“Any chance that's actually her?”
I appreciate how calm he is right now, especially since my heart is about ready to beat out of my chest.
“I don't know. Maybe? But she doesn't usually sign off like that. And she hasn’t given me the sign to deactivate the shadow shield.” My stomach drops to my feet as my orbs flash white. “I need to go in, Hellas. I can’t wait.”
“If this isn’t Ryn, we risk putting her in more danger by walking into a trap.” The brightness of his orbs is the only outward sign that he’s stressed. It’s also the only thing keeping me from punching him in the face for making me wait, because as much as I resent being forced to wait, at least one of us is keeping eyes on the whole picture. Ryn doesn’t need balls to the wall right now, she needs help that isn’t going to give whoever is threatening her the edge.
Hellas sighs and rubs a hand over his face before nodding to himself, “Alright, go in. We need eyes in that fucking lab to know how best to proceed.”
“Right, okay.” Wiping my palms off on my pants, I swallow around a nervous lump in my throat and pray that none of this will be necessary. That I’ll walk into that lab and the other half of my heart will be ready to explain away the past few hours with a smile on her beautiful face, and some snuggles to stabilize my seemingly permanent erratic pulse.Please.
My hand shakes as I place it against the door of Ryn’s lab, and I take a second to shake off my anxiety. I don’t have the time for it right now, and the closer I get to Ryn, the angrier I get that someone woulddare to lay a single fucking finger on her. I wonder how bad another murder charge will fuck up my probation. No time like the present to find out.
Nodding once to myself, I push open the door and steel myself against whatever might be waiting for me on the other side. My eyes immediately land on my shadow shield, still in place over two procedure tables. I squint, stifling a gasp as I recognize Sam on one of the tables. Sam, and…a fucking child!I check to make sure they're stable through my shadow, and sigh a breath of relief when everything checks out normal. They must be drugged.
My orbs flare, and my heart pounds against my ribs as I try to control the shadows now flicking out like whips around my feet as my fury mounts. On the bright side, Ryn isn’t strapped to one of the few other empty tables. Not so bright side,where the fuck is my woman?
“Ryn?” My voice is harsher than I intended, but I can just feel the barest hint of fear coming through our bond—which means Ryn is close, and she’s scared. “RYN!”
My steps echo through the lab as I move farther into the room, keeping Dr. V and the kid in my peripheral vision as I glance around for any sign of Ryn. This is weird, right? A door clicks shut, and I spin around to see someone coming out of the en suite. My heart feels like it’s swelling up in my chest as I walk toward them, and then, I let loose a breath.
“Ryn?” She’s here. She’s fine. I soak in the sight of her, bidding my nervous system to calm the fuck down now that I have eyes on her and she’s clearly okay.
“Hey, baby. Thanks for coming so fast.” Ryn lets out a big breath and hurries over to me, wrapping her arms around my waist and burying her face against my chest. I’m frozen to the spot, and it feelslike it takes ages for my orbs to lower to the top of her head, and my arms to slowly return the embrace.
“You’re—You’re okay? What happened? Why did you—what happened, Ryn?”
She squeezes me tighter and starts rubbing little circles on my back, no doubt trying to settle my heart rate, but goosebumps break out over my skin. I–I want to push her away? What the fuck is happening?
“It was awful, Seth. Saskia was here. She attacked me. Said she was going to hurt Sam and the girl if I didn’t give her the stones. I–I had to stop her, so I used my necklace to protect them and started casting everything I could think of. She must have slipped away in all the chaos. I didn’t want to chance anything in case she came back, so I left the shield up and contacted you.” She pulls away some and looks up at me through her lashes, her grey eyes glittering with unspilled tears. My heart squeezes painfully at the sight as she continues, “This isn’t over, though. She said Darro is the one pulling the strings. As long as he lives, he'll be a threat to me. To us. You’ll help me, won’t you?”
Her hand trembles as she cups my cheek, and a shiver runs down my spine. I swallow before nodding slowly, “Of course I will.”
A hesitant smile stretches her quivering lips, and then her eyelids flutter shut as she leans in for a kiss. I run my fingers along her clavicle, tracing the barest outline of it, and slide my hand up to cup her delicate neck, tilting her chin back while tightening my free hand around her waist.
She lets out a breathy little moan as I pull her tighter against me. With my heart pounding in my ears and my shadows wrapping around her legs, I tighten my fingers and fuckingsqueeze.Her eyes fly open, widening comically as she chokes against the sudden lack of air supply. My lip curls as I squeeze tighter, using my shadows to wrap around her bottom half and hold her in place. My chest is rising and falling morerapidly now, and every point of contact with her makes my stomach churn.
“Where is she?” Rage turns my voice into a menacing growl. Her eyes swim with fear as satisfaction courses through my soul bond—and knowing that wherever she is, the real Ryn is watching and approves, spurs me on. Shadows continue to wrap around this pretender, and I let them squeeze painfully tight. “Where ismyRyn?”
I loosen my hold around her throat just enough to let her speak, and she sucks in a shuddering breath and then croaks out, “Please! Baby, please—look, it’s me!” Her hands, which were clutching desperately around my arm, reach out toward my chest, and I snarl, tightening my hold on her throat once again.
“Don’t fucking touch me! Don’t youdaretouch me withherhands.”
Her eyes flash, and she attempts to nod, but I’m done playing her stupid games. “You have ten seconds to show me where my mate is, or I'll crush your fucking larynx.”
“Oh, dear.” A bored voice drawls from behind me, and fake Ryn’s eyes grow, somehow, even wider. “I’m going to have to insist that you stop doing…that.” I turn just in time to catch Kier Darro gesturing lamely to where my hand is clasped around fake Ryn’s throat.
This asshole has theworsttiming in the history of the universe. He sighs dramatically andtsks, “I’ve dabbled in enough breath play to know if that were your goal—you're doing it wrong, and domestic violence really is so prosaic.”
“This isn’t Ryn,” I grit out, watching as the Unseelie prince slowly strolls closer, tilting his head and pursing his lips at my words. He stops about an arm's reach from us and looks at me dully, as if I’ve lost my marbles and he’s annoyed he has to help collect them.
“Right. Well, all the same—if you’d be so kind as to desist with the strangulation so that she can—oh, I don’t know, actually answer some questions, that would probably be best.” Kier’s voice is light and playful, but his eyes are as sharp as knives and poised to strike.
Slowly, I begrudgingly loosen my hold on fake Ryn’s neck. She coughs and sputters, greedily gasping in lungfuls of air while glaring daggers at both me and Darro. Oddly enough, though, despite the fact that I was, as Darro so succinctly put it, strangling her, and that I’m the one still holding her hostage in my shadows, the weight of her hatred leans heavily toward Darro.
He tuts, rubbing his jaw with an amused glint in his eyes now as he chides her, “Bit dramatic, no?”
Her voice is little more than a scraping rasp, but somehow still full of venom as she grounds out her rebuttal, “Fuck you, you sadistic bastard.”
