“At least she’s not my therapist.”
“Mention that ever again,” said Damian in a dark tone, “and I’ll shoot you myself.”
“Way to parent there, Skippy,” I blurted. Both men flicked surprised gazes at me. I put my hands up in a gesture of mock surrender. “Sorry. Please continue insulting each other. I’ll just wait for the alarms to go off.”
“We’ve taken care of that,” said Adulfo brusquely.
Damian’s expression blanked, his eyes returning to the same chilly green as before. I stifled a groan. What was wrong with me? It was like I’d forgotten everything about being a therapist. Maybe it had to do with my jangled nerves. Fighting the urge to run was making my feet tingle.
“All we have to do is get to the lobby,” continued Adulfo. “Should we lock her in one of the cells?”
Just like that, the tables had turned. Here was the point where I could be rescued or kidnapped or stuffed into an induction cell to await Jarred’s wrath. Still, I couldn’t form the words to plead my case, even with Damian’s indifferent gaze studying me. After begging for my life, and the life of one who died anyway, I’d lost the taste for it. Mercy was either in a man’s soul, or it wasn’t. No words of mine could sway a conscience that did not exist.
His gaze dropped to my neck, which was covered by the high neck of my blouse. The evidence of his bite was still there, and always would be. That’s what he’d meant to do—mark me.
And he remembered doing it.
I kept my shields wrapped around me like a blanket. I didn’t want to seek out his emotions, but I could see the ghost of guilt that fluttered briefly in his eyes.
“She comes with us,” said Damian.
“What!” Adulfo eyed his father. “We didn’t plan for her. How the hell is she supposed to get out?”
“Patrick will have to make two trips.”
Adulfo’s blond brows slammed down and he sent me a look of such intense loathing, I took another step back. Damian sent his son a warning glance, and Adulfo looked away from me, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
Damian took his place behind Adulfo, holding his wrists down to hide the fact that the bracelets weren’t linked together. “I am awaiting your rescue,
Frau
Morningstone,” he said in a mocking tone.
Adulfo rolled his eyes, but stood at the ready.
I harbored no illusions that I was still in charge. I had no idea how they planned to extract themselves from the lobby, but since I’d started off with only half a plan to begin with, I either rolled with theirs, or struck out on my own.
I led them to the elevators and we crowded into the car together.
“Be ready,” warned Adulfo, but I didn’t know if he was talking to me or to his father. In the next instant, the doors slid open, but before I could step out, someone stepped in and leaned against the elevator doors to keep them from shutting.
My heart dropped to my toes as I met the icy gray gaze of Jarred Dante.
“Get in, please,” said Mari’s voice from behind him. “I really don’t want to zap you.”
I moved aside so Jarred could join us. Mari followed him, her finger digging into his back. I couldn’t believe the kind of gall she had! Threatening a man three times her size with a fake gun was ballsy. Then I realized she was in on the whole rescue-Damian operation. I glanced at her, and she winked at me.
“Hello there, Kelsey,” she said cheerfully. “I’m glad you’re on board with us. I was worried.”
I gaped at her.
“Top floor,” she said. “We have to do a roof exit.” Her grin widened. “You believe in werewolves now, dearie?”
“I … uh …” I gulped. “Do you think you’re a werewolf, Mari?”
She laughed. “Don’t be silly. I’m a
sidhe
.”
“She,” I repeated. “I kinda knew you were a girl.”
“Sidhe,”
she said more forcefully. “Otherwise known as a fairy or the fae.”
“Oh.”
“Why the roof?” grumbled Adulfo as he pushed the button labeled R. He shot me a dirty look as though it were my fault their original escape route had been thwarted.
“He caught me resetting the security cameras,” said Mari.
“Was zum Teufel!”
exclaimed Adulfo. “He’s coming with us, too?”
“No,” said Damian. “He is not.” The inoperable cuffs clanked to the floor and he moved around his son so that he could plant himself between me and my ex-boss.
“I’ll come for her,” said Jarred. “You know you can’t hide her. Not from me.”
I opened my mouth so I make sure he knew I’d chosen this path and I didn’t want to be found by him,
thank you very much
, but Damian’s arm snaked around my waist and squeezed. I took the hint to keep quiet, though I had no idea why he wanted Jarred to believe I wasn’t leaving of my own accord. Damian didn’t let go of me, instead bringing me fully into his embrace.
