“I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be.” I crouched, more carefully this time. “You gave them hell.” I checked her over. “I’m proud of you.”
“I warned them my little sister would come for me.” She shut her eyes. “Told ’em they’d be sorry.”
“I’ll take it from here.” Ford swooped in and began a more thorough exam. “Find the others.”
Goddess, please let there be others to find.
“I’ll be right back,” I promised her. “We’re getting you out of here.”
Leaving her behind physically hurt, even though Ford was with her, and I trusted him.
If ever I doubted that I loved her, I had my confirmation in spades.
Screw blood ties.
Addie was the sister of my heart.
Midas’s steady presence gave me the nerve to try the next door, but the room was empty, and I wanted to hurl. I was lucky, so lucky, Addie was more or less okay. It was a selfish thing to pray, but I wanted my brother too. I wasn’t sure what I would do without him to annoy the living daylights out of me.
The door after that rebuffed my heel, and I didn’t have to summon Ambrose for him to begin gobbling.
The ward burst like a popped bubble, and I kicked in the door before I could think too much about what might be waiting for me on the other side. It rebounded off the wall then swung almost closed in my face. I didn’t see anyone, but we had lost the element of surprise when I started yanking down wards and smashing down doors. We wouldn’t take anyone unawares.
“Hello?” I took a cautious step into the room. “Anyone here?”
A low murmur drew me to a figure curled beneath a ratty blanket, their face bloody from long gouges. In the dim light streaming in from the hall, I noticed the shortness of their matted hair and determined it to be Mr. Whitaker. Picking my way to him, I crouched to get a better look.
The gouges were from fingernails, and when I checked his hand, I confirmed he had done it to himself.
“He’s in bad shape,” I told Midas. “He needs immediate medical attention.”
“Unconscious?”
“Yeah.” I was afraid to touch him, worried I might hurt him worse. “He’s out cold.”
“Let’s clear the rest of the building,” Midas decided. “We can leave his door open.”
There weren’t enough of us to guard everyone in their individual rooms, but I couldn’t wait around for help to arrive. I wanted to see my brother with my own eyes. I wanted to know he was okay.
Please, please, please let him be okay.
“All right.” I backed into the hall, making sure the way stayed clear. “There are four rooms left.”
The next door slammed me with a ward that made my back teeth ache, but Ambrose devoured it.
Midas smashed it in with his shoulder, since I was limping from one too many blows to live wards.
I was on my back, staring up at the ceiling, admiring the stars twinkling there, before I registered the hit.
Hit? No. Bell-ringer? Yes. That fit better. I had met stone trolls with softer fists than my brother’s.
The right side of my jaw throbbed in time with my heart, and a crunching noise filled my head when I closed my teeth. This is what I got for joking with Addie about breaking my jaw earlier. “Ouch.”
“Where is Addie?”
A hard kick made my ribs crunch.
“Where. Is. Adelaide?”
Boaz stood over me, weaving in and out of view. I couldn’t tell if pain was making me woozy or if weakness made him wobble. Either way, I couldn’t let him land another strike. My brother was a tank.
Ambrose curled protectively around me. Too little, too late in my opinion, but he was here now.
“Addie is two doors down,” I wheezed. “Same side of the hall.”
Wild laughter poured out of him, his disbelief palpable, and he lifted his foot to stomp on me.
A blur of blond fur, sharp teeth, and claws nailed Boaz square in the chest and knocked him into a wall.
Crimson magic splashed through the room, and Midas, back on two legs, towered over Boaz.
“I didn’t expect the sucker punch, but I should have seen it coming.” Midas curled and flexed his hands down at his sides. “I let you land the kick, even though I would rather snap off your leg and beat you with it than allow you to harm my mate. All because Hadley loves you and didn’t want it to come to this.” Midas unsheathed claws in his fingertips and held them to Boaz’s throat. “Hurt her, and you won’t ever hurt another woman.”
Leveraging up into a sitting position, I waited until my head stopped spinning to address them.
“Midas.”
Poised on the brink of violence, he didn’t tear his gaze away from Boaz.
“He didn’t know what he was doing.”
A bitter laugh worked up Boaz’s throat.
“Okay, he knew what he was doing but not who he was doing it to. Remember how Addie reacted?”
That eased a fraction of the tension in Midas’s shoulders.
“She clocked me and good, but she thought I was coven.”
As Midas was about to lower his hand, Boaz had to go and open his big mouth.
“I’m really enjoying the play.” He clapped slowly. “Stellar performances from the entire cast.”
“Boaz, I’m Hadley. Your sister.”
“You’re out of your goddessdamn minds if you think I’m buying what you’re selling.”
Standing sucked donkey balls, but I got to my feet. “What proof do you require?”
“Ah.” He chuckled. “This is the part where I ask you to tell me something only Hadley would know.”
“Whatever it takes to get you out of here before your captors return.”
Boaz clammed up, set his jaw, and settled in for an interrogation that wasn’t coming.
“Ambrose,” I said, hating how he jumped to my command with eagerness. “Take a little off the top.”
“Ambrose,” Boaz echoed. “How do you know about…?”
One good swoop through his midsection put Boaz out like a light, and he slid to the floor in a heap.
“I am the worst sister in the world.” I watched my brother’s chest rise and
