He felt as if this bond he‘d found—this love he had for Tess—might actually be strong enough to make him forget about the death and anguish that had been stalking him. Some hopeful part of him wanted to believe that with Tess beside him, maybe he could find a way to thwart it.
Dante hadn‘t even begun to enjoy that slender hope before a scream ripped through him like a blade. He felt it physically, but the assault was on his senses, a fact he realized when neither Savannah nor Gideon reacted to the terrified shriek that froze Dante‘s heart to ice in his chest. It tore through him again, leaving him shuddering in its wake.
―Oh, Jesus. Tess!‖
―What‘s wrong?‖ Savannah paused on her way to the kitchen. ―Dante?‖
―It‘s Tess,‖ he said, already training his mind on her, homing in on her location in the compound.
―She‘s somewhere in the compound—the
infirmary, I think.‖
―I‘ll get a visual.‖ At the computer, Gideon quickly brought up the display for one of the corridor‘s video monitors. ―I‘ve got her, D. Ah, hell. She‘s run into Rio down there. He‘s got her cornered—‖
Dante took off at a dead run before the words were out of Gideon‘s mouth. He didn‘t need to see the screen to confirm where Tess was or what was giving her such a fright. He bolted out of Savannah and Gideon‘s apartments, hauling ass into the heart of the compound. Knowing the layout of the place inside and out, he took the shortest route down to the medical wing, using all the preternatural speed at his command.
Dante heard Rio‘s voice even before he reached the set of swinging doors that led into the medical wing.
―I asked you a question, female. What the fuck do you think you‘re doing down here?‖
―Get away from her!‖ Dante shouted as he entered the infirmary, hoping like hell he wasn‘t going to have to do battle with one of his own.
―Back off, Rio. Now.‖
―Dante!‖ Tess cried, panting with fear. Her face was ashen, her body trembling uncontrollably from behind the massive wall of Rio‘s body. The warrior had her trapped against the corridor wall, animosity radiating off him in blasting pulses of heat.
―Let her go,‖ Dante ordered his brethren.
―Dante, be careful! He‘ll kill you!‖
―No, he won‘t. It‘s okay, Tess.‖
―This female doesn‘t belong here,‖ Rio snarled.
―I say she does. Now back off and let her go.‖
Rio relaxed only a fraction and swung his head around to look at Dante. Jesus, it was hard to remember the warrior before the ambush that had left him so wrecked, both physically and emotionally. The once-handsome face of the Spaniard with the ready smile and lazy wit was now a tangle of ruddy scars; his humor had long abandoned him for the fury that might never ease. Dante parked himself right in Rio‘s face, staring past the scars on the warrior‘s cheeks and brow into the nearly insane eyes that looked so Roguelike even Dante was taken aback for a second. ―I said, stand down,‖ he growled. ―The woman is with me. She is mine. Do you understand?‖
Sanity flared within the bright amber depths of Rio‘s eyes, a lightning-quick glint of awareness, of contrition and regret. He wheeled away from Dante with a grunt, his breath still sawing in and out of his open mouth.
―Tess, it‘s okay now. Step away from him and come to me.‖
She let out a broken gasp but didn‘t seem capable of moving. Dante held his hand out to her.
―Come on, angel. Everything‘s all right. I promise you, you‘re safe.‖
Looking as if it took all her courage to do so, Tess sidled away from Rio and put her hand in Dante‘s open palm. He brought her to him and kissed her, relieved to have her near.
As Rio slunk to the corridor wall and dropped into a huddled crouch on the floor, Dante‘s pulse downshifted to something almost resembling normal. Tess was still upset and trembling, and while he didn‘t think Rio posed any danger to her—especially now that Dante had made his position clear—he had some serious damage control to handle.
―Stay here. I‘m just going to help Rio get back to his bed—‖
―Are you crazy? Dante, we have to get out of here. He will tear both our throats open!‖
―No, he won‘t.‖ He held Tess‘s anxious gaze even as he moved closer to Rio‘s huddled form on the floor. ―He won‘t hurt me. He wouldn‘t have hurt you either. He didn‘t know who you were, and something very bad happened to him that‘s made him wary of females. Believe me, he‘s not a monster.‖
Tess gaped at Dante as if he‘d lost his mind.
―Dante, the fangs... those eyes! He‘s one of the ones who attacked me—‖
―No,‖ Dante said. ―He only looks like them because he‘s angry, and he‘s in a lot of pain. His name is Rio. He‘s a Breed warrior, like me.‖