Only there was no one there.
The door swung open, thenslammedclosed with enough force to send a vibration right into the floor. I jumped in reaction, one hand reaching for my thermal goggles. Fuck, I couldn’t see! Beau whipped around, mouth open in warning, pointing toward us?
Gwyn flinched back, screaming, and my senses went haywire. Something was there, something was scaring her, and shit, I should have put the goggles on before even crossing the threshold!
Mack was a blur of movement, so fast I could barely clock him as both his hands reached out and then clenched into fists. I backed Gwyn up automatically, getting her out of range, because I’d seen Mack with that expression before and, generally, exorcisms followed.
“She is off limits, coullion,” Mack snarled at whoever he had in his grasp. “Let this be a lesson to anyone in the building. Gwyn is off limits. You come for her, you deal with me!”
Then he tore his hands apart like he was ripping something asunder, and Gwyn flinched again, her breath sucking in sharply.
“He just ended that sonuvabitch, didn’t he?” I guessed.
Gwyn nodded emphatically.
Mack turned, eyes sweeping over Gwyn. “Ma petite chère, I am so sorry. I didn’t think anything would target you this fast. You okay?”
She stepped forward those five steps and gave him a big hug. “I am, thanks to you.”
He hugged her back, but his eyes caught mine over her shoulders. Uh-oh, my cute Creole was hopping mad because someone came after his girl. Which meant he was not stopping until everything in this building had been cleared out, willingly or not.
Looked like we were going to be here a while.
“Mack, while we’re waiting on the rest of the team, how about me and Gwyn wait outside?”
“I think you have a smart idea, cher.”
I didn’t want her in this building more than she needed to be. In fact, I might take her back early, depending on how much of a shitshow this was. “Beau, Hannah, you got Mack?”
“We do,” Hannah promised me. “But take Gwyn out. She’s the most vulnerable right now.”
I knew those two could back him up, I wasn’t even worried, but I was glad Hannah reassured me.
We retreated to the outside steps, and honestly, I felt like I could breathe better out here. The atmosphere inside was suffocating.
I intended to ask Gwyn a question but was sidetracked by my phone ringing. Oh, Don was calling. “Hang on a sec, Gwyn, my brother’s calling. Hey, Don.”
For some reason he had me on video. “Hey. How’s it going over there?” he asked with a smile.
“Out of curiosity, do you know what’s worse than a shitshow?”
“A FUBAR?”
“That tracks. I figured there was a term for it. We’re at FUBAR level.”
Don’s expression screwed up into a grimace. “That good, huh?Is it manageable, at least?”
“Jury’s still out on that one. We’re doing all we can, though. Anyway, why are you calling?”
“I set up the furniture for Gwyn and wanted to know if the layout works or if she wants things arranged differently.”
“Ahh.” I waved Gwyn in closer. “Then let me introduce you. Gwyn, this is Don.”
She shyly waggled her fingers. “Hi.”
“Hi, Gwyn.” Don smiled. “Welcome to the family. We seem to be collecting apprentices, so you can join right in.”
We had told her about Jon’s apprentice, and really, he had two, as Skylar was Abby’s anchor. Those two were beyond joined at the hip.
