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Mercury took the syringe from Jonas.
One. Two. They jumped.
Alaiya drew Ely’s attention as Ria moved to take the gun. Jonas beat her to it. He twisted the gun from the doctor’s hand, grabbed her and threw her to another Breed as he barked, “Hold her.”
They raced from the ballroom and came to a hard, surprised stop.
Two lab assistants, male and female, were unconscious on the floor of the foyer as Dane stood back, a cigar between his lips, his arms crossed over his chest, as he smiled back at them.
He lifted his hand, and in it, between his fingers, he held a small external chip drive.
“Decoder.” He smiled. “Shall we inform the Engalls and Brandemore of the penalty for fucking with Sanctuary?”
“Son of a bitch,” Jonas snapped.
Dane lifted his brow. “I hope you’re not referring to me, brother. I may have to take exception.”
Lawe and Rule materialized, restrained the lab assistants’ hands, despite their unconscious states, and hefted them over their shoulders.
“What about Ely?” Mercury growled.
Jonas sighed. “Place her in the confinement cell.” He shook his head sadly. “Hell, I was hoping a few days off that shit would clear her mind. It’s only made her worse.”
That shit. The drug she had been fed in the lab. Elizabeth had reported finding it in the over-the-counter painkillers and aspirin in Ely’s desk just hours before. They had known it was being fed to her somehow; they just hadn’t figured out how.
“Confinement will be easiest.” Elizabeth moved into the foyer. “I’ll take care of her, Jonas. I checked Jackal—when he wakes up, he’ll have a hell of a headache from the taser, but he’ll be fine.”
Jonas nodded and turned back to Ria and Mercury, his gaze filled with weariness, his expression heavy with sorrow. “I let them get to her,” he whispered. “Hell, I vetted those two myself. And still I managed to let those bastards from the Council get to her.”
Ria felt Mercury’s arms surround her, drawing her to his chest, his warmth and security wrapping around her.
“They were trained to deception, all Breeds were, Jonas,” she said softly. “Vetting them isn’t always enough. We’re no different than those who don’t have Breed genetics, just a little better at what we do sometimes.”
“Hell!” he bit out again, pushing his hands over his dark hair before staring around the foyer.
He was proud, tall and disgusted. The black tux he wore was wrinkled; a smear of blood stained the cuff of his shirt, and his expression was lined with the heaviness in his heart.
“Losing Ely is going to hurt,” Jonas finally whispered. “Pray to God, Elizabeth can fix this.”
Pray, that was all any of them could do. Ria nodded, her hands closing over Mercury’s as he pressed them against her stomach, holding her close. Secure. Warm.
God, she could have lost him. If Ely had turned that gun on Mercury instead, she might not have hesitated to pull the trigger. She was that determined to see him destroyed for a condition he had never truly suffered from.
“I think I’m ready to leave this party,” he told her, his lips at her ear, caressing the shell as the heat and hardness of him filled her with strength. “The bad guys have been captured and the dress is driving me crazy.”
She almost smiled. “Yes, I think we’re ready to leave this party.”
“I think we all are,” Jonas breathed out roughly. “Unfortunately, we have guests.”
“And I’m off duty and in mating heat,” Mercury growled. “I’m taking my mate to our cabin.”
Because the adrenaline was crashing inside her, combining with the mating heat now that the danger had passed, now that the Breeds determined to destroy their own society were in custody.
Jonas nodded as he turned away. Ria turned, watching as he moved to the ballroom entrance, coming to a stop as Callan carried Ely in his arms and moved for the hallway.
The doctor was unconscious, her face paper white, a smear of blood beneath her nose attesting to the fact that the drug she was on was attempting to destroy her exceptional mind.
Callan’s face was carved from stone; his wife’s was wet with tears as she followed behind him. Ely was a cherished part of the community; she was their hope for the answers to the questions about their own physiology, and she was a friend.
