“Bones!” he screamed. Scooping her up, he raced toward the last place he’d seen Bones. “It’ll be all right, babygirl. Just hold on.” When he spotted his friend, he yelled again. “Bones! Get over here! Tazzy’s been shot!”
Bones reacted by meeting them in the middle of the square.
At his words, people began screaming and running in all directions, thinking an active shooter was in the square. Several of the Sabre Daddies had drawn their guns and were scanning the crowd for possible threats, their littles tucked behind them.
Bones was all business. “Put her down, Jaxon, so I can see. Tazzy, move your hands.” Jaxon lowered her to the ground, putting her head on his knee.
Whimpering, Tazzy pulled her hands away and stared at the red stains on her palms. “Wait,isthis blood, Daddy?”
Jaxon and Bones both looked at the red blotches tinging her skin.
Bones reached down, wiping his finger through the red liquid spreading over Tazzy’s shirt.
Jaxon did the same. “Son of a bitch,” Jaxon growled.
“Yeah, it’s not blood, it’s paint.” He turned to Jaxon. “Looks like someone shot her with a paintball gun.”
Jaxon helped Tazzy sit up before jumping to his feet and scanning the crowd. People were still running in every direction. Most were headed off the square. Whoever had shot at his girl was probably long gone.
On the northeast corner of the square, he spotted something. While people streamed down the street to get away, a man in a long coat and hat stood still and stared straight at Jaxon. Jaxon stiffened as the man reached into his coat, pulling out a gun with a bright orange tip at the end of the barrel.
The man tossed the gun to the ground and tipped his hat in a mock salute. Jaxon recognized the General at once.
Jaxon’s blood turned to fire. His entire body locked as the dark, protective monster that lived just under his skin roared awake.
“Watch Tazzy,” Jaxon said, breaking into a dead run.
“Where are you going?” Bones yelled after him, but Jaxon ignored him. That asshole wasn’t getting away again.
Every instinct inside him screamed for him to get to the General and make sure he never hurt anyone else. But there were too many people in the way, and the General had too big a head start.
By the time he reached where the General had stood, the man was gone. With nothing else to do, he picked up the gun, being careful not to touch the grip or other places that might have the General’s fingerprints, and headed back to check on his girl.
He was still furious when he reached his Little girl, but Tazzy’s soft gasp cut through some of the red haze. “Daddy…”
Kneeling by her side, he ran his hands over her entire body to make sure she hadn’t been harmed. “Are you okay, babygirl?
“Yes, Daddy,” she said as he helped her to her feet. She wiped at the paint marks on her shirt with some gauze Bones had given her. “Look what that man did to my shirt.”
Jaxon almost laughed. If she was worried about her shirt, she was okay.
But he could have lost her. He wrapped her up in his arms.
“It’s okay, Darkling, I’ll get you a new one.”
Reid jogged up, concern and anger in his voice when he asked, “You good?”
The ridiculousness of the question pushed Jaxon over the edge. “Good? Fuck no, we’re not good. He shot her with a fucking paint gun.”
“A paint gun, what the hell?”
Jaxon tried to pull back on his rage. “He’s messing with me. Trying to show me he can get to her even with me standing right fucking next to her. Swear to God, man. I’m gonna kill him.”
“Right,” Bones said. “On that happy note, I’m going to run to the medical van and grab a tube of arnica gel to put on those welts. It should help with the pain.”
Reid glanced at Tazzy and back to Jaxon. “Careful.”
“Fuck careful, Reid. It was meant to look real. He didn’t use a standard paintball color.” He wiped his hand on Tazzy’s shirt and held it up. “It isn’t bright red, it’s blood red. He scared the shit out of my Little girl.”