Page 23

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M ael paused at the bottom step, more than ready to go up but not needing another reason for Echo’s parents to dislike him. He tugged on Echo’s hand. “Maybe we should wait?”

Echo stood two risers above him. He spun, his brows knitted together. “I think we’ve waited long enough, sir. Don’t you?” He crossed his arms over his chest and instantly reminded Mael of Echo’s mother.

Mael scrubbed a hand over his face, mentally bleaching that thought out of his brain.

“Buddy, if this is because I look fat, we’re going to have a serious conversation.”

Mael chuckled, shaking his head. “You’ve never looked sexier than you do right now, trust me.”

“Then why aren’t we upstairs yet?”

“I meant wait until your parents leave,” Mael whispered.

Echo gave a pinched look. “I’m an adult, and I own this house. I’ll do as I damned well please with my mate anytime I want. I haven’t seen you in three months, Maelstrom. March your ass upstairs now.”

Mael barked with laughter. “Yes, sir.”

Echo pointed at his belly. “They already know we’ve had sex.”

“And they don’t seem happy about that, either,” Mael murmured. “I don’t need to piss them off any more than I already have.”

“They’ll have to get over it,” Echo said, holding out his hand. “Walk softly.”

Mael took Echo’s hand and one step.

Echo rubbed his hand down the front of Mael’s zipper. “I’ll carry your big stick.”

Mael groaned, his eyes closing of their own volition.

“Come on,” Echo whispered before spinning and leading him upstairs.

Mael was never so glad he’d fixed those stairs than when he was sneaking up to Echo’s bedroom. Had he not, there would’ve been no doubt in their minds that he was up there—not that they wouldn’t figure it out anyway. Better to keep them guessing versus verifying. He walked as softly as he could in his heavy motorcycle boots, tiptoeing and trying not to laugh as Echo walked backward down the hall and past the guest bedroom door.

Echo stood beside his doorway and ushered him in. Echo followed him in and shut the door. A second later, Mael heard Joanna in the hall.

“Echo? Echo darling? Did I hear you come upstairs?”

Echo rushed to the door and slipped through a crack while Mael sat on the chair to remove his boots.

“Did you need something?” Echo asked her.

“I just wanted to let you know we’re leaving. If your friend left maybe you’d like to come have breakfast with us.”

“My friend didn’t leave,” Echo replied.

Mael would’ve given anything to see her face. He could almost hear the pearls being clutched. He pulled off one boot—and it slid from his grasp and hit the floor with a clunk. Mael winced, shaking his head.

“Oh,” she spat. “I see.”

A couple of seconds of silence fell between them.

“Well, after breakfast we’d planned to bring you something back but maybe it would be better if your father and I stop in and say hello to some friends we’ve been meaning to visit. We might stop by the house and see how moving day is progressing as well. I’m sure now that your… friend … is back, you’ll appreciate having the house to yourself again.”

“I will,” Echo murmured.

“Yes, well… We’ll see you in a few hours then.”

“Yep,” Echo murmured before sliding back into the bedroom, laughing. “Well, that was fun.”

“Sorry about the noise. I didn’t mean to do that.” Mael set his other boot beside the first. He rose, peeling out of his t-shirt. After tossing it over one shoulder, he stalked closer. Echo met him halfway and leapt onto him, wrapping both legs around his waist as their lips met. He slipped a hand up into the back of Echo’s hair and feasted on his mate’s lips, starved for the affection.

He walked toward the bed and climbed in on his knees before pushing Echo down onto the mattress. Mael hovered above, turned on simply looking at his mate lying there, eager… hungry… and needy. His hands trembled with the weight of his desire. Reaching up, he tugged on the waistband of Echo’s shorts. Echo lifted his hips to assist and then sat up to tug the robe off. The t-shirt went next, deposited in a pile on the floor.

“If I’d known you were coming, I’d have worn something nicer under my clothes,” Echo whispered.

Mael gazed down at the cream-colored satin bra and panties. They didn’t have the usual lacy bits, but Mael wasn’t complaining. As needy as he was, it didn’t matter. “They look fine to me,” he murmured, tugging the panties down to Echo’s thighs. “Not like they’re staying on long anyway.”

Echo chuckled, ending it on a shiver when Mael yanked the panties down to his feet. He tossed them over the side. After moving to his knees between Echo’s thighs, he spied the front closure on the bra and grinned.

