The explosion of the windows had set off the alarm and given him the precious seconds he needed to turn from the elevator and race back to her.
If he had actually been faster and caught the doors before they closed on the cubicle, then he would have been too far away from her.
If the Breeds heading down to the bar had been seconds slower and hadn’t been in such a hurry, then it would have been all over and his mate would have been gone.
“I need to know what happened, Stygian,” Jonas growled, his gaze narrowed, his nostrils flaring as though to pick up her scent. “And she’ll need to be debriefed.”
“I f**king said later.” The animal snarl slurred his words, the primal, predatory sound jerking the attention of every Breed that had converged in the room to them.
Stygian could feel their eyes on him, their hackles raising and their animals preparing for battle.
Eerie silver eyes flashed in a suddenly stony face.
“You take me for a fool,” Jonas growled, though his tone was pitched so low Stygian had to strain to hear him.
“I take you for a Breed that has no idea when to step back and keep your machinations to yourself,” Stygian snapped back. “You will back off. This is my mate they nearly disappeared with, and I’ll be damned if you’ll take her from me before I know she’s unharmed.”
Stepping back, Stygian didn’t give the other man a chance to comment or to argue before closing the heavily reinforced door in his face and locking it.
The sound of the metal bars inside the steel door snapping into place could be heard even in the other room. The implications of what he had done weren’t lost on him.
He could have made Jonas an enemy for life.
His mate’s safety, both physical and emotional, was far more important.
“Liza.” Moving to where she had sat up on the bed, her gaze on the floor, Stygian knelt before her, one hand tucking beneath her chin to lift her gaze to his. “Are you okay, baby?”
She shook her head slowly, the tears contained in her eyes slowly falling.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Cupping her cheek, he felt fear tear through him. “Tell me where it hurts.”
She swallowed tightly, a whimper leaving her lips as more tears fell.
“Come on, Liza, tell me what’s wrong.” Keeping his voice low, he had to fight back a howl of pure rage at the pain he felt radiating through her.
It wasn’t physical pain.
There were no broken bones, no internal injuries, he would know if there were—the scent of them would have hit him within the first second of rushing back into their room.
Her lips trembled more as she parted them.
“Liza’s dead.”
His heart seemed to still in his chest as a sob tore from her.
As she clapped her hand over her lips, he watched as she fought for control, won it, then swallowed again against the pain building in her soul.
“No, sweetheart.” He shook his head.
“She’s dead,” she whispered again, wrapping her arms across her stomach and bending over, her head touching his shoulder as instinct had him wrapping his arms around her. “Oh God, Stygian. She’s dead. She died twelve years ago and now—” A shudder raced through her. “And now, they’ll find me, and she’ll die again.”
Resignation filled her pain-threaded voice, trembled with it and sliced against the emotions he realized she alone was responsible for awakening.
“Look at me. Look at me, mate.” Hardening his voice, he forced her to lift her head and stare back at him once again. “You brought me to life. You showed me all I have to live for, do you imagine for a second, for even a heartbeat that I would allow anyone to take you from me now?”
“You know who I am,” she whispered, her voice so low he was reading her lips more than hearing her. “You know. They knew—” Her eyes flashed with terror. “I can’t hide anymore. If I can’t hide, they’ll find me.”
“Who will find you? Tell me who will find you?” What enemies did she fear that she could ever imagine he wouldn’t destroy?