If it was the Luz family behind this, then they not only had a legion of criminals breathing down their necks, but elves who could slip unquestioned through their ranks. They were snakes in the grass, ready to strike the moment they wandered too close.
“I’ve temporarily doubled her guard and asked her to stay on Treasure Island until I can be assured of her safety,” Theodore explained, tone hardening.
It was a good thing she’d already planned to skip work at the hospital, then. Margot was not one to take orders like that well, particularly when they conflicted with her work as a healer. He used to find it funny that Theodore was so in love with a spunky little healer determined to cause him headaches, but now he felt like he couldn’t help but empathize with his brother.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he said, “Good. When are you sending an m-gate?”
He tried to ignore the way bile crept up the back of his throat as he waited for Theodore’s answer.Of course she’s safe in the EVP,he assured himself.I’ll be with her. She’ll stay in my apartment, and I can have my unit act as her own guard. She’ll be fine.
Except he couldn’t hold her there forever, even if she agreed to it, which she almost certainly wouldn’t. He would still be dashing her dreams, and for what? What if hecouldn’tpromise she would be safer in their territory?
His gut said that Elio was involved, but it also said that there was more to the story. If the mysterious think tank was involved, then someone had been watching Atria for a lot longer than Elio had held his grudge against the Solbournes. Something much bigger was going on than a simple squabble between elvish families, and it unfortunately included his mate.
And if it reallydidcenter around some theoretical doomsday weapon, then there was every chance that whoever was really behind the plot to kidnap the witches would not be easily dissuaded from their goal. Which meant that holing themselves up in the place they were expected to be might actually be the worse decision.
Fucking fuck.
“You’ve got ten minutes until Daria and a unit arrive,” his brother informed him. “You’re being evac’d to the penthouse landing. I want you both in the Tower until we figure this shit out.”
Kaz swallowed hard. “Right. We’ll… be ready.”
“See you soon.” The line went dead.
He was slowly lowering the phone from his ear when the bathroom door opened. A waft of sweet-smelling air accompanied Atria’s frazzled but neatly dressed form. Her lips were pressed into a grim line and her eyes averted as she stomped around him.
He turned to watch her stuff her nightie into her suitcase, then zip it closed with jerky movements. Her hair was tucked into a braid and then coiled neatly at the base of her skull, revealing the tantalizing expanse of her neck and nape.
His throat was dry when he told her, “We’re leaving in ten minutes.”
“Fine.” She grasped the handle of her suitcase and pulled it off of the bed to settle it with athunkon the floor.
Instincts bristling at her agitation, he stepped closer and offered, “We have a bit of time. Let me put some new bandages on you.” The pills had done their job. Most of the bruising and swelling was gone, but the cuts would take a bit more time.
And even if they didn’t, he would take any excuse to just dosomethingfor her.
“Aren’t we headed back to San Francisco?” she asked, cutting him a dark look. “I know a healer there. I’m sure she can help me out.”
He opened his mouth to tell herhecould take care of her just as well, but closed it so quickly his fangs clacked together. Not only was that objectively stupid, it also revealed the extent to which he was being drowned by the pull. It showed he was vulnerable in a way he absolutely wasn’t comfortable with yet.
Heneededto care for her. It was an imperative he couldn’t shake, and her rejection of that care actually stung.
Bullshit,he thought mulishly.This is all some bullshit.
“Besides,” Atria continued as she yanked up the extendable handle of her suitcase and began to drag it toward the door, “you won’t have to bother with me anymore when we get there. You and I can pretend like we never met. This quest of yours will be over, won’t it?”
He didn’t like the cutting edge in her tone. It wasn’t the playful challenge his beast craved. Her anger came from real hurt, real despair, and even though he knew he’d earned a measure of it, Kaz couldn’t stand it.
She wants to be rid of me.The beast roared in protest.
Kaz was across the room before he’d decided to move. Laying one hand on the door, he loomed over her until her back hit the wood. “I amtryingto keep you safe,” he grated. “I know you’re angry, but this shit is not my fault. Stop fucking hating me for trying to save your life.”
Atria’s eyes never lost their fire, even when her chin trembled and a tear slid down her cheek. “I don’t hate you,” she announced, “I’msad.”
His world narrowed to a pinprick. For a long moment, he could see nothing but that single tear as it carved a path down her cheek and jaw to fall onto the stretchy material of her shirt. There it bloomed into a dark stain, taunting him.
His voice sounded like it was coming from a mile away when he said, “I… don’t want you to be sad. Stop it.”
“Then let me go to the conference,” she begged, pressing her hands against her chest. “Come with me if you want. I don’t care. I’ll follow all your rules. Just let me go so we can present our work to the world. Please, Kaz.”
