"Tell me the truth G."
I throw up my hands. “I wanted to sleep with him, okay?”
Why am I telling her all this?
She’s my work partner. We’ve faced many dangerous situations together. When you face death together, you become close, enough to watch out for each other in emotional situations, too.
“Jess?” I hold my knees and legs tightly together.
She rubs the back of her neck. “Don’t misunderstand me, Gia. What you do with your personal life is your own call. It’s just," She raises her shoulders then lowers them, "he’s Fae.”
“He saved my life.” I wrap my arms around my waist.
“So you felt obliged to save his?”
“I thought that’s what it was, but it isn’t.” The mating cord screams against my rib cage. White-hot pain sears my chest. I groan and double over.
“What the hell?” Jess strides forward, then stops less than a foot from me.
I straighten. My shoulders shake and sweat beads my forehead.
“You’ve gone pale, Gia.”
“It’s Dante…” A cold feeling coils in my stomach.
“The Fae male?” Her lips thin.
“He’s in danger; something’s happened to him.”
“We need to leave before they find us, too.” She sets her jaw.
“I need to go to him.” I turn to stumble back to the opening of the tunnel.
“Hang on a sec.” Her voice follows me.
“Sorry, Jess. I am grateful that you came for me, but I made a mistake escaping. I shouldn’t have left. I need him as much as he needs me.” My voice trails away.
I hear myself and realize I am not making any sense.
But maybe that’s what this crazy connection between me and Dante is about. It’s about instinct, about following what’s right. About not trying to make sense of this chemistry between us. About what existed from the first time I’d set eyes on him.
I’d tried to leave him, I’d tried. But no way can I go when I know his life is in danger. My stomach lurches. I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from feeling sick. Then, hurrying to the entrance of the corridor, I step inside.
The light is blocked out for a second.
I half turn to find that Jess has followed me. “Go back. This isn’t your fight.”
“That’s where you are wrong.” Her forehead furrows. “Remember the motto of the Bureau?”
“Never leave anyone behind.” My voice rings hollow in the space.
“Not even when he’s the enemy.” Her smile twists her lips. “You chose him for a mate; that makes him one of us now.”
She reaches me, then jerks her chin to keep going.
A sigh hitches out of me. “Thanks, Jess.”
“Don’t thank me yet; we are not clear of whatever threat is waiting for us up there.”
I nod and begin to race up the corridor.
Before I turn the first corner, footsteps ring out. I freeze.
Jess curses. “Stand aside, Gia.”
I drop to the floor.
She pulls out her gun, then takes aim.
We wait. A beat, then two. A soldier dressed in fatigues appears around the bend. He wears a blue armband; marking him out as Fae.
Jess fires.
The man drops to the floor. Behind him, there are more footsteps, which come to a stop.
Sweat drips down my back, plastering my tunic to my skin. My eyes ache, and my feet throb. The smell of blood floods the air. I stiffen. An eerie glow lights up the corridor.
Jess turns to me just as I spring up to my feet.
“He’s teleporting.” I grab her arm. “I am going to follow him.”
“I can’t let you do that.” Her features stretch tight.
“This is the only way to save Dante.” I drop my arms to my sides.
“I can’t let you die.”
“If he doesn’t live, then I am already dead.” My voice is calm. I know she senses the ring of finality to it. Enough for her to know I am speaking the truth.
“Go get back up and bring them to Singapore. It’s where they are taking him.”
Ahead of us a portal forms. The Fae steps in, and the space burns bright then recedes.
I race toward the fading vortex. “Don’t delay, Jess, I am counting on you.” I throw myself into the hollow of the portal.
The psychic breeze tugs the hair from my face.
Geometric designs flash past me. Fluorescent green and pink and red sparks fly over me. The wind whips at me, and my eyes stream. The vortex pulls me in deeper. Every cell in my body feels like it is being torn apart. Then the whiteness sweeps over me, and the vortex recedes to spit me out.
32
Dante
The sun shines on my shoulders and sweat drips down my back. I move my arms only to find they are held immobile. I try to take a step forward and am not surprised when I can’t move them either.
The red behind my closed eyelids grows in intensity.
The sound of distant cheering reaches me. The hackles on my neck rise. Even without opening my eyes, I know this is bad. The events of how Boris had come to the safe house, of how I’d been hit from behind wash over me.
There is a flash of light. The air around me thins. I try to take in a breath, but my lungs feel like they are burning. I crack open my eyes just in time for a portal to form. A Fae soldier steps out of it. He walks forward only to turn and drop into a defensive stance.
It’s a signal to the others to form a circle around the opening.
“No,” I try to croak the sound aloud only to find my throat is too dry.
I strain at my bindings.
The portal glows white, then another figure rolls out. Long, dark hair flows around her, sweeping the ground.
Her clothing barely reaches her knees. It's torn and muddied. Blood marks stain the fabric.
“Get away from her.” My voice roars around the space.
The Fae warriors hesitate. I don’t recognize them. These are not the men I have trained. I don’t see any of the Fae Corps here either. Which means Boris has my men captive, or worse…no, he couldn’t have killed them. I shove the thought out of my head.
“Capture her.” Boris steps forward into the ring from the opposite side.
Around us, people in the stands rise to their feet.
Only then do I realize where I am. In the arena in the center of the city. Where the Fae Elders meet to celebrate victories and mete out punishments. Blood thuds at my temples.
“Get her,” a man from the crowd hollers.
“Leave her.” The words roar out of me. “Else I won’t spare any of you. When I get out of here, I will kill each and every one of you.”
The soldier stops. His shoulders bunch. His throat moves as he swallows.
Boris leans forward on the balls of his feet. “Dante went against my orders. He’s a dead man.” He looks around at the soldiers. “Any man who disobeys me is siding with him. And you know what that means for you and your families, don’t you?”
The soldier who’d come out of the portal looks to the man closest to him. Then nods. He raises his hand. “Get the woman.”
The other soldier races toward Gia, who drops down and kicks his legs out from under him. The soldier goes clean over her shoulder, hits the sand, rolls over, and lies still.