Thank gods everyone else in the courtroom was fixated on the defendant, so I brought my beast to the forefront of my gaze and parted my lips, just a tad, so he could see the tip of my beast’s fangs.
He blanched. “What the hell is that?”
Now everyone looked at me, including Indigo, but I’d closed my mouth, and my wolf retreated from my gaze. My mate’s eyes met mine, and he crumpled to the floor. I shoved past everyone and vaulted over the low barrier that separated the gallery from my mate. Court officers shouted, but I ignored them and held Indigo’s wrist.He was unconscious, and his pulse was steady under my fingers.
A court officer placed a hand on my shoulder and asked if I was family, and I said I was as my mate’s eyes opened.
“Riven?” he whispered.
“I'm here.”
Court officers were still dealing with Fitzgerald, who continued to rant aboutthat thing's eyesas they removed him from the courtroom. The judge was calling for order, and everyone was talking. None of it mattered.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Looking after you.” I helped him to sit. “How do you feel?”
“Embarrassed.” A touch of pink returned to his cheeks. “Did I pass out in front of the entire courtroom?”
“Technically, it was more of a slump.”
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
The prosecutor thanked my mate for his testimony and added that the police had determined Fitzgerald was small fry. He had no connections to crime syndicates. He was just an embezzler. Even so, my eyes and my wolf’s scanned the courtroom, looking for anyone out of place.
Like us?
No, bad guys.
“Riven, how did you know about the trial?” I led Indigo out of the courthouse. “The exact date and time?”
“I can read and search the internet.” I hailed a passing taxi. “I couldn't stay away,” I confessed. “I neededto be close to you, but it was instinct that made me intervene.”
“The shifter protecting his mate.”
“I'm sorry if I overstepped.”
“You didn't.” He brushed his fingers over my hand, and warmth surged through me.
I pulled out the drawing he’d made me. “This has been with me since you left.”
He ahhed, but when the cab pulled up outside his apartment building, I hesitated.
“Come up.” It wasn't a question.
“If that's all right.”
Indigo grinned. “It's more than all right.”
ELEVEN
INDIGO
I’d invited Riven up to my place because I didn’t want him to leave. But now that he was here, I was unsure what to say. I was exhausted, and if I had a choice, I’d collapse into bed with him beside me.
“I’ve been reading what Antonia gave me.” I shuffled the books on the coffee table. “Trying to understand.”
“Right.” Riven looked so out of place perched on an ottoman. I was so used to seeing him striding through the snow or explaining the history of the mountains and the lodge.
