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Elise, having just returned from somewhere outside, covered in blood.
Holy hell.
He rocked back on his heels, his stomach dropping like a stone to a vicinity
somewhere around his knees. Elise was drenched in scarlet. The front of her
clothes were stained deep red, as if someone had opened up her jugular.
Except it wasn t her blood, he realized as the metallic odor of it drifted up
to fill his nostrils. It was someone else s blood a human.
The relief he felt in that moment was profound.
Until a desperate brand of anger set in.
He put his fists on the railing and swung his legs over, dropping to the floor
of the foyer on a tight-bitten curse. Elise hardly glanced at him as he
stalked toward her, his body shaking with the depth of his fury. But all her
focus was on stricken, incoherent Irina Odolf, who had collapsed onto an
upholstered bench near the front door.
Reichen came in from the kitchen carrying a glass of water. He handed it to
Elise.
Thank you, Andreas. She turned and offered the drink to the sobbing
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Breedmate. Here you go, Irina. Drink a little of this if you can. It will
make you feel better.
Tegan couldn t see anything wrong with the other woman aside from shock.
Elise, however, looked like she d just come in from the front lines. A livid
bruise ran along her jaw and up the side of her cheek. What the hell
happened? And what the fuck were you doing outside of this Darkhaven?
Drink, Elise coaxed her charge, all but ignoring Tegan. Andreas, do you
have a quiet room where Irina can lie down for a while?
Yes, of course, Reichen replied. There s a sitting room here on the first
floor.
Thank you. That should be fine.
Tegan watched Elise taking control with a gentle command that came so easily
to her. He had to admire her strength in the midst of obvious crisis, but damn
it, he was fuming. You want to explain why you re standing here bruised and
bathed in blood?
I went to see Irina this morning, Elise replied, still not troubling herself
to meet his angry gaze. A Minion must have followed me
Jesus Christ.
He broke into Irina s town house and attacked us. I took care of it.
You took care of it, Tegan said darkly. What happened? Did you fight with
the son of a bitch? Did you kill him?
I don t know. We didn t wait around to find out.
She took the glass of water away from Irina, who wasn t drinking much anyway,
and set it down on the floor. Are you able to stand up now? she asked the
woman, her voice caring and concerned. When the Breedmate nodded, Elise took
her under the arm and helped her to her feet. We re going to walk you to
another room where you can rest, all right?
Allow me, Reichen said, smoothly moving in and taking Irina s slack weight
onto himself. He gingerly guided her out of the foyer, toward a pair of open
double doors off the grand entrance.
When Elise started to follow them, Tegan reached out and caught her by the
hand. Elise. Wait.
Given little choice, she paused. Then she blew out a slow sigh and turned to
face him. I really don t need your disapproval right now, Tegan. I m
exhausted, and I want to get out of these awful clothes. So, if you plan on
lecturing me, it s going to have to wait
He pulled her to him and she fell silent as his arms went around her in a
fierce embrace.
He couldn t let go. He couldn t speak. His chest was constricted with an
emotion he didn t want to acknowledge, but could hardly deny. It wrenched him,
pressing like a vise around his heart.
Ah, fuck.
Elise might have been killed today. She d managed to get away, sure, but she d
been in serious danger with that Minion and there was always the very good
chance that things would end badly.
He might have lost her while he slept. When she d been out of his reach, and
he d been unable to protect her.
The thought hit him hard.
So unexpectedly deep.
All he could do right now was hold on to her. Like he never wanted to let her
go.
Elise had expected anger from Tegan. Perhaps arrogant male censure. She
couldn t have been more shocked to feel his arms holding her tight.
Good Lord, was he actually trembling?
She stood in the warm, strong cage of his embrace, and felt some of her edgy
tension begin to break. The bone-deep fear she d refused to let herself feel
until now started to pour into her limbs. She leaned into Tegan s welcome
strength, bringing her hands up to rest against the hard muscles of his bare
back, her unhurt cheek lying on the smooth plane of his chest.
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There are some papers, she finally managed to say. Petrov Odolf s brother
wrote a bunch of letters. I thought they might be important. That s why I went
out to see Irina.
I don t care about that. Tegan s voice was thick, vibrating against her ear.
His fingertips pressed into her shoulders as he brought her away from him and
stared down into her eyes. That gem-green gaze was penetrating, so intensely
serious. Jesus Christ, I don t care about any of that right now.
It could mean something, Tegan. There are some strange verses&
He shook his head, scowling now. It can wait.
He reached out and wiped at an apparent smudge on her chin. Then he tilted her
face up to his. He stared at her for a long moment before he kissed her.
It was brief and tender, filled with a sweetness that robbed Elise of her
breath.
Everything else can wait for now, he said quietly, a dark ferocity in his
voice. Come with me, Elise. I want to take care of you now.
He led her by the hand, out of the foyer and up the main staircase to her
guest room on the second floor. She walked inside with him, paused as he
turned to close the door behind them. He glanced down to where her packed bag
sat on the floor. When he looked back at her, there was a question in his
eyes.
I had been planning to leave Berlin today. I was going to go back to Boston.
Because of me?
She shook her head. Because of me. Because I m confused about a lot of
things, and I m losing focus on what matters. The only thing that should
matter
Your vengeance.
My promise, yes.
Tegan came to stand in front of her, his broad chest filling her vision,
radiating a warmth she wanted so badly to feel against her again. She closed
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