Several struck his legs. One clipped his left ankle. Pain ignited beneath his skin. Was it broken?
Irritation roared through him and he kicked upward, driving himself hard toward the surface. The current shifted unexpectedly, dragging him sideways.
Ice loomed above him.
Damn it. Where was the hole?
Anger surged through his entire body as another drone slammed into his dick. He punched once. Twice. A third time. Cracks raced outward, spidering fast until the ice finally gave way.
Strong hands reached in. He grabbed Taryn’s arm and hauled himself out, flopping onto the ice and rolling clear.
“Oh my gosh,” she said. “You’re a bloody mess.” She moved toward him. “Are you okay?”
“There’re underwater drones or something down there,” he said. Leave it to Solomon to throw in modern weapons to mess with him. “I didn’t expect that.”
She helped him up. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s fine.” Cold air washed over his skin as he forced his body to start knitting itself back together. He shivered despite himself. “Let’s get out of here.”
She leaned into him, fully naked, wrapping her arms around him. “Let me warm you.”
Before he could respond, lights blazed along the shoreline, bright and sudden, cutting through the darkness.
“Are you kidding me?” Nadia yelled.
Caidrik froze.
He turned toward the sound of her voice and saw her standing at the edge of the lake with Bussy and Margaret just behind her. Taryn was wrapped around him, both of them naked in the moonlight, steam rising faintly from their chilled skin.
Ah, crap.
Nadia stood framed by moonlight and twin headlights, her expression sharp and furious and hurt all at once. The sight of her out there hit him harder than any of the underwater projectiles had. Not because of jealousy. Because she was exposed. Because Bulwark was still out there.
“All right,” he said shortly. Enough. Just bloody, freaking enough.
He disengaged from Taryn immediately, grabbed her hand, and marched across the ice, careful of the spreading cracks beneath his feet. Blood slid down his side and dripped onto the snow. His feet felt like he’d been walking on nails, and each step sent a jolt of pain up his legs. He barely noticed. His focus remained locked on Nadia.
He reached the shoreline where Nadia stood flushed and furious, her eyes blazing. Bussy and Margaret hovered just behind her, both pale now that they could see the blood.
“This isn’t what you think,” he said.
“Well, it kind of is,” Taryn muttered.
Nadia gasped. “You’re bleeding. What happened?”
“Underwater drones,” he snapped, then looked past her to the two women behind her. “Do either of you know anything about that?”
Their mouths fell open.
“Underwater drones?” Bussy said. “Are you kidding? We’re practically in the stone ages. Where would anyone even get underwater drones?”
“I don’t know,” he ground out. “But when I find Solomon, we’re going to have a discussion.”
He looked at Taryn, then back at Nadia. He was done. He was pissed. He was exhausted. He was freezing his ass off, standing naked in front of a bunch of females with blood drying on his skin.
“Nadia,” he said flatly, “if I choose a mate, it’s you.”
Taryn stiffened.
