Her hand darted out once more and he thought it was to toss power at him. Instead, she inched her hand closer to his before lifting her forefinger and touching his pinkie. If there had been any ice remaining around his heart, it was gone with that one action.
He stayed perfectly still, allowing her to hold his finger.
Boomer leaned slightly to get a better view of what was happening. He did a double take and stood up straight once more.
“What is it?” asked Gram.
“I’m not sure but I think the kid actually likes him,” said Boomer, surprise evident in his voice.
Duke’s expression changed to one of shock. “We are talking about Russia, right?”
“Yeah. I’m as confused as you,” said Boomer.
Rurik shot them all hard looks.
The little girl picked then to tug gently on his finger.
The telltale sounds of hunger filled the area as her tiny stomach growled.
Rurik glanced at Duke. “The pie, is it safe?”
Duke inclined his head. “Yes.”
The little girl released Rurik’s finger and pulled her hand back under the desk.
“It better be safe,” Rurik warned, reaching up and pulling the pie from the desktop.
“It is,” said Duke. “What do you take me for? Wait, don’t answer that. There are little ears present. But yeah, the pie is safe. Corbin refused to let me poison you.”
Rurik held the pie in one hand and boldly reached for the tablecloth. He lifted it slowly, waiting to be hit with Fae magik.
None came.
He found himself staring in at a tiny slip of a girl. Her long, light brown hair was tangled in spots, but that wasn’t the first thing he noticed. The first was the evidence that she had indeed been mauled by a bear-shifter. The wounds were on her left cheek and the side of her neck. It was as Blaise had described and needed medical attention.
The sight of it set off Rurik’s bear side, making rage consume him. During the loss of control, he caught a faint hint of another bear-shifter. It was fleeting but it only served to drive him further into the darkened abyss. For a quick moment, the smell of someone he’d not thought of in years reached him. The man had once been someone he considered a friend, only to turn his back on everything and everyone to join forces with the enemy.
Pavel Orlov was a bear-shifter and Russian, like Rurik. Unlike Rurik, Pavel shifted into a polar bear, making him exceptionally temperamental and dangerous.
Why in the hell was he smelling traces of Pavel in the area?
Blaise’s words echoed in Rurik’s head as he stared at the little girl’s face.
She had very clearly been mauled by a bear.
Could Pavel had been the culprit?
Their last time meeting face-to-face had narrowly left Rurik the victor. Pavel had no doubt walked away with permanent scars—a forever reminder that he’d been bested. Had the twisted bastard turned his rage on the little girl? Had he left the child forever scarred?
A massive growl came from Rurik, booming throughout the bullpen, causing items on his desk to shake. “I will hunt and kill every one of them who did this!”
His fellow operatives rushed at him, presumably to get him far from the child for her safety. As much as his bear wanted to lash out at them all for daring to interfere, it too was worried for the child’s well-being.
Fae magik burst free from under his desk, and he assumed it would be directed at him. He was wrong.
Boomer, Duke, and Gram were all knocked farther back.
Rurik was left untouched, still crouched with the pie in his hand, as he barely clung to his shifter side.
The next he knew, the child was scrambling out from under the desk with the Statue of Liberty figurine under one of her arms. She came right at Rurik, pressing herself against him, wrapping her free arm around his neck, trembling as she did. He lifted her while he held the pie with his other hand.
Taking a breath in, Rurik caught faint notes of nutmeg and vanilla in addition to cinnamon under the smell of the toxic compound the child had been given.
Turning slightly, he found the others there, staring openmouthed at him.
They then stared at each other.
“Och, do my eyes deceive me, or did the wee one pick Rurik over us to trust?” asked Gram, sounding stunned.
“The kid has crap judgment,” added Duke as he tensed at the sight of her. “Boris, I’ll help you hunt the bastard who did that to her face.”
“She’s so tiny,” said Boomer, fixated on her face. “How could anyone do that to her?”
She stiffened and tried to hide the injured side of her face from their view.
Rurik locked gazes with her. “No. You have nothing to be ashamed of, but it needs to be seen to. Will you let someone tend to it?”
She tightened her hold on his neck, causing the figurine to wedge between them firmly, digging into his chest.
Rurik took a calming breath, sensing her fear. “I will remain with you. I promise they won’t hurt you.”
She eased her hold on him slightly and nodded.
“Then it’s settled,” he said to the others. “I’ll carry her and stay with her while her face is seen to. Gram, get the bear from under my desk. Bring it with us. She likes it.”
“Aye,” said Gram, hurrying over.
The little girl clung tighter to Rurik.
Gram snorted. “Do nae throw more magik at me, wee one. I willnae try to take you from him. I’ve learned my lesson. But you should know that he’s basically a big teddy bear with you. Never did I think I’d see that.”
She settled against Rurik’s chest and calmed slightly before reaching for the pie and shoving her finger into it. She withdrew and put her finger in her mouth. She winced, and he could almost feel her pain as if it were his own. The act hurt her cheek.
Rurik’s eyes moistened as he held her to him. Never had he wanted to protect anyone
