*
True to his word, Hauk got Ture to the hospital on his airbike before the transport arrived. He was weak from fear over the way Hauk drove, but he was here in one piece. Physically, anyway.
Mentally was a whole other matter.
Hauk led him inside the lobby where Zarya, Princess Annalise, Drake and a man who looked a lot like Hauk was waiting for them. Zarya’s pregnancy was now as evident as Ana’s had been a few weeks ago.
Ture bit his lip as he saw how pale she appeared. “Are you okay, sweetie? Should you be standing?”
Her gaze flitted over the blood on Ture’s clothes and skin as she paled even more. “Mari?” Her voice trembled.
“He’s alive.”
Closing her eyes, she sighed in relief and placed her hand to her heart. “I was terrified when Darling told me Maris had been ambushed. Are you okay?”
“Scared like you, but I’m not injured.” Ture pulled her against him and held her close. “I’ve missed you.”
“You, too.” She leaned her head back to smile up at him. “Told you, didn’t I?”
He rubbed his nose against hers. “Yes. You were right. I love Mari. He is everything you said, and then some.”
Drake let out a low whistle to get their attention. “You let my brother see you molesting his wife like that, and I’ll have to scrape your remains up with a spatula. No offense, I hate cleaning.”
Zarya laughed. “Relax, Drake. Darling won’t say a word.”
Drake appeared highly doubtful as he moved to stand next to his sister, Annalise.
The doors opened. Ture turned to see the stretcher with Darling and Syn. Without pausing, Syn whisked Maris past him and through the ER doors.
Darling stopped by his side. “Mari’s stable. He panicked when he realized I was with him and you’d stayed behind, so Syn knocked him out to keep his vitals at normal.”
Ture sighed. “He is never going to believe that I’m not jealous of you. I don’t know how to convince him that your relationship with each other doesn’t bother me.”
Darling arched a skeptical brow that was very similar to an expression Maris used. They’d known each other for so long that they shared many such quirks. “It doesn’t?”
“No. Why should it? You’ve been in his life a lot longer than I have. It’s not like you’ve slept with him or are going to . . . that I would issues with. Up until now, I’ve thought of you more like an irritating in-law Maris takes care of . . . one whose existence I have to suffer with in silence.”
Darling’s jaw went slack. “I think I’m insulted . . . And what do you mean up until now?”
Ture sobered. “He would have died today had you not been here. I could strangle him for calling me and not you. But for you, I would have had no idea where to look or any way to locate him. Thank you, Darling.”
“You don’t have to thank me for saving Mari. That’s my job.” Darling pulled Zarya into his arms to hold her. “Just take care of him for me. That’s all I ask.”
“Majesty?”
Darling turned as an officer joined them.
The male officer bowed low. “Two assassins were dead on arrival. The third killed three officers and escaped. We’ve notified all agencies to be on the lookout. Hopefully, we’ll catch him.”
Darling inclined his head. “Thank you for your service and report.”
The officer started to leave them, then pulled his weapon out and angled it at the door.
Startled, Ture looked past him to see a uniformed League assassin entering the lobby. As soon as he saw the officer, he held his hands up and froze.
Darling pressed the man’s blaster toward the floor. “It’s all right, Officer Dalens. He’s on our side.”
Bowing again, the officer retreated.
Only then did the assassin approach. Tall, well-muscled, well-armed and raven-haired, he moved with the fluid grace of a lethal killer. Yet there was something strangely familiar about him.
“How is he?” the assassin asked Darling.
“He’ll live. Any idea who got away from us?”
A tic started in the assassin’s jaw. “Draygon. My guess is Mari let him go. There’s no way Dray could have gotten away from him on his own...which means he’s going on an asetum for the compassion.”
“A what?” Ture asked.
Darling made a sound of supreme aggravation. “Blood vendetta to avenge his honor. But more serious than it sounds. When a Phrixian makes an asetum, it is to the death.”
“In this case, Dray’s...unless Mari lets him take his head. Stupid fucking bastard might do it, too.”
Ture saw red at those words. Without thinking, he shoved the assassin back. “Don’t you dare insult him!”
Darling came between them before the assassin could retaliate. “Emotions are running high here for all us. But before you two go at it, let me make introductions. Ture Xans meet Safir Jari. Saf is Maris’s baby brother. Ture is the boyfriend.”
That took the fight out of Ture, and the fire died in Saf’s dark eyes.