“Gotta love easy access,” he murmured, popping it open and spreading the sides apart to reveal Echo’s swollen breasts. They looked a little larger than he remembered. He lifted his hands, reaching to cup them and paused. “Where are the little pads?”

Echo snorted, grabbing the open sides of the bra. “I’m trying out a new leakproof nursing bra.”

“Oh,” Mael murmured. He cupped both pecs and squeezed, milk squirting out of each. His body forcefully trembled, eyes clamping shut as he desperately tried to stave off his release. After so long without, a featherlight touch to his cock might be enough to get him off. “Fuck, Echo.”

“Pregnancy hormones are causing me to make more,” Echo whispered. “I’ve had to start pumping to keep the leaking down.”

Mael brought his fingers to his lips and licked the milk off, moaning as he did. “I wanna fucking see that.” He slid the bra straps down Echo’s arms. “Later, though… I want my taste first.”

He slid up Echo’s body, moving to his stomach, and brought one teat between his lips. Suckling it, he felt the flood of milk over his tongue. Echo’s back arched, a moan ripping from his lips. Mael bit down on the flesh, enough for Echo to whimper, riding the border between pleasure and pain. He released the nipple with a pop and inspected his teeth marks around the areola. Milk pooled on the flat tip. He leaned in to lap it up and swirl his tongue around the peak.

After giving the other nipple the same treatment, Mael unzipped his pants, freeing his first cock. Copious amounts of pre-cum leaked from the head, leaving a large wet spot on his jeans. He rose on his knees, cursing himself for being in a rush and not taking them off before he got into bed. Shoving them down his hips, he groaned, the freedom welcome. Once he’d tugged and kicked them off, he and Echo both chuckled, smiling at one another.

Echo held his gaze, desire in the depths of the deep blue sea. He could get lost in those eyes for the rest of his life. He slid off the side of the bed, onto his knees, and dragged Echo to the edge. After resting Echo’s legs on his shoulders, he brought the head of his mate’s cock to his lips, rolling his tongue around the glans and listening to the moans he’d caused. Mael took Echo to the back of his throat, suckling the length.

He surveyed Echo’s responses, paying attention to the loudest moans. Which licks and nibble made him squirm the most. Mael spread open the slit hiding Echo’s pussy and pressed his tongue inside the wet folds before swiping up along the underside of his dolphin’s cock. Sliding two fingers inside Echo’s wet heat, he returned to the shaft and swallowed it whole. Echo’s fingers slid through his hair, tugging on the locks and urging him on. He lifted his hips to meet the strokes of Mael’s mouth and tongue, whimpering and moaning with every motion.

Mael was aching to be inside Echo, but it had been too long. There was no way he was going to be able to make it last and there was no fucking way he was leaving his mate wanting. When he felt tightening around his fingers, he quickened his pace, his mouth keeping tempo. Echo’s hips rolled as he fed his shaft into Mael’s mouth, keening.

When Echo tensed, his body taut, Mael drew Echo deep down his throat. Echo screamed, head thrown back in ecstasy. Cum shot down Mael’s throat. What he couldn’t swallow dribbled down the side of his chin. He continued to suck until Echo came down off his high, and then he released the shaft and lapped up the seed he’d missed.

He stood and laid his body over Echo’s. After sharing a few kisses, he smiled and said, “Wrap those arms and legs around me again, baby.”

Echo languidly lifted his arms, looking ready for sleep. Mael wouldn’t keep him awake much longer. He was too on edge. After climbing into bed and crawling deeper, he deposited Echo in the middle of the bed. Mael rose on his knees and moved his cocks into position. He sank them both an inch or two, wetting the heads on Echo’s slick.

“Deeper,” Echo mumbled. “Please.”

Mael continued the slow, shallow strokes, ignoring Echo’s pleading until he could ignore it no longer. He slid halfway into both channels. Echo made no comment of pain, so he slid out and back in, just to check that he wasn’t hurting him or their babes. “No pain?”

“No,” Echo murmured. “More…”

He pressed closer, sinking in a bit deeper. Every stroke, he went a bit deeper, watching for any hints of pain. When he sank as deep as he could go, he moaned with delight. Bucking his hips, Mael could already sense the coming orgasm. He spread both palms over Echo’s belly, and that was all it took. He did his best to hold it back, but a few thrusts later, he was tossed over the edge, his cocks erupting and spilling his seed inside both holes.

