“Arel isn’t going to be happy to be called a sycophant,” he drawled. “And I don’t give a shit if you’re scared or not. All I need to do is keep you cornered until the cavalry rides to the rescue.”

She pretended indifference, but Niko didn’t miss the sudden tension that gripped her body.

“What do you mean?”

“Arel contacted Wolfe when he found me unconscious,” he smoothly lied, betting on the fact this female wouldn’t have any inside connections left at Valhalla. One phone call and his fib would blow up in his face. “The Tagos wasn’t pleased to discover you’re carrying around an illegal weapon, let alone kidnapping a scientist who they hope will be the salvation of those high-bloods who can’t survive their mutations.”

Her laugh was strained. “I suppose you want me to believe he’s sending a hundred—oh wait, maybe it’s a thousand—warriors to capture me?”

“I don’t have a clue, but since the guardians can only transport two or three at a time, you won’t have to worry about a thousand arriving on your doorstep.” He waved a languid hand toward the empty road. “At least not in the next hour or so.”

Dylan frowned, proving she hadn’t had word that the guardians were refusing to leave their necros, and that there was no possibility of any backup arriving in time.

“No,” she hissed. “You won’t ruin this for me. Not now.”

He smiled in open challenge. “There’s no escape.”

The crimson eyes at last smoldered with the panic he’d been hoping for.

Even a Sentinel made stupid decisions when driven by fear.

“I can go through you,” she rasped.

He held out his arms in mocking invitation. “You can’t kill two of us.”

“Watch me.”

Lifting her arm she released a blast from her shockwave. Already anticipating the shot, Niko lunged to the side, allowing the electrical charge to slam into the tree behind him.

“Is that all you got?” he taunted, brushing off the bits of bark and shattered wood that clung to his jeans.

“And the healers told me that I was the one with the death wish,” Dylan snarled, leaping off the front steps of the trailer even as she was sending another invisible bolt of power in his direction.

He felt his hair rise as the electricity filled the air, his gaze trained on the female launching a kick at his head.

Distantly he was aware of the wary humans peeking out their windows and a few braver souls who stepped out of their shabby homes, but he didn’t worry they would interfere.

Life was difficult enough for these norms. They didn’t willingly place themselves in danger.

He was far more concerned by the barely audible sound of Arel’s soft murmur as he spoke to Angela. No doubt he was trying to convince her to slip through the back door rather than charging into the fray. His scientist might be brilliant, but she could be as stubborn as hell.

Reassured by the sudden fading of her scent, Niko grasped Dylan’s foot and twisted it to the side. The well-trained Sentinel flowed through the air, easily landing on her feet as she let off another shot.

Niko hissed as the bolt went just above his ducked head, close enough to make his ears ring.

Christ. He had to disable the shockwave. Sooner or later he was going to run out of luck. And then . . .

Bad, bad things were going to happen.

Avoiding a punch aimed at his chin, he charged forward, ramming his larger form into Dylan’s slender body. Together they hit the ground with enough impact to rattle Niko’s teeth and knock the air from his lungs.

She jerked her head backward, making him see stars as she connected with his chin. Then, when he maintained his grim hold, she turned her head to sink her sharp teeth into his forearm.

“Shit, Dylan,” he growled.

“Let me go,” she demanded.

He ignored the pain of his torn flesh. “Not a chance in hell.”

“Then we’ll both die.”

“You’re in no position to threaten—” He forgot what he was going to say as she twisted to the side, managing to lift her arm far enough to press a button on her homemade weapon. A clock appeared on a digital panel, the numbers counting backward. “What have you done?”

“Every evil villain has a way to self-destruct,” she jeered. “Unless you release me then we both go boom.”

He believed her.

Dylan might be crazy as a hatter, but she didn’t bluff.

If she said the thing was going to self-destruct, then that’s exactly what it was going to do.

