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TWO
Zalen
THE TERRIBLE, TWISTEDlogic of Luca’s words struck me like a blow, and I knew with irrational certainty that his guess about Emiel’s whereabouts was right on target. OfcourseEmiel would go back to the underground cage fights to punish himself.
“Okay, yes, I can see him making that decision,” I said. Christ, I was so tired. I wasn’t sure I had it in me to immediately race after this latest crisis. My body longed to collapse after five straight days in the heat nest with no sleep, watching over the omegas. And yet, there was nothing else to do but go after him. “Right. We just need to find out where the fights are being held, then Byron and I will go bring him back.”
“I’m going with you,” Mia said.
“I should go, too,” Luca added immediately, even though he looked like he wanted nothing more than to sink through the tile floor and disappear into the void.
“No,” I told them. “You absolutely arenot. Neither of you are getting within a goddamnedmileof a gang-run fighting ring after last time.”
There was a frantic light behind Mia’s eyes. “You don’t understand, Zalen! I was all ready to ask Emiel to help with my heat, since you and Byron would have already been exhausted by helping Luca if we’d both been on our normal schedules!”
“I talked her out of it,” Luca muttered.
“But I still need to tell him that!” Mia insisted. “He didn’t do anything wrong. I was the one who blew past his boundaries!”
I didn’t really want to say this next part aloud, but she deserved to know. “Mia, he almost lost control and mated you.”
That stopped her cold. I heard Luca’s sharp intake of breath.
I shook my head. “This whole thing is my fault, not either of yours. As far as I can tell, Emiel has no sexual history at all. He never got a chance to learn how to control his urges growing up. Even with dampeners, this was too much for him to handle. It was a terrible decision to ask him to take you down to see your husband. I should have insisted Byron do it.”
“Hedidcontrol his urges, though,” Mia said stubbornly. “Maybe he thought about biting me in the heat of the moment, but he didn’t actually do it! Hewouldn’thave.”
“And you should tell him that as soon as we get him home,” I replied, not giving ground on the matter. “But right now, you both need to eat and drink something, get cleaned up, and rest for a day or so. Mia, you should probably contact Nat and let him know you’re all right. He seemed pretty worried about you when I texted him on Friday morning.”
She groaned and pressed the heels of her hands to her eye sockets. “I still can’t believe he showed up at your door to check on me.” A moment later, she let her hands drop. “Ugh, and then there’s the restaurant to deal with. I’ll have to borrow someone’s phone. Mine was in my pocket when I left work on Thursday, but it’ll be stone dead by now.”
“No, I put it on the charger in your room,” I said. “I hope that wasn’t overstepping, but I figured you’d want it fully charged when your heat broke.”
“Oh,” she said blankly. “Um, thanks for that. I’d ask if you’re always on top of things to this degree, but I think I already know the answer to that question.”
She couldn’t be more wrong about me, but it was a flattering mistake, at least.
“I still feel like I should be there when you pick up Emiel,” she continued. “I can’t believe I acted like that with him. God, everything is such a mess right now.”
I still didn’t know exactly what had brought her to the door of the nest in tears last Thursday night, but I got the feeling she was talking about more than Emiel. Even so, Emiel was the part I needed to focus on, because that was the part I could control.
“Do you really want Luca getting anywhere near the fights?” I asked, not above a bit of manipulation. “Because if you try to go there, he will, too.”
Mia looked devastated at that. Luca’s scent spiked with anger.
“Don’t use me like some kind of a chess piece, Zalen,” he said tightly—all hints of the omega who’d briefly let us hold him and pamper him gone without a trace.
“Your old gang is after you, Luca,” I told him, not pulling any punches. “If you think I’m going to sign off on you walking back into the middle of that snake pit, you still don’t know me at all.”
At the mention of his old gang, Luca paled. Mia made a soft, hurt sound that pierced right into my scarred and battered alpha heart.
“Byron and I will bring Emiel back,” I went on, hoping like hell that the promise wouldn’t end up being a lie. “When we do, maybe he’ll be in a place to listen when you talk to him, Mia.”