“Oh gods,” Echo murmured as Mael rolled them both to their sides, his cocks still embedded inside his mate.

Echo curled into him, soft and warm—and full with his children. Mael couldn’t stop touching the beautiful swell of Echo’s belly, amazed to return home to such an amazing gift. He couldn’t wait to see how big Echo got—but for how long?

Exhaustion took its toll on them both. Mael awoke hours later with Echo’s head on his chest, the sun at its zenith. He carefully shook Echo awake. “You never ate breakfast. Can I make you something?”

Echo sighed contentedly. “A couple of slices of toast with a bit of jam sounds great.” He sat up. “But you’ve just got back from a three-month trip, swimming your asses off. I should be the one to make you something to eat.”

“That’s right. Barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.”

Echo narrowed his eyes. “Oh really?”

Mael rolled out of bed, ducking around, his fists up, playfully covering his face from blows.

Echo chuckled.

“Are you sure you don’t want more than toast?” Mael asked, lowering his arms to his sides.

“That’s all. Mornings haven’t been great for me.”

“It’s nearly noon.”

Echo rolled to glance at the clock. “Oh, shit.”

“Stay in bed. It’s one of those kinds of days.” Mael lifted his jeans from the floor and sighed at the big wet spot on the front.

“There’s a pair of sweats you left weeks ago. I washed them, and they’re on the back of the chair.”

“Perfect,” Mael said, rushing over and tugging them on.

After a kiss for his dolphin, he ran down and fixed himself a sandwich and toast for Echo. He placed that, two bottles of water, and a ginger ale he saw in the fridge for Echo onto a tray he found in the kitchen and headed for the stairs.

A foot from the bottom step, the door whipped open, and Echo’s parents walked in.

Fuck.

Mael froze. “Hi.” He glanced down at the tray. “Just getting Echo something to eat. I hope you had a nice breakfast.”

He smiled as they remained silent and wide-eyed.

Too happy to get away from the awkwardness, he mounted the first step. “I should get this up to him.” He spun and marched up.

“Are you the one who fixed the stairs?” Echo’s father asked.

Mael paused and half turned to face the man. “Yes, sir. My brothers and I did.”

“And the back door lock?” Ed asked. “And the stuck latches on the guest bedroom windows?”

Mael nodded. “Yes.”

Ed offered a small smile. “They were very well done. I’ve repeatedly offered to come fix them, but he wouldn’t let me. I’m glad you convinced him.”

“No convincing,” Mael replied. “I just broke in one day and did it.”

“Broke in?” Joanna asked, her hand going to her throat.

Mael eyed her hand. I knew it. Pearl clutching.

“Joanna,” Ed said, eyeing her. “Let it go. He snuck in to do something nice for our son.”

Joanna pursed her lips.

Ed focused on Mael. “Well, thank you for taking care of it.”

“I plan on taking care of things from now on,” Mael murmured.

A hint of a smile shone on Ed’s lips. “Enjoy your lunch.”

“Yes, sir,” Mael said before nodding to each of them. He smiled to himself as he turned and raced up the stairs.

Echo was sitting up in bed, rubbing his belly with both hands when he returned.

“You’ll never guess what I just did,” Mael said, shutting the door.

“What’s that?”

“I think I moved your dad an inch or two toward liking me.”

Echo’s jaw slackened. “Whaaaaat?”

Mael laid the tray in the middle of the bed and slid in himself. “He just asked me if I was the one who did the stairs and repairs. He seemed a tiny bit impressed.”

“It’s more than a tiny, I can assure you,” Echo said, pride in his small smile. “Considering how much he flipped out about me being mated to an orca, if he brought it up, he’s pleased.”

Mael handed over the ginger ale and toast. He also ended up sharing bites from the sandwich Echo claimed he hadn’t wanted. While they ate, he recounted some of the highlights from his travels. The waterpark warehouse Kaiden had been hidden in had been several miles away from the water’s edge. They’d had to sneak through the city in the darkest hours of the night and came close to police seeing them several times. They’d pilfered some clothing hanging to dry, but it wasn’t easy to find things that fit a pack of six-to-seven-foot men, which meant they’d snuck in the shadows half-naked. It had felt very much like they were the Wet Bandits in their breaking and entering to free Kaiden, especially since everything was in Chinese, and they couldn’t speak or read the language.

