As she walked over to the entrance to some kind of interior, she was confident that she would be followed by her two males, and that was precisely what occurred. The door was closed smartly. It was a surprise it was not slammed.
Releasing a ragged breath, Nadya sagged, the chains that kept her on the pegs biting into her wrists. Her bad leg was aching, and her heart was skipping beats, especially as she looked down the long corridor and saw how far away the stairs were. But as if she had a chance of getting free? Even if she could pull her hands out of the steel links, she couldn’t move fast enough to get to that stairwell, and where did she think she was going? The old prison camp had been a series of underground tunnels; there had been ways to get in and out if you knew how.
This new one had locks controlled with technology she didn’t understand and certainly couldn’t get past—
Down at that far end, the stairwell door swung open, and a guard appeared, no doubt coming to report further on whatever was happening. Some kind of threat… or an escape? For a moment, she entertained a fantasy that Apex somehow got Kane out, that true medical aid was being rendered to her most precious patient. But she knew that was not—
The guard froze as he focused on her. And then he broke out in a run, coming at her with a speed that didn’t make a lot of sense. Unless, of course, it was because he had been summoned urgently.
Except… the male slowed down. And then stopped.
Turning her head away, she braced for some kind of aggression.
“Nadya…”
As her name traveled the distance between them, she was confused, and not because he knew what she was called… it was that voice.
“Nadya.”
This isn’t possible, she thought as she shifted her eyes to the guard.
What she saw defied reason. Defied everything that she knew of the way the world functioned.
“Kane?” she whispered.
The male started toward her again, his feet stumbling, but his balance was caught readily by a body well equipped to respond to any demand. And the closer he got, the clearer the picture that didn’t make any sense became. Her brain could not reconcile his mobility, the clear skin of his jaw and throat, the regeneration of his hands, his hair… with everything she knew of him and his burns.
And then she realized what he was seeing.
Lowering her head as far as she could, she squeezed her eyes shut. “Don’t look at me.”
“Nadya…”
“Is it really you?” She asked this even though his scent was like the sound of his voice, unmistakable. “How is this possible?”
“I’m going to get you out of here.” In her peripheral vision, she saw him test the chains. “I need to cut these.”
He looked around and cursed softly. Then he put his hands on his hips—
“Keys.” He grabbed at the belt of weapons around his waist. “I have keys!”
Kane yanked the jangling ring off its mount, and as he leaned into her, she caught his scent again. Drawing it down deeply into her nose, she noticed that it was slightly different than she remembered. Then again, no wounds. He was…
“What happened to you?” she breathed.
Kane—or what appeared to be a version of Kane—shook his head. “I don’t know. And that’s the truth. But we can talk about it later.”
She could feel his eyes searching her, and hated what he saw. Which was a sign, she supposed, of how attached she had grown to him.
“Please. Stop staring,” she begged.
Bending forward, he went to work on the lock on the links, his fingers moving so swiftly as he tried key after key—and when the chains dropped free, he immediately shifted to the other side. When they also went loose, she started to collapse and he gathered her, pulling her against him. His body was so solid, his muscles flexing as he held her easily.
“I’ve got you,” he said as he picked her up. “But we have to go fast.”
“Wait, wait.” Extending a hand to the floor, she tried to reach her hood. “I need—”
He swooped down and grabbed the fall of dark fabric. Giving it to her, he started striding off as she yanked the cover back into place. As her face was draped once again, her breath was an unpleasant blasting of heat, and she thought of how good it had been to breathe more freely, even if she had hated revealing herself.