way across the dark, vast backyard toward a small dot of light tucked up against dense woods. Trust struggled against a tidal surge of dread when their destination became clear—a large brick cold storage burrowed back into an overgrown hill, its mouth studded with bars instead of teeth. Inside, illuminated by several powerful lanterns, waited Max’s human bodyguard, Giles St. Clair along with his own clan’s new king. They stood by a single chair bolted to a cement floor with wide, sturdy cuffs attached to its metal arms.
Objection burned harsh and bitter in the back of Colin’s mouth. Everything he’d asked for suddenly became way too much for him to accept. The limp figure cradled to his chest went from dangerous threat to his beloved mate and mother-to-be of their child. If turning her over to whatever they planned required restraints and this diabolical setting, it no longer had his support.
The second he balked, Silas’s hand fit between rigid shoulder blades, convincing him to continue with halting reluctance to the throat of the manmade cave. But he wouldn’t cross the threshold.
“I didn’t agree to . . . this, whatever it is.”
Max answered the menacing rumble with a quiet, “Yes, you did.” He turned, reaching to take Mia from his arms but arrested the movement when green eyes flashed a red-and-gold warning.
Casting an anguished look toward his approaching brother, Colin found empathy but no support. Max stepped aside so Cale could reach for the figure clutched to his chest.
“Let me take her, Col,” Cale coaxed, slipping his palms beneath her. “I’ll be gentle. C’mon. Let me do this for you, for both of you. Okay? Let me take her.”
Cale eased the limp figure from shaking arms, turning to pass her to Max, then quickly braced his palms against the surge of his brother’s chest. Danger threatened with the seismic growl of each breath.
As Max placed Mia in the chair flanked by the MacCreedys, Giles slipped out of the Quonset-like structure to shut and secure the barred door with lock and chains, keeping them in and whatever subtly shifted through the waking Terriot princess from getting out, then took his place next to Cee Cee.
Huge dark eyes opened. Confusion melted to alarm as she looked from face to face until finding her prince.
“Colin? What’s going on?” Her voice trembled. Tears pooled in the dark, pleading gaze. When he didn’t respond, she called out again, clearly terrified. “Why are you doing this to me?”
Cale gripped his brother’s arms, readying to fight him to the ground if necessary. But it wasn’t.
An impenetrable stillness settled over Colin’s features as he regarded the now frantically weeping female. “Mia would never betray weakness in the face of fear. Never.” His cold tone plunged several more degrees. “I don’t know who that bitch is, but she’s not my Mia.” He pushed free of Cale’s hold as he looked to Max, demanding, “Find out.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
As Silas knelt in front of the anchored chair, Max stood behind him, smile calm and reassuring as he spoke to the imprisoned female. “This is to protect you and the baby. Don’t be afraid.”
Whatever looked back at him through Mia’s damp eyes changed in a blink. “Do your worst, Shapeshifter. Harm me, harm them.” The low-pitched warning was issued in another voice, one filled with fierce intent.
“Is Mia there with you?”
A thin smile. “You mean is she dead? No. She feels everything you do to me.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m not your friend, even though I’ve enjoyed playing house with that one.” When a sly lick of her lips got no reaction from a now stoic Colin Terriot, she dismissed him to concentrate on her interrogator. “I know who you are and what he and that one,” the dark head jerked toward Nica, “are, so don’t play your games with me.”
Max almost smiled. “I like games. I’m good at them but not as good as my friends here. But let’s you and me play first.”
She feigned dismay. “Right here in front of both our mates? Shame.” A quick display of sharp teeth. “Let’s do it.”
Jade-colored eyes flashed red. “Harm her, you won’t escape. Understand?”
No response.
Max nodded to Nica who anchored the creature’s head between her palms, immobilizing her despite her struggles. When Silas’s hands fit over his mate’s so that fingertips pressed to suddenly sweaty temples, the imposter growled and tried to snap but couldn’t break the two-fold grip. So, she went still, eyes gleaming, breaths coming in rapid hisses.
Max leaned in close, staring in through