The dragon retreated, enough that Kal was more human than beast.
The guard backed into the hallway with Kal following. He would not lose his mate. “Release her,” he commanded.
Stepping into the hall revealed more and more humans.
Of course. He should have known.
Eadric. Where are you?
Out in the hall, the guard retreated into the small throng of white lab coats.
“Now, now. There is no reason for violence.”
Kal really wanted to go rip some throats out, and he damn near did, stopping at the sight of the gun pressed against Maddie’s head.
Her eyes, large saucers, her body rigid. This wasn’t his Maddie.
I will save you.
She tried to force a smile.
Yeah. Could you do it a little faster then?
He chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” said a ragged voice beside him.
Donnie climbed out of the room, his hand around his neck.
He would die, if it was the last thing Kal ever did. Donnie would die.
Kal. Ignore him. Just get us out of here.
Ignore him? How? Fuck. Having a mate did complicate things. Kal tried to center himself, his soul. They needed to think straight. His dragon needed to be the brains right now. Take the emotion out of it. He couldn’t though. He needed her. A new feeling spiraled through him. Desperation.
Why the fuck did the goddess give them all the power of the universe and yet require this? A mate. A balance. She was his weakness. He had something to lose, something other than himself.
Fuck. This was a big day. Not only did the world not revolve around him, he didn’t care about his own safety anymore.
Kal backed down long enough for Donnie to get with the others.
What should they do? Maddie would be protected against his fire-
No.
Kal curled up his nose.
What do you mean, no?
Maddie’s voice came to him again.
Do not just torch the place. Not without reason.
Well, that just pissed him off.
You’re in danger. That's a damn good reason.
He watched her face. Her eyes glazed over. Shit. She was going to fall.
And she did. Right into Donnie’s arms.
A jealousy like none other flew through him. He was supposed to be the one catching her. Anyone else at this point would have been better than that thing.
“Remove your hands from my mate.”
Donnie snarled back. “Stop calling her that.” His voice still weakened. At least Kal had done some damage. Not nearly enough though. The fool was still walking.
Okay. Head on straight. Head on straight.
Where the hell was Eadric?
Whatever.
Okay. What would Maddie do? These were humans. They did things like talk it out or something dumb.
“I apologize for destroying some shit. Can I please have my mate back?”
There. That was good, right?
Kal? What are you doing? Maddie thought.
He smiled at her and nodded. He was doing what humans did. Or, that’s what he thought.
“You keep using this term. Mate. I’d like to understand what you mean by this? We see you have a somewhat reptilian look to you. She is obviously human in some capacity.”
Donnie barked at the guy. “She is human.”
The older man nodded. “Yes. Yes. So you have led us to believe.”
Kal’s patience was wearing.
“Enough. Release her. Now.” He stopped and then thought better. “Please.”
The older man smiled. “No. I’m afraid right now that won’t work. You see, right now you are not attacking my men. I don’t believe that we are safe if we release this woman.”
He balled his hands and stood straight. He needed to control his next answer. The gun had disappeared from the back of her head. The negative, she was in Donnie’s grip. The positive was he saw a way out.
Eadric? Whatever you do, don’t come down here.
His plan was in motion. Only, maybe it was Maddie’s plan he was hearing.
14
Maddie elbowed Donnie. He recoiled back. Maddie would cry about all this later. She could see it plainly on Kal’s face. He wasn’t thinking clearly. Not thinking like someone who was a highly trained warrior, and she knew it was because of her. Maddie was his kryptonite. Damn it if she was going to be the cause of her own superman’s death.
Donnie didn’t fight back this time. She braced herself on the wall, trying to fake a strength she didn’t have. A moment to think as everyone stared each other down.
They were getting out of here. Right after her head stopped thinking the world was a top. Damn it to hell.
How was she such a damn nightmare right now? This all still seemed to be happening to her, rather than being a participant. It was all a bad shitty nightmare that needed to end.
Kal had come for her, he’d done his part. Now she needed to get him out of here.
Focus. A quick shake of the head and she could at least see clear. This was the hangover stage of a magic drain. Great. Her mother was going to die all over again; if Maddie got out of this, anyway.
Slapping her palm to the wall, she closed her eyes, keeping everything from turning and twisting.
The pain her mom had left, the hole in her heart had been the driving force for everything in her life. But now? She no longer cared about the why. Her mother had a reason and if it was to help her see that a world without Kal was no world at all, then she won. Maddie would do anything to protect him. He might not see it, but she did. Behind that tank of a man, behind the anger, was fear. He was afraid, and she hated it.
Kal watched them with a fire burning in his eyes. Maddie wanted to zap everyone and turn them all into something useful. Something without teeth. She tried to pull at the magic again. Now would be a great time to start her cockroach vendetta. Still nothing.
Useless. And now, with this last attempt, the exhaustion was hitting her again. Fighting off Donnie had been too much. No. No. She needed to do this. She needed to protect him. Her mate.
“Maddie, I’ll fix this. He can’t have you.
