Page 21 of Dead to Rights
Noah squeezed his eyes closed, bracing for the pain, but it never came.
“Let him go,” Finn commanded, his voice deeper and colder than Noah had ever heard it. “Now.”
Holding a fistful of her hair, he shook her roughly. Rather than fear or remorse, however, Karleigh looked positively delighted to have his attention.
“Finn!”
“Let him go!” Finn repeated, a growl punctuating the words this time.
“Okay.”
The hand around his throat vanished, and he slumped against the wall, choking and gasping while Karleigh made goo-goo eyes at his mate.
“I’ve missed you so much,” she pouted. “You never come to see me, and I don’t know anyone else here.”
“Shut up,” Finn warned.
“I know you’re upset right now, but if you just think about it, you’ll see that we’re meant to be together. Thishuman—” She spat the word. “—doesn’t know you like I do. He can’t give you—”
Her head twisted around on her neck with a sickening crunch, her long hair flying in a graceful arch from the momentum. Then she crumpled to the ground, her head resting on her arm as if she had simply fallen asleep there.
“Noah.” Stepping over her prone body, Finn rushed to his side, gathering him up in his arms and stroking the hair back from his face. “Are you okay? Does it hurt?”
“I’m okay.” Clinging to his mate, soaking in his warmth, he glanced down at the female. “She’s going to be pissed when she wakes up.”
“I don’t care,” Finn growled. “If she puts her hands on you again, next time, she won’t wake up.”
He probably shouldn’t have found the threat as hot as he did, but whatever. “I’d really like to go home now.”
In response, Finn lifted him from the ground, cradling him against his broad chest as he started striding back down the street. Effective, but not exactly what he’d meant.
“I can walk.”
“Quiet.”
Oh, his mate was growly. “Okay.”
Grinning, he wrapped his arms around Finn’s neck and rested his head on the vampire’s shoulder, content in the knowledge he was right where he belonged.
Chapter seven
TheweekfollowingKarleigh’sattack on Noah passed without further incident, but it wasn’t a peaceful kind of quiet. More like the hush before a storm.
Everywhere he went, Finn felt the prickle at his nape, the weight of an unseen stare against his back, always watching, waiting. Anxiety had become his constant companion, and when he didn’t sense Karleigh nearby, he worried even more, knowing that meant she had likely turned her attention to Noah again.
Protective instincts urged him to keep his mate hidden away in the castle, safe behind a wall of magical wards. Even if Noah would allow that, though, it wasn’t a practical, long-term solution.
He had tried asking Orrin for help, but unfortunately, the prince couldn’t just wave his hand and banish Karleigh across the river. Only Hades and the God of Death had that power, and both of them tended to be pretty hands off until forced into action.
“We could cross the river.”
Lounging on the sofa in the sitting room of his suite, Finn glanced sideways at his mate. “No.”
“Even if she followed us, she’d never—”
“No,” he repeated with a tone of finality. It had been a reoccurring argument all week, and he had already made his stance on it clear. “I’m not going to let her make that decision for you.”
“She wouldn’t be. Not if it’s my choice.”
