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Noah nodded. “Where the fire started. And you might not have been able to get out, since the door was barricaded. You needed her here to survive.”
“See? Another reason why I’m not going to force her to leave,” Blake said.
He shook his head. “Maybe that sense was specific to last night. She could probably go home and we’d all still be fine.”
Noah shook his head. “No. I wondered the same thing and borrowed her gift again about an hour ago. It’s still there.”
“She needs to stay,” Blake told him, his voice gentle, like he was trying not to spook a nervous horse.
“I don’t fucking like this,” Luke spat out. “You two are telling me that I should use her to keep myself safe. What the fuck about her, huh? It’s my job to keep her safe, and letting her stay goes against every instinct in my body.”
Blake exhaled, rubbing his hand over the stubble on his chin. “I’m sorry, Luke. But I won’t order her home. I think she’s just as vulnerable without you as you are without her. If you can talk her into leaving and she goes willingly, I won’t stop her. But I won’t make her, either.”
Frowning, he watched Blake turn and leave the bar as Noah approached him. His oldest friend studied him for a moment before clapping him on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry, but I’m with Blake on this. But I can promise you that I’ll watch her back as closely as I’ve watched yours since we were kids. Whatever she decides to do, make peace with it, okay? Don’t let it drive a wedge between you that you might not be able to remove once the threat is gone.”
Noah nodded to him and followed Blake outside. Blowing out a breath, Luke sank down onto a chair, feeling like he was seeing the room through a hazy filter. Nothing seemed clear. Not the room, not his thoughts, and sure as fuck not his emotions.
His sanity depended on convincing Tarun to go home to Durga. The only thing on his side was the fact that she hadn’t realized they were mates yet. Because he knew, if she were aware of that, there was nothing he could say to make her leave.
Tarun inhaled with a grimace as she ran a comb through her wet hair. She’d had a shower and put on clean clothes, but they smelled like smoke. She supposed everything needed to be re-washed, but she decided it could wait.
She was tired, but she needed to see Luke. They’d only been separated for a couple hours, but it felt like years. And with someone trying to kill him… she’d feel better once she laid eyes on him.
If she had her way, she’d never leave his side. Especially since she knew they were mates.
It still had the power to steal her breath. But she couldn’t deny that she felt like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner. Yeah, they didn’t know for sure until their animals told them, but she still should have suspected.
The way the thought of him hurting made her want to curl up in a ball. The way she’d been so upset when she thought he chose Georgie over her. The way she was crazy attracted to him, the way he made the blood in her veins sizzle—the way she gave him her virginity when she’d never had even the slightest urge to sleep with a man before.
She definitely should have suspected, but she’d been clueless. So much so that her tiger’s declaration had shocked her to her toes.
Pulling the brush through her hair one more time, she decided that was good enough and set it down on the dresser. The strands were just a little damp still—perfectly acceptable for going out in public.
Not that the public were anywhere around. Although the downstairs bar and kitchen remained untouched, the Enforcers decided to close B&B to the public until they finished the repairs, so only shifters were downstairs. And Georgie, but she was basically one of them since she knew what they were.
As much as the other woman might wish she was still one of the uninitiated.
Slipping her feet into her flip flops, Tarun made her way down the back stairs, wrinkling her nose at the strong smell of smoke. She stopped in the archway of the bar, looking around. Everyone was down there—some talking, some eating, some sitting in silence. She spotted Luke at the same time he saw her, her lips curling with amusement as he broke off midsentence and walked toward her, leaving Liam frowning after him.
“Hey,” she said as he reached her.
She would have said more, but he immediately covered her mouth with his, kissing the breath right out of her. Her tiger purred as her blood heated, and by the time he pulled back, she’d lost her wits along with her ability to breathe.
Leaning down, he pressed his forehead against hers. “Tarun, please. Go back to the War Cats.”
She stiffened, pulling away from him. “No.”
“It’s not safe for you here, baby.”
“Don’t baby me,” she retorted, frowning. “I’m a grown woman, capable of making my own choices, and I choose to stay here.”
“Please, Tarun. I couldn’t handle it if something happened to you. Especially if it was because of me.”
She searched his eyes, and she couldn’t help wondering if he knew they were mates. The way he spoke, the intensity of the feelings in his gaze, made her think he did. She just didn’t know why he hadn’t told her—unless he thought the chances of her leaving were even slimmer if she knew.
If so, he was right about that. But what he might not have realized was, mate or not, she still wouldn’t have left.
