I knew we were on a timeline, but I cradled her against my chest, smoothing my hands along her damp cheeks. Healing warmth radiated from my touch, seeping into her. I moved back from the cage, holding her so close I was sure I was never going to let her go again.

She gently brushed my hands away once she was standing on her own. Her voice was throaty and low when she spoke. “I’m all right.”

An almost inhuman sound came from me and I clutched her cheeks, bringing her mouth to mine. The kiss tasted of desperation and relief. When I pulled away, she was gasping for air.

“What did you do?” she asked.

I pressed my forehead against hers. Our lips brushed as I spoke. “For the mutation to work, both parties have to be willing, Kitten. Remember what Matthew said? I wasn’t entirely into it, if you get my drift. And not to mention, he needed to be dying or close to it. The mutation probably won’t work. At least not to the extent he thinks.”

She laughed, the sound rasping. “Evil genius.”

“You betcha,” I replied, my gaze roaming over her as I threaded my fingers through hers. “You sure you’re okay? Your voice…”

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I’ll be okay.”

I kissed her again, pouring everything I felt for her into it. I wanted to erase the harsh memory of her time here. I wanted to shield her from ever experiencing something like this again. My hands dropped to her waist and I held her against me, letting her feel just how badly I wanted her, so there was no doubt that she was it for me. She was mine.

I was hers. A truth that would never change.

I sighed against her mouth. “Now let’s go get my brother.”

Chapter 29

Kat’s sweater and shoes had disappeared, so I tugged the heavy wool sweater I was wearing off and over her head. The cold wouldn’t affect me as much. I picked her up and raced out of the warehouse since her feet were completely unprotected. Hybrid—mutated, whatever—she was still more human than me.

I used the Source to open the passenger door and then gently placed her in the seat. I grabbed the seat belt.

“I can do it,” she mumbled.

I was unable to move as I watched her hands tremble as she fumbled with the seat belt. Jesus, what had happened in there to her? I wanted to ask her, but there wasn’t time. I backed off, moving wicked fast around the front. In a second, I was behind the steering wheel. “Ready?”

She leaned back against the seat, her shoulders slumped and eyes barely open. Weariness invaded her expression. “You could leave me. You’d be faster…without me.”

My brows shot up as I eased the SUV around the Dumpsters. “I’m not leaving you.”

“I’ll be fine. I can stay in the car and…you can just do your zippy speed stuff.”

I shook my head. “Not going to happen. We have time.”

“But—”

“Not going to happen, Kat.” I gunned it out of the parking lot. “I’m not leaving you alone. Not for a freaking second, okay? We have time.” I brushed the hair off my forehead with one hand, my jaw clenching tightly. “When I got your message about your mom and when you didn’t respond back to me, I thought maybe you were already at the hospital in Winchester, so I called and when they told me your mom hadn’t been admitted…” I shook my head as I flew down the road. “I thought the worst—I thought they’d gotten you. And I was ready to tear this whole damn town apart. And then I got the call from Will…so, yeah, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“I’m okay,” she whispered.

I glanced at her sideways. Kat didn’t look okay. Not even a little. She didn’t sound okay. We sped onto the highway heading east. “Are you really okay, though?” I asked, my hands tightening on the steering wheel.

She nodded instead of speaking.

“Onyx,” I grunted out. “It’s been years since I saw it.”

“Did you know it would do that?” Her voice was raspy as if…as if she’d spent all day screaming, and that was mostly likely what had happened.

“Back when we were being assimilated, I’d seen it used on those who were causing problems, but I was young. I should’ve recognized it, though, when I first saw it. I just never saw it in that capacity—on bars and chains. And I didn’t know it would affect you the same way.”

“It…” She trailed off, and I focused on the road.

I had to focus, because I really wanted to lose my shit. I remembered how painful it looked for those it was used on during assimilation. Onyx was said to be one of the most painful things we could be exposed to, worse than even an Arum feeding. Those Luxen had screamed like their skin was being hacked away from their muscle and bone with a butter knife.

Knowing that Kat had suffered that for hours filled me with helpless rage. My ass had been sitting in class while she was being tortured. Freaking tortured.

“Kat?”

She sat up in the seat. “Blake and I aren’t very different.”

“What?” I looked at her sharply. “You’re nothing like that son—”

“No. I am.” She twisted toward me. “He did everything to protect Chris. He betrayed people. He lied. He killed. And I get that now. Doesn’t make anything he did okay, but I get that now. I…I would do anything to protect you.”

I stared at her for long as I could without driving off the road, and then I looked back at the road. I knew what she was saying. She would kill to protect me. She would do anything to keep me safe. The same as Blake, but no…it wasn’t the same.

Reaching over, I threaded my fingers through hers and brought our joined hands to my thigh.

“You’re still nothing like him, because in the end, you wouldn’t hurt someone who was innocent. You’d make the right call.”

She didn’t respond to that. Several moments passed. “About Will? What…what do you think will happen with him?”

I growled. “God, I do want to hunt him down, but here’s the deal. Worst-case scenario, he’s pissed when the mutation fades, and he comes back after us. If so, I’ll take care of him.”

Her brows arched. “And you think there was no way the mutation stuck?”

“Not if Matthew is right. I mean, I wanted to do it to get you out of there, but it wasn’t this true and deep want. He nicked an artery, but he wasn’t dying.” I sent her a look. “I know what you’re thinking. That if it did, we’re connected to him.”

“Yeah,” she replied.

“There’s nothing we can do about that now but wait and see.”

“Thank you.” She cleared her throat, but it did nothing to make her voice sound stronger. “Thank you for getting me out of there.”

I squeezed her hand. We were near Street of Hopes, the address provided. “Are you okay?”

She smiled weakly. “Yeah, I’m okay. Don’t worry about me right now. Everything…”

“Everything is about to change.” Shit. I couldn’t even wrap my head around what was about to happen. My brother. God, he was alive and we were about to be reunited. I pulled along the back of the plaza, hitting the brakes. Pulling my hand free, I killed the engine and took a deep breath as I glanced at the clock in the dashboard. We had five minutes.

Kat unclicked the seat belt. “Let’s do this.”

I blinked. “You don’t have to come in with me. I know…you’re tired.”

A steely look of determination filled her heather-gray eyes as she opened the door and stepped out of the SUV, standing in the damn cold parking lot with her bare feet. I was beside her in a second, taking her hand. She didn’t need to do this. She could stay in the SUV where it was warm and she could rest, but she was doing this for me.

“Thank you,” I said.

Kat smiled, and then we started into the building, and I couldn’t help but notice the onyx embedded in the bricks. The door was unlocked, and once inside, the alarm system shone green.