Warm wetness exploded, blood spraying as he collapsed on top of her, and Angela rolled him off, gagging. Outside, tires slid to a stop, footsteps crunched, and she staggered to her feet, spitting, wiping at her bloody face.
"Angie!"
She wanted to answer, but was gagging again as she pulled up her ripped jeans and stumbled to the door, jerking it open as Marc came flying up the steps. She fell into his arms, coughing and crying as Dog streaked inside the cabin.
"Angie!"
She clutched his shoulder like a life raft, smearing his shirt with blood. "He tried to hurt me, Brady! I...I shot him."
Her head spun from the beating she'd taken, heart screaming she was a killer now; a murderer.
Her battered face told Marc it had been a fight for survival, and he swung her into his arms, heading for the passenger seat of his Blazer. His heart beat furiously at all the bruises, scrapes, and cuts he could see on her hands, arms, and face. Her clothes were ripped, shirt nearly off, hair and eyes wild, jeans ripped and undone. How far had he gotten? Had she been raped?
"No, but I feel like it. Give me a minute, huh?"
Marc ignored her chilly tone as he slid her onto the seat, digging towels and water out of the duffle bag at her feet.
"Dog. On top. Guard."
The wolf leapt to the hood and then the roof as Marc closed the door on her pale face, motioning for her to lock it. He was only inside the cabin for a minute to gather some of their things (the heater, the gun she'd dropped) and was horrified at the death scene she had been a part of.
Two minutes later he had finished hooking her Blazer to his and watched as she got out of the passenger seat. Moving like she was in a daze, she took the one remaining gas can from the luggage rack, and his heart burned when he saw she hadn't cleaned herself up at all. Her face was terrible to look at.
He was surprised by her strength as she calmly dug her lighter out of her torn jeans and headed back into the reeking cabin, tilting the can as she went. Bright flames shot up seconds later, and Angela kept the gas flowing as she walked back out and down the stairs, the fire following hungrily. She tossed the can into the sweltering flames and didn't flinch at the almost instant explosion of plastic, though she was being showered with hot sparks.