It had tugged at her senses, urging her to cross the distance, to accept the silent invitation that had filled his too-blue eyes and the savage features of his face. To rest her head against his chest, to let him hold back the nightmares for a while.
Rather than acknowledging the sensation, though, she’d run from it. Just as she was still running from him. Like a frightened child, afraid of the feelings rising inside her and the unfamiliar responsibility it had entailed, she had run.
Just as she was getting ready to run again, she knew.
She knew who and what she was running from, but she couldn’t explain who or what she was running to.
“Be brave, Peanut.” And her brother had never expected her to be brave. That was what brothers were for, he’d always told her. “Be brave, Peanut . . .”
And if he couldn’t protect her, then—
The thought suddenly vanished as a firm knock interrupted the memory, pulling her quickly from the thoughts that had begun to drag her into the hell of the cavern.
That had never happened outside a nightmare, she thought, dazed as the knock repeated sharply, causing her to flinch at the sound.
Shoving the past back into the darkness where it couldn’t destroy her again, Gypsy turned and moved quickly to the door, throwing it open without caring who was on the other side. If it was someone intent on attacking her, then right now they’d have a fight on their hands, she decided.
She stood, blinking in shock at the visitor, though, almost unable to believe who stood there glaring at her.
“Well, at least you’re alive,” Kandy announced, irritation lacing her voice as she pushed into the room. “And evidently Mom and Dad haven’t killed you yet for scaring the life out of them.”
Turning, she closed the door, watching as Kandy came to a stop in the middle of the room before staring around with a frown. “Where are they anyway?”
“Who?” Gypsy shook her head, uncertain what to make of her sister’s arrival. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean who?” Kandy demanded rather than answering her. “Mom and Dad, of course. They came on up to meet with Jonas Wyatt to see why everyone was so certain Commander Breaker had kidnapped you—without your permission, that is—from the bar the other night. Everyone’s talking about it, you know? Mom’s livid and swears it’s going to totally compromise McQuade Consulting.” Kandy rolled her eyes at the thought. “They were certain you were being held in chains here. Arrested or being seduced?” Kandy’s brows wagged suggestively. “They wouldn’t wait on me when Loki stopped me in the lobby to find out why I was there. They came on up while we were talking.”
That sense of panic rose sharply inside her now, tightening her chest and filling her with such dread that she could barely breathe.
“I haven’t seen Mom and Dad,” she told her sister.
Kandy stared at her as though she were suddenly speaking in a foreign language.
“What do you mean, you haven’t seen them? They came up the elevator with Thor about . . .” Kandy checked the watch on her wrist. “Hell, almost an hour ago to meet with Wyatt. I was certain you would be there.”
Gypsy’s gaze swung to the digital clock on the wall across from her. Rule had left nearly an hour ago.
“As a matter of fact, the clock over the elevator read one thirty-three,” her sister announced. “I noticed that because Loki said he only had a few minutes to talk before he was due for a meeting at one forty-five. But it was canceled—” Her sister stared around the room again. “Where could they have gone?”
The breath seemed to become trapped in her chest, threatening to smother her as Gypsy suddenly knew exactly where they were.
“No,” she whispered, the knowledge that her mother must have done something incredibly stupid again blaring out at her senses, screaming at her to do something, to protect them. “Oh God, no.”
Before the words were past her lips she turned, threw open the door as she ignored her sister’s startled cry and began racing down the hall, heading for Jonas’s suite.
Rule had been called away, the summons evidently imperative enough that he had left a confrontation she knew he’d had no intention of breaking off. He’d been enraged with her, and intent on convincing her of something she knew wasn’t true when he’d been called away. At the same time her parents should have been knocking at the door of Rule’s suite.
Rounding the corner, she nearly barreled into Loki, surprising the Coyote who had obviously been rushing through the hall himself in the direction of Rule’s suite. He reached out for her, his expression startled, and the knowledge that flashed across his face caused her to duck, executing a slide that kept her well out of his reach before she shot back to her feet and sprinted to the end of the next hall.
“Gypsy, no. Wait,” he called out, anger vibrating in his voice as she heard Kandy call out his name in confusion.
Adrenaline was racing through her now, dread a close companion as she whipped around the next corner, racing full stride for the Breeds now blocking Jonas’s door.
She came to a hard stop, realizing that the seven Breed males had no intention of moving as they had previously whenever she arrived.
“Get out my way, Flint,” she ordered the one she knew best, glaring into his dark eyes as he watched her grimly.
“I can’t do that, Gypsy.” He shook his head, his expression never softening as he kept a careful eye on her. “Just be patient . . .”