Page 16 of Bound
Chapter 6
Gage
By the time I clear the elevator, I can’t rein in the thrum in my chest. The Chief of Police stationed more men in the hotel, that was for damn sure. But none of them are what I would call supportive of the supe community.
I stop in front of the door to the Fae suite and just stare blankly at the thick panels.
How will Amoret react to her brother being taken? Scared? Angry?
Will she collapse as some of the more delicate Fae women did when I was at court?
I raise my fist and rap over the door.
No sound echoes from inside. No call or shuffle of feet over the floor.
I lean into the cool steel, straining my ears for any sign of life beyond the sill. Did anyone confirm that the rest of the Fae are inside?
What if they were all taken?
What if Amoret—
Her innocent features flare in my mind, their expanse darkened with ghastly bruises and blood.
Fire rolls down my arms and my palm strikes the panel right over the door lock. Heat glows through the steel and there is an audible crack. I kick in the door and stalk into the suite.
There is no disarray. No scattered furniture or broken vases. But there is also no one visible. No shouts from guards or cries from the women at my sudden appearance.
“Amoret?” I call.
No response.
My heart crams itself into my ribs until it should burst from under my shirt. I sprint inside, scouring behind counters and down the short halls. “Amoret?” I bellow.
At the stairs, I pause with my hand on the rail before racing to the top. “Amoret? Where are you?”
There is a muffled sound as I reach the landing. I clench my hands into fists and let the flames devour my torso.
A lone doorway is cracked at the end of the corridor. I sidle closer to the wall. Every beat of my heart is thunderous, but my eyesight seems to sharpen, focusing on the open sill until I swear I can see through the wood.
Emerald flames rolling across my knuckles, I press inward on the door.
The bed, though disheveled, is empty. Metal fills my mouth. I step inside the room, catching the delicate whiff of orange and rose until my gut tightens like a fucking vise.
Soft laughter filters through the roaring in my ears, the sound like music. I race over the floor to another doorway and wrench open a thick panel on three women and two out of uniform guards.
Every single head whips over as I fill the doorway.
But my gaze rivets on a set of vibrant lilac and sapphire eyes.
Amoret’s lips part, her cheeks flushing pretty pink in the soft lighting of the closet. A simple sheaf of white fabric swathes her body under a lacey robe that drapes from the slim column of her throat, to her small feet.
She is even more innocent this morning. Her long hair is left in a thick, gold rope down her back, and I have the oddest urge to loosen the band. To drape those luscious strands over my chest as I cradle her petite frame to mine.
The guards rise from their places on the low couch, their lean, but wiry frames snapping to attention. “Captain Whitehorn?” The one closest says, his tone cracking at the end. “Are you well?”
I stare at Amoret, ignoring them as every rapid thump of my pulse pounds through me until my fucking knees weaken. “Lady Amoret?” My voice comes out steady, but rasping. “I am sorry for the intrusion.”
She ducks her gaze, peering up at me from under the thick curve of her long, long lashes. “No apology is needed, Captain. Please, are you well?”