The question was whether he held on or risked letting her go so she could disarm the weapon. He wasn’t a martyr. Not by a long shot, but he knew if he let go of Dylan there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t escape. Or even manage to kill him with her stun-gun-from-hell.

Hearing the sound of his name, he lifted his head to see Arel standing at the back of the trailer with a struggling Angela in his arms.

She was clearly trying to break free so she could get to him, even knowing she was no match for a Sentinel.

And in that moment his decision was made.

The fragile, precious female would never be safe so long as Dylan lived.

And if that meant he had to sacrifice himself in the bargain . . . then it was a price he would pay without regret.

“Then we both die,” he said, his gaze glued on Angela as time ran out.

Angela hadn’t wanted to sneak out the back door with Arel. Not when she heard Niko baiting the deranged female Sentinel.

The aggravating man was risking his own life so she could be rescued.

But Arel hadn’t given her much choice as he’d simply grabbed her by the waist and hauled her down the narrow hall and out the door. It wasn’t until they rounded the trailer to see Niko on the ground with Dylan that Arel came to an abrupt halt, as transfixed as Angela by the sight of the two warriors lying so still.

Something was happening.

Something . . . terrible.

Futilely trying to squirm out of Arel’s ruthless grasp, she turned her head to glare at her captor in frustration.

“Dammit, what are you doing? We have to help him.”

Arel’s handsome features looked as if they’d been carved from granite. “He made me swear to keep you safe.”

“I don’t care, I—”

She was still turned toward Arel when an explosion sent them both tumbling to the ground.

“Shit,” Arel rasped, already on his feet and racing across the pavement before Angela managed to regain her senses.

Holy crap.

With her ears ringing and her skin raw from being peppered by the barrage of small stones and shattered glass that had been caught in the blast, she lurched upright, her blurry gaze immediately searching for Niko.

He was still on the ground, but Dylan—or at least what was left of the female Sentinel—had been blown several feet away. Arel was standing over her, his face twisted with an odd combination of fury and sorrow as he bent to pick up the weapon that lay beside her ruined body.

That bit of twisted metal had to have been the source of the explosion, but Angela didn’t give a shit about the how or even the why.

She just needed to know that Niko was okay.

Falling to her knees at his side, she reached to brush her hand over his cheek.

“Niko,” she breathed, a savage pain clawing at her heart as she felt the heat rapidly draining from his skin.

Arel crossed to kneel next to her, the force of his anger a tangible sizzle in the air as he gently turned Niko onto his back to reveal the gaping wound that marred his chest.

“Goddamn that bitch.”

Angela’s fingers frantically moved to Niko’s throat. She was unable to look at his bloody, torn flesh.

“I can’t find a pulse,” she said on a soft sob. “What can we do?”

There was a long, agonizing hesitation before Arel awkwardly rose to his feet and pulled a phone from his pocket.

“I’ll call for a healer.”

“They’ll never get here in time.”

“Just—” Arel gave a helpless shake of his head. “Stay here.”

Angela watched the younger Sentinel walk away with the phone pressed to his ear before she turned back to the terrifyingly motionless man lying at her knees.

“Oh, Niko. Don’t you dare leave me,” she quietly murmured, her hands running a path along the gruesome injury as she willed his shredded heart to beat. “Not after you forced me out of my laboratory. And made me discover who I am.” Her teardrops trailed down her cheek and dropped into Niko’s tousled hair, shimmering in the copper highlights. Oh . . . God. He couldn’t die. She wouldn’t let him. “And then you went and made me fall in love with you, you irritating man.” There were more tears, and a strange heat that seemed to flow from her palms. She ignored both as she continued to pour out her raw, mindless grief. “I can’t do this alone. I need you.” She lowered her head until her face was buried in his throat, drowning in his familiar scent. “Please, Niko, please.”

She wasn’t sure how long she knelt there, rubbing her hands over Niko’s chest, but it was at last the feel of fingers lightly touching her shoulder that brought her back to her surroundings.