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He didn’t question the adrenaline rushing through him; the burst of power or the surge of strength that burned through his body.
They were there, in Ria’s room, too close to her. Too close to his woman. Too close to endangering her. And that was intolerable.
He slammed the first against the wall as Ria screamed. Beneath a well-placed powerful kick to his kidneys the second went down and rolled in pain.
The enemy should have been dead. Only a last-second thought saved him from it as the first shadow flew at Mercury.
It had to be a Breed. Nothing else could be so fucking strong.
Light flared in the room, momentarily blinding Mercury’s sight but not his senses.
His arm snaked out, throwing the Breed back, slamming into the dresser with enough force that wood cracked as he felt the second coming for his head.
His arm flashed out, his hand wrapping around a throat, the other knocking the weapon from the other’s hand. Slamming into the wall, his sight still fuzzy, adjusting from dark to light, Mercury snarled in the intruder’s face.
“You want to let him go, mate,” a hard voice informed him as the barrel of a gun pressed into his neck.
Mercury froze.
“Mercury.” The sound of Ria’s voice inflamed him.
Instinct had his hand flashing up, jerking the gun to the side as it discharged and his elbow slammed back at the same moment the voice penetrated his mind.
“Dane!” Ria screamed the name as Mercury’s vision cleared, his eyes locking on the pale blue gaze, the bulging eyes of Ryan DeSalvo, the bodyguard who traveled with Dane Vanderale.
Mercury loosened his grip only enough to keep from killing the other man before turning, his eyes falling to Dane himself as Ria bent over him, her gaze locked on Mercury in horror.
He loosened DeSalvo slowly, watching as the other man sort of slid down the wall, choking on the oxygen pouring back into his system.
Dane was also breathing.
Mercury snarled again as Ria lifted Dane’s head to her lap. He couldn’t stop himself. Naked, enraged, he gripped her arm, dragging her to the side of the bed as she fought him.
Her fists struck his chest, tears fell from her eyes.
“Do you want him to live?” he snarled into her face, the feral adrenaline still surging through his body as he gripped her shoulders and shook her just enough to force her to stare up at him. “Touch him, and he dies.” He didn’t recognize his own voice. “Do you understand me?”
“You’re crazy!” she screamed. “He wasn’t here to hurt me.”
“And I knew this how?” He meant only to yell, but it came out as a primal roar. “How did I know? No scent, Ria. No warning.” He shook her again. “How did I know?”
“I have to help him.” She was crying. Crying for another man and she had never shed tears for him.
He lowered his face until they were nose to nose.
“Touch him, and he dies.”
If she could have paled further, she did. Her face was stark white as he released her, growling. He was growling like a rabid animal. Releasing her slowly, his finger pointing at her as he stepped back for his clothes, warning her.
A movement from behind him had him turning and snarling furiously again. Half roar, half enraged growl. Ryan DeSalvo halted, his hand within touching distance of the weapon he had carried.
Behind Mercury, Ria’s sobs were wrenching, tearing him apart.
He kicked the gun beneath the bed, spared a glance for the still living Vanderale and jerked his pants from the floor.
As the zipper locked he jumped across the bed, ignoring Ria’s scream, and pressed her to the wall as the door slammed open and Breeds raced in.
Lawe and Rule, Jonas and Callan. They came to a jerking stop, staring in horrified shock at the tableau that met their eyes. Then swung to Mercury as he growled back at them warningly.
