“Turn around or die,” Talon said coolly.
The rhino-man panted, looking from Talon, to Rain, to me. His stare fixed on me, his nostrils flared, and he lowered his head as if he would ram Talon. Talon stepped forward and punched the man—an uppercut that sent him flying into the bars of the cell behind him. I gaped as the rhino-man slid to the floor unconscious. Rain even nodded in appreciation.
“Anyone else?” Talon shouted in a resonant voice that echoed over the fighting. “I warn you that I will not be merciful.”
The supes went still, pulling away from each other to look toward us. They glared at the Fury. I could see their confusion, even without my second sight to help me. Several hadn't seen Talon defend me the first time. Perhaps they thought he was after me as well and were hoping to take his leftovers. But if they had to fight Talon to get to me, that was another thing entirely. The supes slowly separated and turned away to roam the corridors and glare at us.
“Holy fuck,” Rain cursed in English. “How did you do that?”
“I established myself here the first day of my arrival,” Talon said with a smirk. “It was enough to leave an impression. Most know not to cross me.”
Rain turned to look at me with wide eyes.
In Dralmarin I said, “I told you so.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Something woke me in the middle of the night. The sound of the elevator opening jarred me further awake, and then the lights came on, brighter than usual. I bolted upright, then climbed out of bed to slide into my heels. Rain and Talon were already awake and watching the corridor warily. And then I realized what had woken me. Malik's mark was burning with anxiety on my neck.
“Malik!” I shouted as I ran to my cell door. “Malik!”
“Amara!” Malik's roar echoed through the cell block.
“I'm here!” I shouted, relief weakening my knees.
“Se Esaria!” It was Cyprian who reached me first, his hand slipping through the bars to touch my face.
Then they were all there: Malik, Cyprian, Kyrian, and even Braxis. Alex came up behind them with F.E.A.R.
“Get this fucking cell open before I tear it apart,” Malik snarled over his shoulder.
The door opened, and I fell into Malik's arms. The other men pressed close, surrounding me with their bodies and love. I trembled, relief still rocketing through me. Then Mal's hand went to the mark on my neck and stroked it tenderly. My trembling took on another aspect.
“Stop that,” I whispered with a smile and pushed his hand away.
Mal's eyes shivered as his mark simmered into a happy tingling. “Mvarra, are you all right?” He looked me over for injuries.
“I'm fine,” I said as I went into Cyprian's arms, kissing my way from him to Kyrian.
I even gave Braxis a hug since he looked so bereft.
“My little pixie,” Braxis whispered in my ear as I hugged him. “I feared for you.”
“I'm okay.” I stepped back before he could say something that would make me flush, then glared at everyone. The rest of F.E.A.R. could wait on reunion hugs. “What the hell took you so long?”
“This is a Chinese prison,” Alex said with irritation. “Which meant it was easy to locate but we couldn't just attack it. President Colton spent hours speaking to President Ping. He finally threatened war, Amara. That's what it took to get to you.”
“Then it took another day to organize everything,” Malik growled. “Fucking bullshit. I was ready to kill that son of a bitch.”
“No killing was necessary,” Alex said with a look that hinted at how much effort it had taken to keep Malik from going on a massacre. “We took control of the island fairly peacefully. Bishop and his goons are in custody and his lab is being searched as we speak.”
I started to say something, but Cyprian beat me to it.
“Se Esaria,” Cyprian drawled, “perhaps we can move this conversation to a better location?”
“Oh. Right. Yes, of course.” I looked around the cell block, then pointed at Rain. “That's Rain.” I pointed at Talon next. “That's Talon. They're coming with us.”
“What?” Alex gaped at me.
