I slammed my hand against the wall. This was my fault. I should have been gentler. I should have explained. But I’d done what I always do, take command and expect everyone to trust me.
With my sweet Bella, I realized, I hadn’t yet earned that right. And now? Now, it might cost me everything.
I remained in place as my father called Warden Vora on his personal comm, but it was another who answered.
“Apologies, Commander, but Warden Vora is not here.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s been taken to medical. We are reviewing security footage now. He had a female in the processing center. A new bride. But she was taken hostage by the attacker.”
I was breathing hard, every molecule of air burning through me like acid.
“Where are they now?” I yelled from across the room. On the other end of my comm, Liam’s silence let me know that he, too, was listening.
“We don’t know, sir.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” I demanded.
“The attacker was Lieutenant Thalia Tyrell. I’m sorry, sir.”
“Stop fucking apologizing and tell me where she took Bella!” I walked toward my father as if I could strangle the young officer on the other end of the comm. “Where did they go?”
“We tracked them to the northwest exit.”
“Fuck.” Liam’s shout came through loud and clear.
My father raised his hand, and since he was calmer than I was, I relented. “Pull up satellite tracking. We should be able to follow them across the tundra.”
“Already working on it, sir.”
My blood went from boil to steady simmer. Thalia had my mate out in the ice and snow. Why? What the hell was she going to do out there?
Nothing good. She’d already blasted Rager with an ion pistol, and she loved him to the point of obsession. I didn’t want to think about what she might do to my mate. The one person who truly stood between her and Rager.
I was at the door when Dravon dashed across the room, grabbed his ion blaster and thigh holster. “I’m going with you.”
I gave my brother a quick glance, not expecting anything from him, most of all support. “I’m going after Thalia. I will do anything to protect my mate. Anything,” I repeated.
He glanced at my father, then his blue eyes met mine. He lifted his chin. “I understand. I’ll be at central command looking at the satellite feeds and tracking data. I can guide you from there.”
I nodded as he lowered his head and started barking orders. I had no idea why he had a change of heart, but now wasn’t the time to figure it out.
“We have a hostage situation,” I said. “Assemble a team of elites. We need to be outside.”
Liam’s voice echoed to me through the room. “Northwest exit, Evon. I’ll meet you there.”
Chapter Thirteen
Rager, IQC, Personal Quarters
The med tech was waving the wand over me as I put on my clothes. I’d been stark naked when they’d found me in the shower as I talked with Evon. I had my balls hanging out for everyone to see and I didn’t care. My mind was muddled from the hard shock Thalia had given me. My body was back to working again, enough for me to connect via comms to Evon. But with each pass of the ReGen wand, my muscles began to work, my mind began to clear.
As soon as I was able, I pushed off the tiled floor of the wet shower and made my way, albeit stumbling, to the wall unit and some clothes. When the med tech objected, I gave her a steely stare. “Follow along or stay behind.”
I wasn’t used to speaking so harshly, but Bella was out there. Not out in the IQC, but outside. With Thalia, who was fucking insane.
She’d scared the shit out of me when she’d called to me. I’d been under the hot spray, stroking my cock and thinking about eating Bella’s pussy again when I heard her. I spun about, dick hard, and saw not the woman of my dreams, but Thalia. Naked.
She was gorgeous, all long limbs and perfect tits. But my cock had deflated at the sight of her. She wasn’t the woman I wanted, the woman my body craved. Her dirty words had done nothing for me. When I’d told her to leave, told her that Bella was the only woman I wanted, ever, Thalia went crazy. Where she had the fucking ion rifle stashed, I couldn’t remember, but the next thing I knew, I was all but sizzling on the shower floor as she loomed over me, hatred in her eyes. Her words chilled me, even under the hot spray.
“I’ll take care of everything, Rager. Then we can be together forever.”
She left me there, muscles in spasm, my spine and nervous system singed and struggling to function. Just what was she planning? How would she ensure we would be together, that nothing—no one—stood in the way?