviting infected to the party if they could help it.

No, they just wanted to hang an unarmed man. Nick would have been a sitting duck, stuck in that jail cell.

She shivered inside Sean’s coat. The air was crisp to the point of brutal, everyone’s breaths steaming in front of them. She felt chilled, inside and out.

Several more people waited outside. Sean didn’t stop to introduce anyone, but Nick nodded to the two other men. They all seemed to know one another, though the looks ranged from frosty to friendly. Frosty wore an army jacket, while Friendly dripped with guns. So at least the right people were on their side. Friendly looked like a walking paramilitary team rolled into one thoroughly oversized fellow. But when you were that big, you could probably pull it off. He didn’t quite reach Sean the Viking’s height, but he was built.

“This way,” said Sean, heading away from Main Street at a brisk trot. “Erin and Finn are trying to calm down the crowd.”

Frosty snorted. “Good luck with that. Tom’s been stirring shit for the last two days, since you arrived.”

“Who?” she asked.

“Never mind.” Nick kept an arm wrapped around her, helping her along. The meds were slowly sinking in, making her mind turn to mush. Things dwindled, the anger and fear fading, seeming not as sharp as they had been just moments before. Not good—she had to keep her focus. Had to stay with it.