Page 12

Chapter Twelve

Hannah

Oh God.

Oh God.

Oh God .

Unable to breathe, I raced toward the parking lot, my mother’s frantic phone call still ringing in my ears.

“Benny was taken from the shop! Aswan is chasing after the car; the police are on their way!”

I hadn’t even excused myself from the meeting; I’d just started running. Now I threw myself into the driver’s seat and slammed into reverse, yelling at my phone, “Call Aswan!”

As I hurtled through Eastshore, the phone rang and rang.

Please be okay. Please be okay .

If Aswan was chasing the kidnapper, then he wouldn’t pick up. Please be okay . I wasn’t sure if I was praying for Benny or Aswan or both.

Breathe. Breathe.

Oh God, I needed to focus. I couldn’t careen through town, helplessly scanning all directions for my stolen son. Focus .

I sucked in a deep breath and forced my foot off the gas. Another deep breath. A third.

I needed a focus. A direction . A strike of inspiration.

It never came, but I felt myself turning left on Seahorse without any reason. Another deep breath, and…

And…

I turned on Cuttlefish Lane, heading toward the docks.

I don’t know why. I don’t know how.

But I knew Aswan was there. He was somewhere ahead of me, and he’d be able to tell me where Benny was.

What had he said about Sakkara’s Mate bond with Nikki? They could sense one another once the Mating bond had been finalized. Is that what was happening here? Without thinking, I turned into the ferry parking lot and swerved around the employee cars. Aswan was somewhere ahead.

A long, low whistle burst through the sea-salt air and startled a little scream out of me. The ferry! Ahead, I could see the dock workers ushering the last of the line of cars on board. It would be leaving soon, and if the kidnapper was on it…

My car skidded to a stop at the curb, and I threw myself from it without bothering to turn off the engine. “Wait!” I screamed, running toward the ramp, waving my arms.

But a figure stepped into the ramp, one I’d recognize anywhere.

Aswan, his shoulders strong under that dark t-shirt, his expression thunderous as he glared over my shoulder.

Time seemed to slow as I turned to see a bright blue sedan hurtling down the drive lane toward the ferry ramp. It was going to crush Aswan, going to plow right through him.

And in the backseat, his palms pressed to the window, was my precious son.

“ Benny !” I screamed, reaching for him, as if I could grab him from this distance.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Aswan step forward, plant his heel, bend his knees, and extend his hands…right before the sedan barreled into him.

I don’t know if the driver braked at the last minute, or if the stopping power had truly come entirely from Aswan’s strength. All I knew was that there was a screech of twisted metal, my Mate slid backwards a few meters…and when I was able to suck in a breath to scream again, the car had been stopped, its hood dented by two orc-sized handprints.

As if his amazing show of strength wasn’t humbling, Aswan was already stalking toward the car’s door. He ripped it open and reached in, grabbing the driver by his throat and yanking him out of the vehicle.

Travis .

Something snapped in me then .

“You bastard!” I screamed, running toward the man who had already tried to break me once. “How dare you! How fucking dare you hurt Benny like that!”

My ex-husband was clutching his throat and kicking his feet helplessly. Aswan’s eyes glowed green, rage painting his expression, although he was clearly not squeezing. Skidding to a stop in front of them, I punched Travis in the arm, all I could reach.

“You have no right?—”

“He’s my son, bitch,” came the strangled reply, although Aswan’s hold meant that Travis couldn’t look at me. “Belongs to me.”

The disgust was so sudden I almost vomited. “ Belongs to?” I managed. “He’s a child . And you gave up the right to be his father the very first time you put yourself—and your dangerous habits—before him or any of us!”

Aswan huffed a growl and yanked the blond man closer. “Legally, asshole, you have no right to be in the same county as Ben.”

I saw Travis kicking fruitlessly, even as he spat, “Who the hell are you?”