Their laughter over their bumbling later shifted to more kisses that grew hungrier by the second. Once the tray was lowered to the floor, he slipped back in beside his little dolphin and continued those languid caresses. The feel of his mate’s hands slipping inside his sweatpants to stroke him threatened his sanity. Echo stroked him to hardness, eager for round two. When he climbed on top of Mael, he angled both cocks toward his bottom.

When it became clear what Echo planned to do, Mael tensed. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve been training while you were gone,” Echo murmured, grinning. “I figured if you made it back alive, you deserved a reward.”

Mael laid back against his pillow, the desire to take over coursing through his veins, but he sensed Echo needed to be in control. He didn’t want to hurt his mate—or their babes.

After rubbing both heads against his slick-coated asshole, Echo impaled himself on only one shaft first. He rode Mael’s cock, groans falling from his lips. Once he’d worked his hole a bit, he paused and pressed the second head inside him. Mael nearly came from watching his cocks disappearing inside Echo’s tight, puckered hole. He grasped Echo’s waist, slowing his mate’s strokes, fearful he’d come too quick.

Mael wanted to savor Echo. After their long weeks apart, he needed more than another hasty, bumbling race to the finish line, no matter how much his body ached for release. They thrashed against one another, enjoying the slow, languid pleasure of being tethered, their bodies made one.

He touched every inch of flesh he could reach, relearning the contours, curves, and hollows of Echo’s body, particularly the newest one, swollen with the product of their last night together.

Seconds after Echo screamed his release, Mael followed him, roaring as he emptied inside his mate before the whispered words of adoration rolled off his tongue.

They drifted asleep holding one another tight in the afterglow.

Hours later, he was yanked from the bed and tossed to the floor. He rolled to his knees, searching the room. Echo screamed and fought as a dolphin shifter in a police officer’s uniform dragged him from the bed by his wrists. Three others surrounded them, eyeing Mael. Mael leapt for the bed to get Echo from their grasp. Two tasers hit him—one in the chest, the other in the arm. Volts shocked through his body, but he pushed forward.

He needed to save Echo.

“Mael!” Echo screamed, tears in his eyes.

When the third taser hit his back, he froze, his body twisting in pain. He collapsed on the bed, trying to remain conscious. The zapping fortunately stopped before he passed out and he could breathe again.

“Get him in cuffs before he gets back up,” the cop with Echo in his arms snapped, eyeing Mael lying across the bed.

One of the officers neared. Mael twisted and knocked the guy on his ass before spinning to the other.

A gun was pulled and aimed at Mael, a steely glint showing in the late afternoon sun.

“Don’t make us do something we’ll both regret,” the officer with the gun said to Mael.

Mael lifted his hands. “Do officers in Dolphin Bay not announce themselves?”

“We don’t answer your questions,” the one holding Echo snapped.

“What right do you have to break into his home and snatch us from our bed?” Mael asked the four men.

“You’ve broken the treaty,” the cop holding Echo said. “Both of you have. That gives us every right to come in here—to stop whatever this is before it ends up starting another war.”

“How have we broken the treaty?” Mael asked.

“Your kind don’t belong in Dolphin Bay, and you sure as hell don’t belong in a dolphin’s bed,” the officer snapped. He glared down at Echo. “Disgusting orca whore.”

Mael saw red. He advanced on the man, but the cop with the gun moved closer, pressing the barrel against Mael’s head.

He widened his stance, prepared to wrench the gun away.

“Don’t,” Echo warned Mael. “I need you alive.”

Mael couldn’t stomach the fear in Echo’s eyes. He couldn’t add to it. Lowering his hands, he surrendered for Echo’s sake.

One of the cops came behind Mael and cuffed him—but he didn’t make it easy. “The treaty only covers the waters,” Mael said as the officer finally closed the cold metal around his wrists. “There’s nothing in there that says I can’t be here. Nor does it say Echo and I can’t be together.”

“You haven’t read it clearly enough,” one of the other cops said.

“As sheriff of Maki Island, I know that document like the back of my hand,” Mael murmured.

“Sheriff?” the cop holding Echo asked. “You’re Maelstrom Marino?”

