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Five minutes. There were only five more minutes until the one-hour time limit was passed. What would happen if Zeven couldn’t return in time? Surely Deven would hunt his brother then, but what would happen to her? Would she have to go back to the original plan of fleeing the city alone? Or would she be strong enough to escape Deven and run away with Zeven?
Too much had happened. There was no way she’d be able to just go back out and rebuild her life. This wasn’t like the other times she’d run and started over. This time if she went alone, she’d be living without Zeven and that single thought stole the breath from her body and brought an ache to her soul.
She tried to draw breath past the painful lump in her throat. The ache settled in her chest and bloomed into a rush of pain.
“What’s wrong?” Deven caught her arm, holding her up and helping her to the bed.
She looked up at him while her eyes watered from the sharp agony.
“Shit.” Deven ran his hands over her in a hasty physical. “Just focus on breathing.” His fingers closed over hers, tightening her hand into a fist that he pushed against her breastbone. “Think only about pulling the air in and pushing it out. There is nothing but air. Bring it in and push it out.”
Minutes passed, precious time they didn’t have to spare. But breathing did get easier just so long as she focused on it. “What’s happening?”
“Just breathe.” He released her and moved across the room. With a few deft movements he had everything stuffed back into the two bags. Then he returned to her side, handing her jacket over. “It’s not your pain, Harley.”
The truth ripped a small cry from her before she swallowed the fear back down. “Zeven.”
“Yes, and if you love him, if you want him to survive, we have to go to him, immediately.”
She was up on her feet and reached the broken door before Deven. She was running again, but this time she would be running right into the path of danger instead of fleeing. A very small part of her mind urged her to save her own ass but the rest, the vast majority of her body and soul screamed she go to her mate. Zeven needed her, and this time she would be at his side for whatever came.
Deven threw the bags in the back of the sedan and slid smoothly behind the wheel. Before she even settled onto the passenger seat, he was on his way out of the lot. “Which way?”
“How should I know?”
The car sat idle blocking the entrance. “If you’re his mate, you are bound to him, like a thread connecting your bodies. You can feel his pain, his thoughts and his emotions. You are two halves of one whole. You know where he is.”
She wanted to argue. The concept was insane and yet she was doubled up with pain that wasn’t hers. They’d used telepathy. Instead of wasting time she turned toward the pain, pointing to the right. “That way.”
At least she didn’t have to beg Deven to believe her or to hurry. The sedan raced toward the east. As fast and reckless as he drove, there was no denying he cared about his newfound brother, regardless of what he’d said earlier. What if they’d only just found Zeven in time to lose him forever? Deven would certainly survive, but would she be able to live on if Zeven didn’t?
“We’re clan and we won’t lose him.” Deven’s hand closed over hers.
“Did you read my mind?”
“No, I read my own.”
She squeezed his hand back. “When Zeven joins your agency, promise me that you’ll teach him and watch his back.”
“You just focus on getting us to him.”
She didn’t argue. They might find Zeven too late, and a promise would be rather pointless. Still, it was the only way she could see hope through the pain. “Promise me,” she demanded through gritted teeth, while clutching at the agony ripping apart her stomach.
The silence stretched out until she was sure she’d have to kill Deven to force him to utter the words. She guided them back toward the expensive homes closer to Lake Mead. Finally, Deven turned the sedan into a gated driveway.
He grabbed her arm before she could leap out of the car. “Zeven is my brother, my clan just as you now are. I promise that if there is any way for him to survive and thrive, I will be there at his side to help him as much as he will let me.” His eyes were solemn and his expression more intense than ever. “Now this could be, probably will be, quite ugly. I should tell you to stay here, but if I do his chances will drop to nothing. I’ll head in first. You need to grab both Berettas from the back and follow me. Don’t crowd or rush. It might be a trap.”
She nodded.
“Good. Let’s do this.” Deven led the way.
She grabbed the guns, checked to be sure they were loaded with the clips that were marked red and stuck an extra clip in her coat pocket. She was a doctor. She healed people, but dammit, this was different. This was war and they had taken her mate prisoner. She was going to get him back. Once he was safe, she’d be a doctor again and more than willing to pull the bullets back out if needed.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Zeven was running out of time and strength. He was bleeding from a dozen different wounds. His magic was failing, not even trying to heal him. And the assholes just kept coming.
Jack and Sheila Donnelly stood to one side and watched. The bitch hadn’t even bothered to change forms. She’d just unleashed the clan on him and waited for the inevitable outcome. Already two young wolves lay dead at his feet and several more members of the clan had limped away, hurt badly enough to give up their part of the battle.
