Page 55 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha
I waited as they came online one by one, knowing that they saw a smile on my face that wasn’t the urbane, polite sham they usually saw. They wanted to play with the big shark. Look out, here I come.
Their faces reflected various expressions of shock and fear when they saw my true form.
I looked at the names on the screen. Maximilian hadn’t come online. Because he had my mate. In his house.
But for now, she was alright. In my chest, our bond hummed steadily. My Pixie hadn’t verbally replied to my message, but she’d drawn hard on the bond when I threw it open. She was fighting. Good girl.
I spoke over the exclamations of “Mr President!” and a muttered, “Oh gods.”
“As you know I was kidnapped some days ago and have been recovering at home. While I was captured, I took my true form, but as you can see, I am properly merged.” I tilted my head one way, then the other, so they could get a look at my eyes. “As President, I am exercising my emergency override power to rescind the Order put out on my mate Electra Ferrera.”
“You can’t do that,” blustered Fran Carrigio, a Humans First party member.
“I just did.” I was fully within my rights as President to give an emergency veto. “And I am on my way to extract her now, from the residence of Maximilian Veder. And anyone who has hurt her will have to answer to me.”
“But the Council has questions that need to be answered.”
I pinned her with my stare and she quivered. “I will answer your questions. Me. Not my mate.”
Chapter 53
Electra
“Punch her,” Silvio ordered one of Maximilian’s goons.
Oh hell. Could this day get any more fun?
The leader of the Council guards made a noise of protest. My heart leapt. Would she put her neck out for me?
“Do you have something to say?” Silvio asked, his voice silky with menace. “There was a council Order for her apprehension with necessary force and you heard the Councillor give me authority to do as I wish.”
“No sir.” Her voice was subdued.
I tensed, ready to fight, to run, but Silvio changed tactics, and his next attack came like an ice pick in my brain.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
My breathing was shaky, my muscles tight with pain. Dimly I registered that I had curled into a ball on the couch. When the punch came, I couldn’t protect myself against it.
Nausea rose, sudden and harsh. Leaning forward, I puked.
I couldn’t keep this up for much longer. Through the agony radiating from my abdomen, I acknowledged that unless I fought back, it would be only minutes until Silvio broke through. And then I wouldn’t be able to resist his questions anymore. He’d find out all the details about how Bastien had bonded me. Details that were private. Intimate. Precious. Even if there had been no reason for the Council to investigate our bond, I would never have chosen to tell those details to Silvio. Add in that Bastien hadn’t said that I was his mate before he bit me, there was no fucking way I planned to give in.
The guards who’d escorted me were still here, along with four goons who, presumably, worked for Maximilian directly. Eight trained guards. More than I had fought before, but at this point, I had nothing to lose. If I made a bid for escape, and failed, I’d be no worse off than I already was. Maybe I’d be a bit more beaten up, but I took a pummelling every time I fought with my Shifter colleagues in our training room. Sometimes they forgot how easily I got hurt and this wasn’t the first time I’d puked after a hit.
I just needed a moment’s reprieve. Would Silvio buy it if I dissembled and pretended that I couldn’t cope any longer?
At that moment, a particularly vicious stab from Silvio tore into my shield and I bit my lip so hard I felt the blood trickle down my chin.
And then I felt him. My mate. Down the bond.Take my strength baby.I’ll be there soon. Hold on for me.
Grasping the bond like I was drowning and it was my lifeline, I pulled on the strength he offered me. With it, my body flooded with new energy. I groaned, trying to mask my reaction.
Silvio chuckled. “Little bird, I’d forgotten how much fun you were to play with.”
Fuck it, I wasn’t going to take this anymore. Even if there was a Council Order for my questioning, this was illegal and I was justified in defending myself. I’d take my chances on a court not convicting me. My pride would have preferred that I do this myself, but I wasn’t stupid enough to refuse help when it was offered. With the power Bastien had given me down the bond, I quickly reinforced my shield. The work was slapdash and the extra layer over the hole Silvio had almost punched through wasn’t going to last long, but I only needed a few seconds.
I rolled closer to the edge of the couch, letting out a loud moan. “It hurts, it hurts.”