“In the flesh,” Mael muttered, for once hoping they believed the rumors were true—though scared officers often made deathly mistakes. Maybe it wasn’t a good thing after all.

“Fuck,” the cop holding Echo grumbled under his breath. He turned to the other three. “Watch him close. He’s a killer. One evil enough that he killed his own brother.”

“You can’t do this,” Echo said, pulling against the hold on his wrists. “We’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I doubt the council will agree,” the cop holding Echo said. He eyed the others. “Take him to lockup. I’ll take the pregnant one.”

“Can we at least get some clothes on?” Mael asked, seething.

“Nah, I think we should parade your ass in there just as we found you. A killer and his whore.”

Mael tilted his head from one side to the other, cracking his neck and holding onto his control.

“If you touch one hair on his head, I’ll show you just how evil I can be,” Mael murmured, narrowing his eyes.

The three cops prodded Mael out of the bedroom first and down the stairs. He glanced over his shoulder, keeping an eye on Echo. When the one holding Echo pushed him down the last three steps and made him fall to the floor, Mael whipped around. His gaze went to the cop who’d been holding Echo—who chuckled like the fall was funny. Mael wrenched both wrists apart, snapping the chain in two. Before the others could stop him, he got Echo’s assailant by the throat and against a wall.

Echo screamed behind him. One of the other officers grabbed Echo while Mael’s focus was on the one who’d harmed his mate. The barrel of a gun was place against his temple again.

He felt it tremble and inwardly smiled. Had the man ever fired a weapon at anything but target practice before that moment? Mael sensed not.

“Let… him… go…” the officer said, a hitch in his tone.

Mael growled at the man who turned blood red in his hands, ignoring the one with the gun.

“Mael,” Echo pleaded behind him. “Please … don’t do this. It’ll only make things worse.”

“You’re killing him,” the other cop said, cocking the gun. “Let him go!”

“If I wanted him dead,” Mael said. “He’d be dead by now.” Mael released the man, watching as he slid down the wall to his bottom. He spun to the one with the gun. “And if you had any balls, I’d already have a half dozen bullets in me.” He yanked the gun from the officer’s hand, slid out the clip, and then bent the barrel as easily as he’d broken the chain. After handing it back to the officer, he spun to see who held his mate. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll unhand my mate.”

“Your mate?” the one holding Echo asked, wide eyed.

Mael advanced and the man let go. He drew his mate behind him, facing off against the four dolphins. He searched each one of their faces, glaring with menace on his mind. They would pay for hurting Echo. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get out of this house before I break all four of you into pieces.”

The officer on the floor pulled himself to his feet, rubbing his neck with one hand. “The council demanded you both be jailed until your hearing,” he said, his voice raw and rough.

“If you think you can take me, try it,” Mael said, feeling Echo’s hands gripping his back.

The officers looked between themselves.

“Echo and I will face your council, but it won’t be in cuffs and chains. We’ll walk in of our own will, not prodded in like criminals,” Mael growled.

“You don’t get to set terms. We were told to pick you up and put you in holding, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

“You’ve got a death wish, don’t you?” Mael asked. “You’re going to have to kill me before you lay hands on Echo again, and I don’t see any of you coming up a winner in that fight.”

The cop who seemed to be the leader rubbed his neck again, a tick forming at the side of his eye. “Tomorrow. Council chambers. Ten a.m. If you don’t show up, we will hunt you down—with prejudice. And this time, I’ll bring enough officers to ensure you comply.” He spun and stalked out the front door.

“Better bring an army, because four-on-one worked out so well for you, didn’t it?” Mael yelled out the door.

The others stared at Mael for a few seconds before they followed the first out.

Echo pressed his forehead against Mael’s back.

Joanna and Ed appeared in the doorframe, their eyes wide. As soon as Joanna looked down at Mael’s naked body, her eyes grew round, and she averted her gaze.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Ed asked, frowning.

Echo whipped around Mael. “You did this, didn’t you, Mom?”

Joanna’s gaze flew to Echo. “What did I do now?”

“Before you got here, Mael and I had no trouble. Now the council is sending the police here to drag us out of bed and take us to jail? They wouldn’t even let us put our clothes on!” Echo shook his head. “I should’ve known you’d do something like this.”

