How had he managed to crash the gate, when she’d barely had time to prepare for the battle?
As much as Nova wanted to blame herself--blame him--for Ozzy’s suffering tonight while they’d been so blissfully, selfishly unaware, there was another part of her that wanted nothing more than to open the door and run to Mathias. For his comfort, for his strength.
And yes, for his love.
She needed all of those things from him, and she wasn’t afraid to admit, if only to herself.
Looking at Eddie, standing there half-dressed, his scrawny chest and shoulders shuddering under the weight of his shock and fear, Nova knew that she also needed Mathias’s protection. For the kid.
For herself as well.
Amid all of the horror and anguish tonight over the loss of Ozzy, she couldn’t afford to forget that there was a killer searching for her.
A savage Breed male who’d shown very clearly that he wasn’t going to let anyone get in his way of finding her.
Not even an innocent boy.
So much the worse, if Ozzy’s killer knew that Eddie had been nearby the whole time, close enough to hear him, and to know what he’d done to Oz.
What if the killer decided to come back to the shop?
What if he was somewhere outside, watching, waiting for a chance to make another move?
What if it was someone sent by her father--someone worse than Doyle or his other human thugs?
Each possibility seemed more awful than the next. The one thing she was certain of, was that the shop was no place for Eddie to be right now. Mathias had offered to take them somewhere safe tonight. Maybe she should let him.
She wrapped her arm around Eddie. “Let’s go talk to Mathias, okay?”
The boy nodded, and she started to guide him toward the closed door leading out to the studio.
Started to, but stopped.
Mathias was no longer alone in the shop.
And as the din of male voices grew louder out there--Mathias’s colleagues from the Order and JUSTIS, all now arrived--Nova’s heart froze in her breast.
A glance over at Eddie confirmed her dread.
His freckled face had gone ghostly white, his eyes wide with fear.
“You hear him too?” she whispered.
Eddie nodded, silent.
The voice Nova heard when she relived Ozzy’s death. The voice that had terrified Eddie from inside the cabinet where he’d hid during the murder.
The man it belonged to was in the other room with Mathias now.
He had to be warned. But how could she do it, without exposing herself and Eddie to Ozzy’s murderer at the same time?
Nova pushed the boy back, away from the door. Then she gently, soundlessly, opened it just the tiniest crack. Her heart lurched, dread like ice in her chest.
Mathias was conversing in low, serious tones with the other men. He was obviously friendly with them all.
Friends with them all.
Including the one whose voice went through Nova as sharp as the blade that had slashed Ozzy’s throat.