Jarred noted Damian’s genteel capture and his eyes narrowed. “I didn’t think kidnapping was your style.”
“And I didn’t think the great Dante would ever break his word,” said Damian tightly.
“I assure you that my honor remains intact. Is yours?”
Damian’s fingers dug into my hip, but it wasn’t so much a warning to me as him trying to get control of his emotions.
Ding.
The cheery little sound pierced the tense silence of the car, and then the doors slid smoothly open to reveal the rooftop. It was dusk, the purple sky slivered with clouds. I looked over the flat square space that must have once been meant for entertainment. A few decrepit chairs hinted that my supposition was correct. The snow had been cleared away, probably so Sven’s sentries could do their jobs.
Damian slid his arm off my waist and grasped my hand. He was the first to step out, and tugged me out with him. The chill of the air crawled over me, burrowing deeply. I shivered. Mari followed. Adulfo took over guarding Jarred since he had an actual gun as opposed to Mari’s tiny blunt finger.
“You’re throwing your lot in with them?” he asked her bitterly.
“You would, too, if you weren’t so stubborn. We’re all of the same cloth, my boy.”
“Are we?” he bit out. “I think not. You betrayed me.”
“I am still your loyal friend, Jarred, but grief has hardened your heart. What did you plan on doing with Damian?”
“He stole her.”
“She chose him.” Mari shook her head, her pity evident. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would feel sorry for Jarred. “I’m doing this for you.” She patted his shoulder, which made him flinch. Then she scurried ahead of us, her eyes lifting to the darkening sky above.
Jarred sent me a bleak look. “I will find you, Kelsey.”
“Don’t bother,” I said.
For a fraction of a second, he looked shocked. Then his features smoothed out, and he was the same implacable, robot-faced Jarred. I realized I didn’t know the first thing about what was unfolding right now. Obviously, Damian and Jarred shared a history—and I felt the cut of betrayal deepen. Whatever Jarred’s purposes for me or for Damian, I couldn’t believe them benign.
“If you knew the truth of it all, you wouldn’t be so charmed by him,” said Jarred.
“But she would be charmed by
you
?” Damian turned and pulled me to his side. Then he pulled down the blouse’s collar. He brushed aside my hair, and let his fingers trace the bite mark. “It doesn’t matter what either of us wants now, does it?”
“Bastard. You don’t even want her!” choked out Jarred. “Will she pay the same price for your selfishness that Anna did?”
Damian went white. His whole body tensed and I realized he was seconds away from socking Jarred in the jaw. I held firmly to his arm. “That’s enough,” I said quietly. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I feel like a steak being fought over by two starving dogs.”
“My apologies,” said Jarred swiftly.
I ignored him. “He’s trying to anger you,” I said to Damian. Fury made his eyes glint like shards of green glass. “He’s distracting you from leaving, delaying us until Sven arrives.”
“Come on!” yelled Mari.
“Adulfo,” said Damian, “I believe Dante needs a nap.” His grip on my hand tightened, and then he spun on his heel and started to walk away, me in tow.
“Damn it,” yelled Jarred. “Wait.”
Damian stopped so abruptly, I stumbled. We both turned.
“Dr. Ruthers gave her the serum.”
“And you accuse me of trying to harm her?” Murder gleamed in Damian’s eyes, and this time, I didn’t think I’d be able to stop him from breaking Jarred’s neck. Then again, did I want to? Jarred had admitted to giving me some kind of drug. More surprising, however, was that Damian knew about whatever this serum was—though he seemed genuinely outraged I had been given it.
“You
bit
her,” said Jarred, sounding like a little boy denied the cookie jar.
“To mark her,” snapped Damian. “To keep her from
you
. No shifter will dare touch her now.”
For the first time ever, I could feel a whisper of emotion from Jarred: desperation. “You arrogant asshole! Your bite infected her with werewolf DNA. If we hadn’t given her the serum, she’d be dying from trying to shift.”
I stared at Jarred, completely flummoxed. He believed he was telling the truth, and no one else seemed to think he was crazy. Except me. And even I couldn’t deny that on some deep inner level, I believed him. I swallowed the knot in my throat, and clung tightly to Damian’s arm. The world as I had known it was falling away. Dear God. I really had jumped into the rabbit hole.
