He leaned across the table, bracing himself on an elbow, and placed a hand on the back of Shay’s neck. Dipping his head, he placed a soft kiss on Leah’s forehead. He lifted his face a moment later to kiss Shay on the lips.
She returned the kiss, but a soft sob escaped her as she drew away, pressing her lips against Leah’s head. Her tears fell freely, cutting trails through the blood smeared on her cheek.
In the months he’d known her, Drakkal had only seen Shay show such emotion, such vulnerability, a handful of times—few enough to count on one hand, and he had a finger fewer on each hand than her. It broke his heart a little, but it also bolstered his love for her. He understood now what he’d been too naïve to comprehend in his youth—showing these emotions was not a sign of weakness. In many ways, in many cases, it was amongst the most admirable signs of strength.
“Don’t want to interrupt,” said Arcanthus over the commlink, “but I think Murgen is heading for a safe room deeper in the facility.”
“You saying he’s trying to hide instead of run away?” Thargen asked.
“A lot of people with his kind of wealth do the same,” Urgand said. “Used to see it all the time when I ran in private security. They have these rooms in their manors that are likelittle self-sufficient fortresses. They can just wait in luxury for help to come.”
Drakkal clenched his jaw, dropped his arm from Shay, and stepped back. There was still another emotion roiling inside him with the others, stronger and deeper than all save his love for Shay and Leah.Rage. It was driven in part by instinct, which had not yet been satisfied—which wouldn’t be satisfied until the threats to his family were eliminated for good.
“Cren, how are you three doing up there?” Drakkal asked.
“Moving up to the last group now,” Kiloq replied over the comms.
“These guys fight like amateurs,” Koroq added.
“All right.” Drakkal turned to look at his companions. “Urgand, can you check Leah and make sure everything looks good as best you can tell?”
Urgand nodded and walked to stand beside Shay.
Drakkal turned to face his other companions. “Sekk’thi, you’re on watch. Cover the door. Thargen…go take care of the staff hiding in the supply closet.”
Thargen sighed and let his shoulders slump. “Are they even armed?”
“No,” Arcanthus said.
Releasing an even heavier sigh, Thargen stomped toward the supply room door on the left side of the room. “Fine. But only because we had some real fighting earlier.”
“They might not fight back,” Shay said, “but they’re the ones that were poking and prodding me and Leah. The ones that Murgen wanted toexperimenton us.”
Thargen’s expression fell subtly, conveying an oddly cold fury that was a rare sight from him. “Oh, Ihopethey fight back.” He swung his auto-blaster on its shoulder strap, stowing it behind his back.
“Arcanthus, I want you to guide me to Murgen,” Drakkal said as Thargen entered the supply room.
Arc chuckled. “And here I thought you were about to give me a challenging task.”
“You want a challenge? Try to go five minutes without sounding like an arrogant prick.”
“Afairchallenge, azhera. That’s asking the impossible.”
Smirking, Drakkal turned back to Shay and reached across the exam table. His smirk faded as he placed his palm over her cheek and gently brushed the pad of his thumb under her sealed cut. “I’m going to finish this. Be right back.”
Her blue eyes blazed as she pressed her face into his palm. “Make himhurt.”
The weight behind Shay’s words was not lost on Drakkal. This was not a demand for cruelty—it was a demand for vengeance, for closure, forjustice. A demand to right the scales, which had been wildly misbalanced for too long.
But the heart of this matter was simple—Murgen Foltham had caused Drakkal’s mate and cub suffering, distress, and pain. The degree of that suffering mattered only in relation to how much pain Drakkal would now inflict upon Murgen. There were no more deals to be made, no more second chances to be claimed. There was no more forgiveness to be offered.
Drakkal closed his eyes just long enough to take a deep breath, filling his lungs with air perfumed by his family’s scent, which surpassed all the other smells in this room based on its familiarity alone. He didn’t want to leave it behind—didn’t want to leavethembehind—but he had to finish this.
Opening his eyes, he offered Shay a solemn nod, lowered his hand, and swung his auto-blaster back into his hands. He turned and walked toward the back door. “Arcanthus, show me the way to this fuckingzhe’gaash.”
“You want me to close off the corridors and trap him somewhere closer?” Arc asked.
“No,” Drakkal replied without hesitation. “Let him get far away from Shay and Leah. Let him get to his safe room. I want him to believe he’s safe, want him to believe he’s secure, so I can show him that all his fucking money doesn’t mean anything. I want to see it on his face the moment he realizes it’s over.”