Aswan’s tusks gleamed as he yanked Travis closer and opened his mouth to roar, “ I’m the motherfucking nanny !”

There was a sudden, sharp scent of urine as Travis pissed himself in fear.

“Mom?”

The quiet whimper had me whirling, stumbling toward the car. Benny was climbing out, his hands shaking, a bruise on his forehead. Oh my God, he must have hit it in the crash.

“Benny, oh Benny.” When I grabbed him, my fingers flew over his face, his scalp, his shoulders, looking for more injuries. “Are you hurt? Did he touch you? Oh my God, Benny.” My body was shaking to match my voice as I crushed him against me. “Did he hurt you?” I repeated.

His voice was muffled against my shoulder when he replied, “No, Aswan stopped him in time. He said once we were on the ferry, he was going to…” His words cut off with a sob, and I tightened my hold, finding myself crying right along with him.

Oh, my poor Benny. “It’s okay, baby,” I rasped, rocking us both back and forth. “We got you. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Dimly, part of me recognized the police sirens and recognized what they meant. I knew there was relief in my expression when I met Aswan’s eyes over Benny’s head.

My Mate shook my ex-husband again. ”Only a worm would think to take a child to hurt him.”

“He’s my kid,” rasped Travis, still clawing at his throat. “I can do what I want with him.”

“How dare you!” I snapped, my anger overriding my fear as I turned my son and I to face him. “You’ve hurt so many people, and we’re lucky to have you out of our lives. You’re useless, Travis, and when the courts told you so, you thought you could just take my son?” I spat out the words as the first police car skidded to a stop nearby. “I’m having you charged with kidnapping. ”

As the police officers approached, guns drawn, Aswan carefully lowered Travis, although anyone could still read the angry violence in his stance. My ex’s expression turned wheedling—just like when he used to need money—and he turned to Benny.

“Come on, son,” he whined. “You wouldn’t let this bitch do that to your dad, would you? I’m your daddy, aren’t I? You want to be with me, don’t you?”

I felt Benny stiffen in my arms, and my heart broke. Travis was manipulative and always seemed to know exactly what to say…it was why I’d taken him back so many times. But the kids... They didn’t realize that about him, did they?

To Benny, Travis was his father . Realizing that his father had tried to hurt him… oh God . I had to fight against the urge to vomit, to keep my son hidden. But he was clearly trying to push away from me.

The police were barking orders, but I was focused on my son. Slowly, I released him, allowing him to turn to face the bastard who’d fathered him…and then tried to hurt him.

Travis grinned, that stupid charming grin, and was reaching for the boy. Benny stepped out of my arms, and for a horrifying moment my heart clenched, thinking he was going to be swayed by Travis’s manipulations.

And from the way my ex smirked, he believed the same thing.

But I should have had more faith in my son.

After all, he was half Travis, but he was half me too. And I was the one who’d raised him, who’d taught him. Me and …

Aswan .

Benny stepped toward the two males, but when Travis groped for him, my son skittered out of his reach and slammed hard into Aswan. My Mate gathered Benny in his arms and turned them both away from Travis as the police moved in.

“You fucker!” screamed Travis as a knife appeared in his hand, and he launched himself toward Aswan. “He belongs to me!”

Those sickening words were the last I heard before two policemen swarmed him, slamming him to the ground, and I found myself in the protective circle of my Mate’s arms.

Safe .

I was safe, Benny was safe. Aswan’s arms closed around us, shielding us from the obscenities Travis hurled. I knew we were safe now, and I thanked God for sending us someone as strong and good and kind as Aswan.

But Benny’s arms were around Aswan’s middle, his face crushed against his stomach, and I could feel his small body shaking with tears. My son was still processing his fear.

I stroked his head and met my Mate’s sad gaze.

We were safe, yes, but Benny hadn’t accepted that yet.

He—all the children—needed to know Aswan was part of our family now…and we weren’t going to be separated. Not now. Not ever.