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“Are you all right?” he asked, looking his sweetheart over from head to toe.
“Me? Your skin is burned! Are you okay?”
She curled her fingers to keep from touching him. He looked down at himself, aware that he’d been burned but ignoring it in favor of getting people to safety and checking on his mate.
“I’m fine, I’ll heal.”
“I’m okay too. What the heck happened?”
Alaric said, “I’d like to fucking know that too.”
Galen held his mate despite the burns on his arms. “I think we were set up.”
“Set up how?” Alaric asked.
“I think the bomb threat was a ruse to get people outside where the car bombs waited.”
Ronan mused on that, then nodded. “That makes sense. The question is who would do such a thing?”
“I think it was the fairies,” Alanah said. “I think… the king’s come for me.”
* * *
Alanah’s stomach hurt, but it was dread and not an actual injury that made her feel like barfing. Someone had set three car bombs at the entrance to the hotel and then called in a bomb threat. If Ronan hadn’t shoved them away when he did…she shuddered to consider what might have happened to them.
As it was, her mate had burns on his arms and face from being closer to the cars than the rest of them, and so did her sister’s mate, Galen.
“Why do you think it was the fairies?” Aubrey asked as she and Alaric hugged tightly. Alaric and Sylas hadn’t been hurt at all because they’d been inside the hotel when the bombs went off.
“Who else could it be?” she looked at Ronan, meeting his gaze, then she looked at Alaric and asked, “Has the hotel ever been attacked like this before?”
“No,” Alaric said. He frowned and seemed to be mulling something over, then he said, “Okay, we’re going to evacuate the hotel, but send everyone out the back, after it’s thoroughly checked. Then we’ll go floor by floor and check each room as well as inspecting every vehicle in the parking lot. Galen, grab the security footage and see if anything comes up. Let’s not jump to any conclusions until we’ve got something concrete. The authorities have been contacted and are on the way, but our best bet is to do our own investigation, especially if Alanah, or someone else, is being targeted." He divvied up tasks, including Ronan, Taryn, and Sylas in the assignments.
“I’ll keep everyone safe,” Taryn said, cracking her knuckles. “The fuckers think they can intimidate us with some bombs? Hell no.”
Alaric grinned. “Thanks.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt again,” Alanah said to Ronan.
“I’m not hurt.”
“You’ve got scorch marks on your skin and clothes.”
“What’s that old joke? Just flesh wounds? I promise, I’m fine. The important thing is that you’re safe.”
“The important thing is that we’re safe,” she reiterated.
He kissed her swiftly. Turning to Alaric, he said, “I’ll scout the back with Sylas and join you at the security desk.”
“Sounds good,” Alaric said.
Ronan escorted the group which included the people from the restaurant, save for the wounded female who was a wolf shifter and still unconscious, and her mate, who stayed put to wait for an ambulance.
Alanah’s heart was in her throat. She couldn’t believe someone had set bombs off at the hotel. What if they hadn’t gotten away? What if Ronan’s nose wasn’t superior and he hadn’t smelled the explosives that were used?
She shivered and he hugged her closer as they made their way to the back of the building. He and Sylas left everyone at the corner of the building and scouted the area. There was a door to a freight elevator which was kept locked, as well as several doors leading to a stairwell, the kitchen, and the laundry. There were a few cars parked, but no one scented any explosives, so they called everyone back.
“For safety’s sake, stay back from the cars and hotel, but don’t go too far,” Ronan said. “Keep your head on a swivel, Taryn.”
