Strays

Chapter 27

He broke off suddenly, his eyes widening as they darted to the gun — like he'd only just realised he was holding it. His face went white. "I thought you were dead," he croaked. "I thought they'd come for me. I thought —"

Panic pulsed through me. Oh shit, I have to shut him up.

But before I could so much as open my mouth, I heard, "Thomas?" Michael's voice was rough with controlled anger. "You let this happen?"

I glanced at Thomas, who was shaking his head.

"The kid was scared out of his mind," he said as he unfolded his arms, waving something small and black in our direction. "Pointing the gun at us kept him quiet."

The magazine.

I moved then, knowing it was safe, and ripped the gun out of Theo's grip. There was a clicking noise as he pulled the trigger out of fright, but nothing happened.

Theo let out a squeak and I curled my hand around his wrist.

It was a testament to how out of it he was that he didn't even try to pull away from me. His were glassy with fear and shock as he looked at me.

"Everyone out," I said in a low voice.

In my periphery, I could see Michael's expression twist into a scowl. "Juliet," he said warningly.

A flicker of anger stirred in my gut. "I need to talk to him and they —" I jerked a thumb toward the crowd filling up my living room and gritted my teeth. "—are terrifying the hell out of him. Just get out for a minute, will you?"

I knew the second his eyes began to glow with fury that I'd fucked up. I never would have questioned Sebastien's orders in front of an audience, especially not in front of another Alpha. Theo's pulse thrummed faster beneath my fingertips and I could feel his fear at my back, seeping into my skin.

Keep him safe...

Though it cost me, I swallowed hard before forcing out a stiff, "Please."

Michael stared at me for a long moment before his gaze flicked to Theo behind me, and his expression went blank. "You have ten minutes," he said tonelessly. "Then pack your shit and get out of here. We're on a tight schedule, understand?"

He glanced in the direction of the door, where Veronica and her soldiers were waiting. The tension in his shoulders climbed a few notches.

I nodded in understanding.

He jerked his head stiffly at Thomas, a muscle ticking in his jaw. I knew better to think that just because he'd acquiesced, he wasn't going to kill me later — but for the moment, I'd gotten what I wanted, and I could think about the rest later. Slowly, the men filed out of my apartment and Michael followed, the door clicking shut behind him. When I was sure they were gone, I tightened my grip on Theo's wrist and tugged him into the bathroom with me, closing the door behind us.

After I'd slapped the toilet lid down, I turned to Theo, pushing on his shoulders until he was sitting on the toilet for me. He stared up at me with a shell-shocked look on his face.

"I thought they were gonna kill me," he breathed.

"So you pulled a gun on them," I said. I almost tacked on a 'congratulations' but I was too keyed up to revert to flippancy. I reached out and patted him hesitantly on the shoulder. I didn't really know how to comfort him. Pulling a gun on someone was a very... well, a very me think to do. But then I rolled with it. I didn't shut down and freak out.

"I thought they were gonna kill me." He sprang up abruptly from the toilet and pushed his hands through his hair, tearing at the roots violently as he processed whatever the hell was going on in his head. "Oh hell, they could have been Im—"