There was fear in his voice, but now that she had time to give it some thought and the shock was wearing off, she knew she couldn’t be hurt too bad. She felt warm blood pouring down her head, lots of it, and more soaking her arm and thigh. The bullets had been sprayed across the room looking for any target. They’d hit her left side as she covered Alonzo before Mitya slammed into both of them, taking them to the ground.

“Are you hit?” She blurted out the question against his shirt.

His hands ran over her body. Mitya was doing the same. She tried not to cry. It hurt like a son of a bitch. Surely if it was really, really bad, she wouldn’t be so aware of everything. Mostly she needed reassurance that Alonzo hadn’t been shot.

Not too bad. Her female assured. They weren’t very good shots. Fyodor and his men were better at it.

The animal didn’t sound worried; in fact, she sounded almost complacent, but Evangeline felt her concern.

“Damn it, woman. What the fuck were you thinking?” Alonzo snarled.

“Are you hit?” she repeated, needing him to answer.

“He’s not,” Mitya said, his voice calm but strangely strained. “Stay still, I’m going to turn you over and lay you down. Sevastyan, Gorya, lock that door and turn off the lights. If we’re lucky no one saw this mess. Call in help. We need someone to clean this up. Your first priority is Alonzo, no matter what the fuck he says.”

“I’ve got her,” Timur told Alonzo, his voice unexpectedly gentle. So were his hands. “Stop growling at her, brat, she protected you. We should have expected it.”

Evangeline heard the wonder and a hint of respect. She managed to clench her teeth as both men very gently turned her over and laid her on the floor. Her breath hissed out of her lungs and then Alonzo was crouched beside her, his face set in grim lines. His eyes, always as cold as a glacier and just as beautifully blue, were all gold. Completely. His cat stared at her, assessing the damage along with her man.

“Don’t you ever do something like that again,” Alonzo snarled, unable to get his leopard to stand down when he was raging as well. Worried out of his mind. She could see that and maybe another time might even appreciate it, but right now she hurt so bad she wanted to scream. She closed her eyes to block out the sight of leopard and man furious with her.