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“Am I okay?” He scrambled up to his feet, shield moving with him, and tried to hug her only for the shield to keep them apart. “Are you okay?” She looked like she’d been roughed up—dirty, clothes torn in places, a split in her bottom lip, and her hair an absolute mess.
Lark, Atlas’s brother, who Gavin had only seen in passing, chuckled. “Yeah, you’ll have to get my little bro to drop that shield once he’s done smashing skulls.” He stood beside Charlotte with the man in black’s gun in his hand.
Charlotte looked over at Atlas, then raised an eyebrow at Lark. “He’s yourlittlebrother?”
“Yep,” Lark said, popping the P and rocking back on his heels. “Isn’t he cute?”
At that moment, Atlas let out a savage war cry and threw his arms straight out in front of him. Green lines of power shot out and down, running beneath the ground and causing a contained earthquake. All the men in the blast zone were thrown off their feet, landing hard in every direction.
Sirens screamed in the distance. A second later, red and blue lights flashed through the trees. Two police SUVs came tearing through the park toward them. The HAP men that were still conscious tried to scatter.
“Oh, that’s my cue,” Lark said, dropping the gun he’d been holding. He stood with his arms at his sides, face of a mask of concentration. When he lifted his arms, two walls of fire rose up out of thin air, one on either side of the clearing where HAP had been making their stand. The heat and sudden appearance of giant fire walls drove the men back.
Cops poured out of the two SUVs even as two more police vehicles approached. Behind them, two motorcycle headlights maneuvered around the cop cars and drove dangerously close to one wall of flame. They parked on the stones near where Gavin, Lark, and Charlotte were standing.
“Looks like y’all got this shit handled,” one of the men said, setting his kickstand and getting off his bike.
“Ah, I’m sorry we didn’t save you some, Bacchus,” Lark said. He turned to the other man. “Derek, it was a man in a cop uniform that took Charlotte.”
Derek. Gavin thought he looked familiar. He’d been at the coffee shop, too.
Derek got off his bike and walked to them, stopping in front of Charlotte. “Can you identify him?”
“Hell yeah, I can,” Charlotte said, not missing a beat. “I’d be glad to.”
“Good.”
“Gavin?” Atlas was suddenly there, big arms wrapping around Gavin’s waist and lifting him completely off his feet.
He wrapped his arms around Atlas’s neck and held on just as tightly. “I’m okay,” he whispered against the skin of Atlas’s neck.
Atlas squeezed him tighter before setting him back on the ground. He looked at Charlotte. “You’re okay?”
“I’m good,” she said, sliding an arm through Gavin’s. “Starving, but good.”
Lark chuckled. “Come on, let’s help the police round up the trash. Then dinner’s on me.”
7
“That’s him,” Charlotte said, pointing to one of the handcuffed men kneeling at the side of the police wagon. Atlas stood close at her side. Derek on the other. They both knew that some of the police officers in the city weren’t to be trusted. They’d proven that when the police commissioner himself had tried to use Derek’s mate to acquire private information about the paranormal residents of the city.
“Stupid bitch,” the man spat as two uniformed officers hauled him up to his feet. The cops maneuvered him into the wagon.
Wanting to keep Charlotte from any more vitriol, Atlas slipped an arm around her shoulders and turned her toward where Gavin, Lark, and Pike were waiting. Derek shot him a nod over Charlotte’s head and moved to help the police load the rest.
Gavin had already given his statement. He’d have to go to the police station tomorrow to make it official, but for the moment, they were done. Atlas was more than ready to get Gavin and Charlotte back to the Hub.
As soon as they got close to the others, Atlas let his arm drop from Charlotte. Gavin slid in where she’d been without a second of hesitation. A feeling of peace settled over Atlas at having Gavin settled against his side. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss into Gavin’s messy hair. “You okay?” he asked quietly.
Gavin looped his arm around Atlas’s waist and squeezed. “Better now.”
“Oh my god, you two are adorable,” Charlotte said, with way too much squee in her voice.
Gavin huffed a laugh. “Char, we are not.”
“Oh, you totally are.” Lark cut in with a smile.
Atlas sighed and looked down into Gavin’s upturned face. “Might as well get used to it.”
