Page 49 of Held By a Monster

“Three.” My voice was surprisingly strong and it gave me a speck of confidence. I looked Zeus dead in the eyes. “No survivors.”

He nodded. “We have cleanup crews when needed. I’ll give you their contact information.”

Drym’s warm hand trailed up my back. I didn’t need the comfort. I wasn’t sad those men were dead. They were awful human beings. Maybe that made me a bad person, but at that point, I just didn’t care.

“Since you’re doing this in my apartment’s parking lot, can I go to my apartment?”

Drym’s growl at my back was low, but instead of raising the hairs on my neck like it probably should have, it made me lean into him.

The dancing lights of our bond pulsed brighter.

I was such a goner.

I knew I was going to fall for him. I resisted because what kind of future could we have? Now that we were bonded, I wondered why I was worried in the first place. We would make it work. We were meant to be together. The fates decreed it.

Everything would work out the way it was supposed to.

If I kept telling myself that, I might actually believe it.

Zeus nodded at Drym. “I can escort Kendal to her apartment before I get into position.”

Drym’s hand flexed on my back.

I turned and patted his chest. “Roul is watching over everything. I’ll be fine locked in my apartment. It’s you I’m worried about.”

His chest rose and fell beneath my hand. His eyes closed and he snuffled into my hair. He straightened and a look passed between him and Kragen I couldn’t interpret. Kragen nodded.

Why did I think they’d just made a deal I really wouldn’t like?

thirty-two

I prowled the woods,just out of sight of the tree line. My eyes flicked between Zeus, who leaned against a black SUV, and Kendal’s window. She’d turned the lamp on for me. I hadn’t thought to ask her, but being able to see her pass by every so often gave me a sense of peace.

Kragen’s assurance that if something went wrong, they’d save Kendal first, didn’t hurt.

My instincts screamed that something would go sideways. I felt the same way before the mission that took Thurl’s sight. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was off.

We had gone through every aspect of our plan several times. We made minor adjustments, but in the end neither I nor Kragen could find any fault with it.

So why was I so unsettled?

The thin line of glowing dots stretched between me and Kendal. I had to look to see them, and they faded out in my peripheral vision. I was fine as long as they didn’t disappear entirely.

I had no idea that when Kendal asked to bond that it would be just as welcome for me. Knowing I could find her, that I would feel if she were injured, gave me reassurance I didn’t think possible.

As long as she was okay, it didn’t matter what happened to me.

Headlights swept the trees around me and my ears pricked. A low-slung sports car pulled up next to Zeus and a tall, lanky man got out.

His short blond hair was an artfully arranged tousle meant to look like he’d rolled out of bed that way, but it probably took hours to perfect. He walked with a rolling gait as he rounded the hood of his car and stuck his hand out for Zeus.

“Aymar.”

“Zeus. Why have you brought me to the back of beyond?”

His voice was soft, but had a note of steel.

“Like I said, I have information to pass along.”

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