The man glaring in rage was a handsom e, older man. A few faint lines marred his cruel mouth. His graying, sandy brown hair was cropped short and steely blue eyes raked her with a cold stare.
"Feeling heterosexual tonight?" he sneered, grabbing Darling by the arm in a rough grip that made Kiara cringe in response to it. "You were not supposed to leave the house until I told you to!"
Kiara gulped, this must be Arturo. Panicking, she looked through the crowd trying to find Nykyrian, Hauk or Caillen, but she didn't see anyone who looked familiar.
"Why don't you just leave," Darling shouted, his temper out of control. "I told you I wasn't coming home anymore."
Arturo's response was a vicious backhand. Darling fell against the table, upturning it.
Without thinking, Kiara ran forward and shoved Arturo away from Darling. She barely budged him.
With a ringing curse, he slapped her hard, knocking her backward into a group of men.
Ignoring her stinging cheek, Kiara pushed herself off the floor, intending to return to the fight, but found herself surrounded by a group of smelly humans.
"Excuse me," she said, trying to break through them.
"Just where do you think you're going?" one of them asked, a snide smile on his face.
"I don't think she's going anywhere," another answered before grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back into the center of the group.
Terror engulfed her, she had to do something. Kiara fought against the man's hold, clawing at his hands. With a heated curse, he slung her over his shoulders. Kiara shrieked and screamed, but couldn't get free.
She glanced up and saw Arturo dragging Darling through the rear door. She renewed her struggle with vigor. She had to help him!
The man holding her laughed at her attempts and bounced her hard against his shoulder.
Her breath left her with a loud, painful whoosh. Pulling at his hair, she clawed at his exposed neck.
He took her outside to the landing bay and threw her onto the filthy ground where she landed with a solid thud. Kiara moaned at the pain twining through her body, her ribs and back ached to the point she feared they were broken.
"You'll pay for that, harita," the man snarled, drawing a huge dagger out of his boot.
Kiara shook all over, her mind seeing Chenz coming after her again with his cruel blade moving over her body.
The others in his group surrounded her. She had nowhere to run. Gulping in fear, she studied the shining blade. The blade glinted as he raised it. Too panicked to move, Kiara waited for it to descend. Suddenly, it was snatched from his hand.
"What do you think you're doing?" Nykyrian snarled, balancing the knife under the man's chin.
A bead of sweat ran down the man's temple. "This is human's business, Andarion."
The cold look on Nykyrian's face sent a shiver down Kiara's throbbing spine. "She is my mate, scab. What you do with her is my business."
Kiara saw the man shake uncontrollably. He looked to her, to Nykyrian, then back at her. "You're his mate?" he squeaked.
"Yes," Kiara answered with conviction, trembling with relief that Nykyrian had saved her life. Again.
Nykyrian dragged the knife under the man's chin, leaving a small trail of blood before extending his hand to Kiara. Grabbing it like a lifeline, she allowed him to pull her to her feet.
"I'm sorry," the man spoke in a hurry, wiping the blood from his chin with the back of his hand. "She crashed into us. I had no idea. I mean . . . Well— "
"I suggest you leave," Nykyrian snarled, showing the man his teeth.
The group ran faster than Kiara could believe. Shaking with her emotions, Kiara buried her head in Nykyrian's shoulder laughing in hysterical relief. "Had you said boo, I think they would have died of fright!"
Nykyrian held her against him, his arms soothing away the shaking in her limbs. "What happened?" he whispered against her hair.
Kiara drew a trembling breath. "Hauk saw someone he knew. Then Darling and I were talking . . . Arturo showed up. He's got Darling!"
Nykyrian's body went rigid. "Where'd they go?"
"Out the back door."
Nykyrian pulled her by the arm back into the club and through the crowd. As they passed Hauk, Nykyrian grabbed him with a furious curse. They burst through the back door. Nykyrian paced around, scanning the area.
"Remind m e later to kill you," he said bitterly to Hauk, his face contorted in rage.
"What's happened?" Hauk asked in confusion, looking at Kiara.
Nykyrian curled his lip. "Nothing of any great importance. Arturo has Darling."
"Shit!" Hauk raked his hands through his hair. "Where do you think they went?"
"I have no idea."
Caillen came running through the back door. "Where's Darling?" he asked Nykyrian.
"Arturo has him."
Caillen let out a curse that brought heat to Kiara's cheeks. "Kasen just told me she saw them together a little while ago. So help me, I'm going to throttle that woman!"
"Do you have any idea where Arturo would take him?" Nykyrian asked Caillen, taking Kiara's hand.
"Maybe."