“You’re lying,” said Damian. “There is no such power in a lycan bite. Not even in mine. You know that I cannot turn humans.”
“She’s not just any human. Tell Dr. Michaels to test her blood,” said Jarred dully. His shoulders sagged. “If she’s lucky, she has thirty days.”
“And then what?” I asked, my voice trembling.
Jarred’s gaze flicked to mine. “Your body will try to complete the transition by forcing you into a shift. If you live, then you’ll be fully lycan.”
“And if she took the serum again?” asked Damian. His impatience crackled right through my shields. I wasn’t exactly doing a bang-up job of keeping myself protected. After all, it wasn’t every day a girl was told she was turning into a werewolf.
“You know why we made it,” said Jarred. “What it was meant for.”
“Damian!” yelled Mari. “Get your ass in gear!”
Adulfo brought the weapon up and rammed the butt into the back of Jarred’s skull. His eyes went wide and then rolled back into his head. He was felled like a tree; I swear the roof shook when he landed.
Damian guided me toward the edge of the roof. Even through the haze of my disbelief, I realized he was being gentle. His strength flowed to me and I grabbed on to it, feeling almost like I would drown if I let go.
Three men stood near the edge of the roof line. They looked like a boy band—all in their twenties with the same good looks, shaggy dark hair, and gazes as silver as my earrings. They wore T-shirts and jeans and the one on left wore Converse sneakers.
“Ruadan,” said Damian. “I didn’t expect you.”
“Me boys asked me t’ come along,” he said with a roguish Irish accent. He was the one wearing the Converse. He executed a courtly bow. I could tell now that though the other two had the same hair and eyes and even chin, he was different from them. Older, maybe, but that was more a feeling of inner age than outer evidence. “I’ll take the lovely girl.”
“The hell,” said Damian. “She can go with one of the married twins.” He turned toward Mari. “We’ll meet you in Broken Heart. Make sure there’s an access key ready for Kelsey. She’ll have only a minute before the Invisi-shield activates.” He sighed. “You might as well tell the queen we’re in deep shit, too.”
“Delighted,” said Mari with a grin.
Then to my utter shock, she disappeared in a shower of pink sparkles. It was like Mari had burst into glitter. I looked at Damian, but he didn’t seem all that surprised. I wasn’t sure I was all that surprised, either. I fully expected a unicorn to show up next. Yeah. A unicorn ridden by a leprechaun holding a kettle of gold. Or a box of Lucky Charms.
“Go with Patrick,” Damian said to me. “When we get to Broken Heart, we’ll debrief you.”
“What?” I asked dazedly. Who the hell was Patrick? I started to sway, but Damian’s grip tightened on me. It was freezing out here, but I felt cold on the inside, too. “You take me,” I said, clutching his arm. It felt like my whole world had shifted, and I couldn’t get my balance. I did not want to let go of Damian. “I can’t … you have to …
please
.” I sucked in a breath and realized I was staring at my former patient through a sheen of tears. “I’m not exactly being brave, am I?”
“You are very brave,” he whispered. I saw tenderness in his gaze; then he stiffened. He let go of me abruptly, and I staggered. I stared at him, wounded, but he pushed me toward the trio of silver-eyed dudes. “Go, Kelsey.”
“Come now, darlin’,” said the one in the middle. He put his arms around me, which forced me very close to his rather nicely built chest. “You might wanna close your eyes.”
A long, low growl startled us apart. I looked over my shoulder at Damian, then up at the shocked face of my benevolent captor. “What the bloody hell?” He stared at his friend with raised brows. “You all right, Damian?”
“I don’t like your hands on her.”
Now
everyone
was staring at him and then all eyes turned to me. I found it laughable that I could be held accountable for Damian’s demeanor, which was obviously—given the various expressions of amazement—out of character for him. Then again, I’d been accused of causing much worse behavior. Also, I was hurt that he’d let me go so easily. It was stupid and irrational, but feelings often were.
Damian looked as though he wanted to rip me from the man’s arms. I almost pushed out of the Irishman’s embrace, but I didn’t. We had to get outta of here. All of us. And I wouldn’t delay this crazy rescue because I felt better when I was with Damian.