She welcomed the rough brick surface against her bare shoulders. It jarred her back to reality a bit. The slight chill in the night air would’ve added to the goose bumps that already covered her, but the proximity of Warrick’s hard body radiated a heat that reminded her this whole situation was entirely too real. What she’d seen was real. She swallowed against the nausea that now threatened.
Warrick’s arms came down on each side of her head and his face closed in on hers, his expression fierce, any trace of softness from earlier long gone. She blinked, trying to familiarize herself with her surroundings, to calm down, to form a clear thought.
“Tell me, Sienna. What the hell are you doing here tonight?”
Her heart couldn’t seem to slow from its erratic pace. In a daze, she shook her head, trying to breathe. “It’s not possible… Things like that just can’t exist.”
He laughed mockingly, even as something hard—frightening—flickered in his eyes. “To the rest of the world, they don’t.”
“I…oh my God, Warrick, I don’t feel so well.” Her body started to tremble and she shook her head. “I need to get out of here. I need to get out of here! Warrick, let me—”
“Hey.” Warrick caught her chin in gentle hands and forced her to look at him. “Look at me, Sienna. Come on, look at me. There’s a good girl. You’re all right.”
She stared into his eyes, almost hypnotized at the intensity and firm conviction in his gaze. The reassurance and calm that Warrick had always been so good at giving. He stroked his thumb in a gentle caress down her cheek.
“You’re all right, Sienna. Okay, sweetheart? Take a couple deep breaths. You’re fine.”
And suddenly she was. His familiar, gentle voice and reassuring words sucked the fear and anxiety right out of her. It was the closest she’d been to a panic attack in years.
Her muscles lost the tension she’d been holding and with each slow breath she dragged in she became more aware of everything. The smell of freshly cut grass and the scent of Warrick’s soap. The sound of the suffering creatures inside, mostly muted by the thick brick walls of the building.
“Better?”
Sienna gave a heavy nod to Warrick’s soft question. “How did you find out about them, Warrick? Those creatures? Are your friends going to hurt them?”
“Are my friends going to hurt them?” The gentleness in his expression vanished, replaced instead with disbelief as he leaned his face closer to hers. “My friends are on a damn rescue mission from whatever the hell kind of evil your employer was behind.”
A flush of guilt stole up her neck and she averted her gaze. She couldn’t exactly deny his accusation. But what did Warrick mean by rescue mission? And who were the other guys he was communicating with?
Feeling much calmer now and a little more in control, she asked, “How did you know they were here, Warrick?”
Warrick stared at her, his gaze narrowed with consideration. The intensity of his stare had her squirming and her gaze shifting away from his.
“You didn’t answer my question, Sienna.”
“I’m here for the same reason you and those men are. To set them free.”
Her admission was met with silence. A sliver of unease moved through her and she turned her head to glance back at Warrick. If his gaze had been intense before, it was downright intimidating now. Even though they’d grown up together, and she knew instinctively he’d never hurt her, a shiver of fear ran down her spine.
“You don’t want to lie to me, Sienna.” The low threat rumbled from his throat.
Was failure to disclose the jump drive between her breasts lying? Her throat dried up. “I’m not lying.”
“Aren’t you?”
Yes. She probably was. The unease inside her tripled. “This is ridiculous. You know what? I’m just going to leave. Nice seeing you again, Warrick. Or not.” She moved to slip beneath his arm but he wouldn’t let her. “What now?”
Warrick tilted his head and arched an eyebrow. “Say you really were trying to set them free. Then what?”
She stared at him. Was this a trick question? “What do you mean?”
“What did you plan to do after you set them free? How were you going to get them off the property?”
“Well, they’d be free,” she blustered, then saw where he was going with this line of questioning. Shoot. “Okay, I admit that I…hadn’t exactly planned that far.”
His mouth opened, but he didn’t say anything, just continued to stare at her. “Jesus Christ.” He shook his head. “You’re serious. You could’ve been killed.”