Joanna’s mouth dropped open. “I did nothing of the sort.” Tears shone in her eyes. “And I can’t believe you would think something like that of me.” She looked at Ed. “I’ll go pack up our belongings. We can sleep in an unclean house tonight since our son thinks so little of me.”

She marched up the stairs, wiping tears from her face.

“Can either of you explain what’s going on here?” Ed asked. He lifted a finger and walked into the living room. He brought back two of the throw blankets from the back of Echo’s couch and handed them both one. Once they were covered, he lifted his gaze. “Explain.”

“We were literally dragged out of bed, asleep, with no announcement they were police. No knock on the door,” Echo repeated. “They said we’d broken the treaty.”

“Which we haven’t,” Mael said, tucking the blanket around his waist like a towel. “There’s absolutely no mention of us being here and you being there. Not one single line. Just the boundary in the water and for us to remain on our sides of it. The water, not the towns. I reviewed that thing up and down before I came to see Echo the first time.”

“The council wanted us in jail for a meeting tomorrow at ten. I supposed it’s a command performance, and they weren’t going to let us get away with not showing up.”

“The police left,” Ed said. “Without you.”

Mael lifted his hands to show off the chain. “The big one pushed Echo down the last few stairs.” Mael fisted both hands. Rage pumping through his veins. “Your son landed on the floor. I saw red and… I fought them. They left without us.”

Mael turned his focus to Echo. He searched his mate’s face. “Are you okay?”

Echo nodded sidling up against Mael. “I turned and hit my side and hip mostly, not my belly.”

Mael wrapped an arm around him and squeezed tight.

“I’m sorry.”

Mael frowned. “Why are you sorry?”

“They’re from my pod,” Echo said. “They’re my people.” He shook his head. “Though I don’t feel like claiming them right now.”

Mael kissed Echo’s forehead, focusing all of his attention on his mate so he didn’t go hunt down a few cops. “You have no need to be sorry.” He caressed Echo’s head, brushing back a few errant strands. “I’m tempted to pack you up and take you to the island—but I don’t think we’ll see them back here tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

“No,” Mael replied. “But since I don’t know what our reception would be on the island, I’m not sure it would be any better.”

“We could always go to Point Harbor and get a room at a hotel there for the night,” Echo said.

Mael nodded. “Not a bad idea.”

“Wait, wait, wait…” Ed said. “Let me make some phone calls. This isn’t how we handle things in Dolphin Bay. Stay put for now.”

Mael drew Echo closer. “I really don’t want you here. How about this? I can call one of my brothers and have them meet us north of Dolphin Bay with their boat. We drop them off back at the island… and then go to a spot that’s in neutral territory, and sleep on the boat tonight?”

“Sounds perfect,” Echo whispered. He frowned. “Why don’t you have a boat? All your brothers seem to.”

“I did, but the motor blew. It’s older, and I need to get a new one. I’ve just been lazy about shopping for one since it’s so easy to borrow one.”

“Mine’s old and not in the greatest shape. Maybe we need to buy one. Together.”

Mael grinned. “Our first major purchase as a couple, oh my.”

“Stop,” Echo said, fighting a smile. Mael was glad he could after what they’d just experienced.

“Forty-footer? Or a big dog like Havoc’s?”

Echo chuckled. “We can figure that out later.”

Mael drew Echo into a hug.

“I was really scared, Mael.”

He caressed Echo’s back. “I know. I was, too.”

“You didn’t look scared.”

“I was more scared for you than I was for myself,” Mael admitted. He leaned back and eyed Echo. “Are you sure you and the babies are okay? Maybe we should go have you checked out. I won’t lose you.”

Echo’s lower lips trembled. “And you won’t. I think I’m good. Just rattled.”

Mael brushed his lips on Echo’s forehead.

“We’re going to fight back. They’re going to wish they’d never done this,” Echo said.

“There’s the fight I’ve been waiting to see,” Mael whispered, brushing back a few strands of hair from Echo’s face. “There’s nothing we can’t do together, baby.”

Echo eyed the front door and the knob hanging from a thin piece of wood shrapnel. “Regardless of what my dad is doing, I don’t want to be here tonight. I don’t feel safe.”

“Let’s go get dressed. While you toss some necessities into a bag, I’ll call Havoc.”

Echo nodded. “Okay.”

Mael jerked the metal cuffs off his wrists and offered a hand.

They strode upstairs together.

Ready to wage war if they had to.