The way Jordana’s fury was mounting, he was going to have a much bigger problem very soon. Not only from this female who was pure Atlantean, but from the assassin who was bonded to her by blood.
Because by now Nathan would have felt every spike in his mate’s emotional state. And there would be no stopping him from coming to her rescue, no matter where he might be.
“Jordana, calm down.”
It was a lame thing to say, but it was all he had. He wanted to explain everything, but he was still in play and unable to breach his commanders’ faith in him. And while he and the Breed female at his side had reached some kind of mutual dependence inside Cruz’s gang tonight, that didn’t mean he was ready to give her any added leverage over him.
Not that it mattered.
Jordana was looking at him like a stranger now, an enemy.
“Nathan told me you’d hooked up with some lowlife criminals. I didn’t want to believe it.”
Rafe swore under his breath, his reply tasting like bitter acid on his tongue. “Yeah, well, I’m sorry to disappoint.” He glanced at Brinks. “We need to go now.”
He took a step forward and was stopped by a pulse of powerful energy. It shoved him back on his heels.
Jordana’s hands were down at her sides, her fingers curled into loose fists. Light emanated from within her palms, growing stronger. Not merely light, Atlantean power.
Rafe grabbed Brinks by the wrist and tried to haul her past Jordana.
A bigger blast hit him, jolting his nervous system and knocking him flat on his ass.
“Rafe!” The sound of Brinks’s concerned shout penetrated the haze of his rattled skull.
He lifted his head and saw that Jordana’s hands were aglow now, her palms and fingers engulfed in bright halos of unearthly light.
Rafe tried to get up, but invisible chains held him down. He cursed, fighting to break loose from her power. It was no use. She was far stronger than he imagined. No doubt, her blood bond with Nathan had only enhanced her abilities.
He would be damn impressed if he wasn’t glued to the floor of the vault.
“Let him go.” Brinks’s cool demand shocked him. Her face was anything but calm. As she stared at Jordana, her bourbon eyes threw off amber sparks like a bonfire. The tips of her fangs gleamed like diamonds as her lip curled back on a snarl.
Jordana glanced at the other female, but the force of her energy didn’t relent. Not even a little.
Brinks didn’t give her a second chance.
She launched herself at Jordana with a speed that surpassed anything Rafe was capable of. One instant she was standing off to his side in the vault, the next she was planted in front of Jordana, seizing her by the shoulders.
Jordana made a strangled noise as Brinks’s hands locked on to her and didn’t let go.
“Don’t hurt her,” Rafe shouted, but he wasn’t sure Brinks was listening. And as hard as he tried, he couldn’t shake loose from the telekinetic force that held him down.
Fuck, this wasn’t good. He didn’t think it could get much worse.
Then, upstairs in the museum came the crash of breaking glass.
A deep, unearthly roar shook the building. Unmistakably Breed.
Nathan.
The massive, black-haired Gen One seemed to materialize from out of nowhere.
And Rafe had never seen him so enraged.
Nor more starkly terrified as his mate began to sag against the unfamiliar Breed female. “Get away from her.”
The light in Jordana’s palms extinguished. As it faded, the power that had been holding Rafe down subsided. He leapt to his feet. “Nathan, this isn’t what it looks like.”
