The blood in my veins turns to ice as I’m bolting down the dimly lit corridor. Behind me I hear the door I just came through slide open.
“Hey! Stop!” a male bellows. This must be the house’s security coming after me.
I do no such thing and instead push myself into a jog.
The hall takes a sharp turn, and I’m almost at the end of this new corridor when my feet come to a sudden stop in front of a door. I punch the door lock, but nothing happens.
“Freeze, right there,” a male pants as he catches up to me.
A growl starts in the back of my throat as I spin around, pulling my blaster on the security detail. There are two, not just one, but I’ve surprised them, so I use that to my advantage.
The first guard is close enough for me to grab, so that’s what I do. I pull him in front of me like a shield and shove my blaster against his temple.
“You, don’t move,” I growl at the second guard, who stands wide-eyed and frozen. “Give me the key to this door.”
“There isn’t one,” the second guard tells me, but I don’t miss the way his eyes keep shifting nervously to his buddy.
Clucking my tongue, I say, “You underestimate my sureness that I can shoot him, and you, before you’re able to shoot me.” Tightening my arm around the guard’s neck, I dig my blaster harder into his temple.
The guard across from me pales and then slowly, with a shaking hand, holds a keycard out to me.
When I start to reach for the keycard, the guard’s eyes shift again. So I change tactics and instead shove the guard I’m holding so he slams into his buddy. They fall to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs.
“Thank you,” I say, casually bending down to retrieve the dropped keycard as I raise my blaster. Their eyes grow wide just before I fire off two rapid shots. Before they’ve finished slumping to the ground, I swipe the card against the door, and it slides open without so much as a hiss.
The sharp smell of burned flesh sears my nose, and my stomach clenches with dread as I scan the room for Igid. I find her huddled in the corner with her back pressed against the wall. Her arms are wrapped around her drawn-up knees, and she’s looking at me with the most haunted expression I’ve ever seen on a being.
“Fucking hells, Igid, what did they do to you?” I whisper as I sink to my knees in front of her.
Her eyes, which were sightless a moment ago, suddenly sharpen when she recognizes me.
Her mouth falls open on a sharp gasp. “Forgive me,” she chokes, the words little more than a whisper.
Ah, God. I can’t stand the look she’s giving me as her large blue eyes fill with tears. When she blinks, they slide down her cheeks, one after another. I clench my fists at the sight of her full lips, even fuller thanks to bruising, and I start to imagine all the ways I’ll hurt Kurrahstka back for what he’s done.
“There is nothing to forgive,” I assure her as I gently run the back of my fingers across her cheek, wiping away her tears.
“But—I left you,”she whispers.
“That doesn’t matter.” My eyes roam over her battered body, and I have to clench my teeth to keep from growling. Her shirt is torn and singed in several places. I can see where her skin blistered in places underneath. Fist-sized bruises are blooming across her arms and chin. The way she’s holding her stomach protectively, I suspect I’ll find more bruises there. “I’m getting you out of here.”
“No.” Like a switch, her vulnerability disappears, and she starts trying to push herself upright. “The females arehere.We have to help them.”
As much as I respect her wanting to help the others, right now she is the most important thing to me. “Rovos and the others are on their way. I’m getting you somewhere safe—”
“It’s not your job to keep mesafe,”she snaps at me, even as she wavers on unsteady feet.
Rocking back on my heels, I look down at her for a moment as an acrid anger unlike any I’ve never felt before suddenly bubbles up inside of me.
“The hell it’s not!” I snap back. “Igid, when will you see this isn’t me versus you?”
Her eyes widen, and her mouth falls open at my outburst.
“I will always have your back. Your best interests willalwaysbe in the forefront of my mind and in my heart. Even when we disagree. Even when you push me away,” I tell her. “And right now, we need to get you out of here before Kurrahstka comes back here to finish what he started, and you have a wanted criminal for a mate, because I’m forced to kill him.”
Igid blinks her eyes, and they begin to fill with more tears.
“I—I—you’re right. I’m sorry, I know you’re right. It’s just that we’re so close.” She sniffles, wiping the back of her hand across the underside of her nose before looking back up at me. “I’m so glad to see you. I was so worried, and I’m sorry I left you the way I did.”
