“Fuck you.” Lyra’s rumbling tone made every hair on my body stand on end. Something was happening here, something I didn’t want to acknowledge. I would have stepped away, except she clung to me with a death grip on my forearm, as if she was terrified to let go.
Warlord Kovo moved close and lifted his arms in Lyra’s direction. Instinctively, I shifted, blocking him. He growled and I pulled my pistol, held the business end to the center of his forehead. “Don’t touch her.”
This asshole wasn’t wearing armor. No, he’d waltzed in here with his woman, both of them dressed like they’d spent the day sailing. I refused to believe that even an Atlan Warlord could recover from a point-blank head shot. I wasn’t carrying the standard issue 9mm. Since Eddie had died, I carried a .45.
Dodge this, asshole.
“Give her to me,” Kovo demanded.
“No. Get the fuck away from her.” Whoever this asshole was to her, he didn’t get to be on his knees, begging Lyra for forgiveness one moment, then demanding I let him put his hands on her the next. She wasn’t reaching for him, clinging to him. No, she was wrapped around me.
“Move, human.” Kovo’s voice deepened and his face contorted. He bared his teeth at me as his mate, Adrian, rushed forward and wrapped her hands around one of his wrists in a pathetic attempt to pull him back. He had grown at least a head taller, his shoulders and chest bulking up as he changed into his beast. He was a fucking monster now. I adjusted my aim accordingly. Adrian had about as much chance of moving him as an ant had moving an elephant.
“You’re not touching her.” I didn’t move, refused to back down. I couldn’t do it, couldn’t just hand Lyra over to a bunch of strangers.
I didn’t know what was happening. I had a sneaking suspicion Lyra had been lying to me the entire time I’d known her. That she wasn’t CIA, she was one ofthem, an alien. A fucking Atlan.
Kovo’s next words confirmed my worst suspicions, ripping my heart out of my chest. “My sister. Move.”
Warlord Bahre stepped closer as well, despite Quinn’s protests. Warlord Egon was sliding around the edge of the room, preparing to flank us and block our exit. The two Everian Hunters hadn’t moved, their unblinking eyes fixed, one tracking me, the other tracking Jenkins, who had also pulled his pistol, his back to mine.
The three Prillons sitting in the recliners? They watched everyone with a look of boredom. I had no doubt they would spring into action if needed. Apparently, they did not believe Jenkins or I were much of a threat.
Adrian shoved herself in front of Kovo, practically climbing him like he was a tree. She wrapped herself around him, arms circling his neck, legs around his torso as she clung. “No, Kovo. Calm down. She’s not hurt and she’s not going anywhere. He’s not trying to hurt her. He’s protecting her.”
The beast shuddered and looked down at his mate. Slowly, with a grimace that made me think he was in extreme pain, he transformed back into his more human looking, massive self.
Quinn wasn’t the only one breathing a sigh of relief. “Thank god.”
Kovo was no longer in his beast form, but he was still huge. Determined. He peeled Adrian off his body and shoved her behind him. “Lyra is my sister. She needs help. She is mine to protect. Get the fuck away from her, human, or I will ripyour head from your body and shove that puny gun down your throat.”
Heart. Head. A full-blown war raged between the two as the tense silence lengthened.
Lyra curled into herself behind me, her arms wrapped around my waist as a whimper left her. “Ethan.”
Next to me, Jenkins shifted, Warlord Egon in his sights. “What’s the play, Ethan?”
As much as I needed to protect Lyra from the Atlan, I needed to wrap my arms around her even more. Fucking aliens had lied to her, made her think she was alone in the universe, that her brothers were dead. They used her grief to manipulate her. Made her scream at them with both rage and despair clear as day in her voice. She was hurting and I could do nothing about it standing here pointing a gun at her fuckingbrother, not even comfort her.
Hell, even if I managed to kill him, I’d just be hurting her.
God damn it.
Slowly, I lowered my weapon but didn’t take my eyes off Kovo. “I don’t care who you are. Don’t touch her. She’s mine.”
Every alien in the room froze at my declaration. I wasn’t sure what had driven me to say it, but I felt the truth of it in my fucking bones. Even if Lyra was one of them, an alien, she was mine.
When I considered everything that had happened over the last two days, the truth had been right in front of me. Her odd reactions. The transport beacons. The gadget she used to pull out part of the cyborg’s spine. Her knowledge of Coalition weapons. The way she’d understood the strange language spoken by the guard outside. Her lack of fear when the three cyborgs attacked us in the morgue. Fuck, even her handcuff kink made sense if she was an Atlan. A male of her species would have put mating cuffs on her wrists before he had sex with her.Everything was so obvious, I couldn’t believe I’d been foolish enough to think she was human.
But then, I’d wanted her to be. Denial was a powerful thing. Especially when the most beautiful woman you’ve ever met crawls into your lap and starts kissing you like she’ll never get enough.
I’d assumed she was CIA. She had neither confirmed nor denied it. A lie of omission, perhaps. But by the time she could have told me the truth, I’d told her about Eddie, Charlene and Maddy. We’d fucked like wild animals before she knew how much I hated Atlans. If she were one of them, a female from their planet, could I blame her for not revealing the truth? Could I treat her like she was one of the Warlords here? Associate her with the cyborg beast who’d thrown my brother into the sea and ripped Maddy in half?
No. All I could think about was the way she tasted on my lips, the sounds she made when I fucked her in the shower, made her come all over my dick. The way she lifted her hands over her head and begged for more. The way she surrendered her body and trusted me to take care of her.
I put my handgun away and turned to pull her close, tucked her against my chest. My heart still pounded with adrenaline, but the immediate danger had passed. Jenkins put his pistol away but kept his gaze locked on Warlord Egon, whose beast now blocked our exit. The beast growled a warning at us. They might allow Jenkins and me to leave, but not with Lyra. I’d have to leave her behind with these alien fuckers. That was not an option.
“What now?” I asked Kovo. “What’s wrong with her?” Whatever it was, I had a sneaking suspicion these aliens were responsible for it.
