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I got to the doorway just as a body slammed into me. Mare. She stumbled back, damn near tripping over her feet, face pale, and body shaking. I reached for her, grabbing her by the arms to hold her up automatically as my head whipped up and another—much larger and stronger body shoved by. I half-turned, wanting to go after the bastard—catch him, string him up by his goddamn ankles, and slit him open until he told us who he was and what he fucking wanted with my girl. The thread of guilt that wound through me that she had been alone only made the anger pulse stronger.
Sharp nails sank into my shirt and dragged my gaze back down. “Don’t go,” Mare whispered as she trembled against me. “Please,” she rasped.
Fuck. The desire to give chase weakened. I needed to get him—needed to make sure he couldn’t hurt her again, but when my eyes darted from the door to Mare’s pale and fear filled face, I knew I couldn’t leave her. Not with her staring at me with wide eyes, her breathing a ragged pant through parted lips. The longer I waited, the less likely it would be that I could catch him, but what did that mean? Leaving her here? Defenseless.
I silently cursed as I cupped the back of her head and held her to me with a sigh. “I’m not going anywhere, Mare,” I promised in a quiet voice.
Mare held me, shivering and acting so much like a terrified kitten that it concerned me. Not even minutes later, I heard the screeching of an SUV pulling up outside. Footsteps sounded as they rounded the front of the house and jogged down the steps, and then Ian and Jensen were there, filling the still open doorway.
“What happened?” Ian demanded.
“She was attacked,” I answered, anger raced through me but more than that, fear iced my veins, and I couldn’t stop the sickening weight that formed in my stomach. We had almost lost her. “A single adult male. Caucasian, I think. It was hard to tell. He wore a balaclava. Professional. I don’t think he meant to kill, only incapacitate.”
Ian’s eyes widened, and he looked for a brief moment as if he might vomit. Yeah, I knew what that meant too. If he didn’t want to kill her, then he wanted to take her. And if the man truly was from her father, then who the hell knew what he would do to her when he got her. I squeezed her close for a moment at the sheer terrifying thought.
“You’re moving in with us,” Ian said, looking at her. Against my chest, she nodded. No resistance. No words. She clung to me and stared at Ian and Jensen, seemingly too scared to so much as leave me to go to them.
Ian approached slowly, as he might a wild animal to show he wasn’t a threat. “Baby, you’re going to be alright,” he said softly, lifting his palm to cup her cheek. “It’s going to be alright. You’re safe now.”
Even as he spoke the words, though, I wondered …for how long?
