“No, we need to formulate a plan?—“
Layla laughs as Jo pulls her through the portal. She looks back at me over her shoulder. “Did you forget, silly Blackwood? We are the plan.”
“In broad daylight,” Andrew mutters from behind the bar. “Damn shame.” He grabs a rag and starts wiping down the counter. “Let me call Tiffany. Mayor Wood is going to lose her damn mind.”
I close my fist and the hologram dies. I grab Mara’s hand and turn to face her. She’s looking at the portal with her ears forward and her tail rigid behind her.
“Remember what I said, Mara. I want you to stay behind me. Don’t try to get involved.”
Her eyes narrow at me, clearly not liking my demand. “I will defend my mate,” she hisses.
“And when you try I’ll lock your ass up.”
Her mouth falls open. I snort at the look on her face. She catches the seriousness in my scent and her expression shifts.
“I don’t understand the magnitude of my magic,” I tell her. “But know this. My magic is in agreement with keeping you safe. Don’t play with me, Mara. I will do what is necessary if you start putting yourself in danger.”
Her tail drops into submission and her ears twitch. She groans but she doesn’t give me a retort.
Good.
“Damn, Mara,” Andrew calls from across the bar. “You got your hands full with that one.”
Mara sighs and lets me pull her through the portal. It snaps shut behind us.
The library smells like old paper and dust, the marble floors stretching out in front of us. The light coming through the high windows is warm, and the place almost feels safe.
A man’s body drops dead from the balcony above us and hits the floor face-first. Blood pools from his mouth. Mara’s tail goes alert and she drops into a crouch beside me, completely startled. I look up.
Josiah is standing at the balcony railing, grinning down at us. Down the hall from him, men are screaming. Layla must be dealing with them.
I turn to my mate, giving her a glare. “Mara, don’t fucking start,” I warn, and she stands upright, her tail swaying in agitation.
Shit. It’s gonna be a long day.
28
Aaron
Igrab Mara’s hand and haul her toward the stairs. The library is coming apart around us. Humans shove past and bolt for the doors, knocking chairs back and leaving their books open on the tables. Not one of them looks at her. They run right past my mate and their eyes find nothing where she stands. A lioness is loose in the middle of them, and their bodies don’t even know to be afraid. I take the stairs two at a time with her at my back, and Josiah is waiting for us at the top of the landing.
“What the hell are you doing?” My voice cracks high out of me and I hate the sound of it.
He rolls one shoulder and drags his thumb across his chin, smearing the blood there instead of wiping it clean. “I’m getting the job done.”
“Are you serious?” I tighten my grip on Mara’s hand and pull her in closer to my side.
He turns and grins at me, his mouth dark with dried blood. “Yes. I’m very serious.”
I groan and shoulder past him, keeping Mara tucked behind me. There’s a set of double doors at the end of the corridor,heavy oak, and something hits them from the inside hard enough to bow the wood on its hinges. Mara flinches into my back, a hiss ripping out of her, her tail snapping straight.
“Baby, please.” I look back at her. “Just do what I ask and stay behind me.”
She presses a finger to her lips. Her tail keeps swaying, but she nods. I lift my palm and let my power build until it hums, then push, and the doors blow off their hinges and slam flat into the walls, plaster cracking where the brass bites in.
Layla is standing in the middle of the room with a man hanging off her fist by his throat, his feet kicking a foot above the floor. Blood paints her mouth from her bottom lip to her chin. Bodies are down around her, four, five of them. Blood sprayed everything like something out of a horror film, and the copper of it hits the back of my throat thick enough to gag on. Josiah flashes in at my shoulder, and stops to take in the room with a grin slow across his face.
“Isn’t she magnificent?” His voice drops low and goes soft. “My beautiful dark queen.”
