She’d been in the back room with Eddie ever since, a closed door standing as a barrier between them and Mathias in the studio.

That door wasn’t the only obstacle between Nova and him now.

She didn’t want to be near him.

She didn’t want his comfort or his concern.

She didn’t want anything from him.

And not that he could blame her. He’d been sick with himself too, cursing himself for the recklessness that had not only cost Ozzy’s life tonight, but had left Nova in the crosshairs of a killer. One who might be closing in on her even now.

As much as Mathias hated that she’d used her ESP gift to try to identify Ozzy’s murderer, he had to admit he’d been hoping the vision would have given him something useful to go on in his pursuit of the bastard.

He hadn’t wanted Nova to do it. He tried to stop her, knowing what that horrible glimpse would cost her. The experience of Ozzy’s death would be one she’d have to carry with her forever.

She’d already known enough pain and ugliness in her life. Mathias wanted to shield her from any more. Difficult to do, when she wasn’t even speaking to him now.

He cursed and sent his fist into the nearest wall.

He’d failed her tonight.

If he hadn’t been so caught up in his enjoyment of Nova’s body, of her sweet but fiery passion, maybe he would have heard the confrontation taking place in the shop two floors down. Maybe he would have scented the blood in the air before Eddie came to the door. Maybe he could have stopped Ozzy’s killing and spared Nova the grief that was tearing her apart now.

Maybe...

Fuck. All he had was maybes when it came to that woman.

His woman.

To his astonishment, he realized he couldn’t think of Nova in any other way.

He was about to turn around and tell her when the Order’s black Range Rover rolled up to the curb outside the tattoo shop. As Thane and Deacon jumped out, Sloane blazed in behind them in an unmarked vehicle with its dashboard LED flashing, another JUSTIS unit pulling up behind him. Not a few moments later, Callahan emerged from somewhere in the darkness and came jogging up to the shop.

Mathias walked out to greet the arriving warriors and his friend from JUSTIS.

His talk with Nova would have to wait.

Right now, he had a killer to hunt down and destroy.

~ ~ ~

Nova had done her best to clean up Eddie and herself in the shop’s small restroom.

There wasn’t enough water in London to wash out all of the blood that stained the shell-shocked kid’s shirt and trembling hands. She’d tried to scrub it off her too, from her fingers and bare feet, the knees of her dark sweats gore-soaked from when she’d knelt down beside Ozzy to relive his last moments of life.

The sink had run red down the drain for fifteen minutes straight before she’d finally given up. Nothing to do for their clothes but burn them.

She dropped Eddie’s ruined T-shirt in the restroom trash bin and gave him a tender look. “You okay?”

He nodded weakly, then shook his head. His eyes were still puffy and moist from his tears. His mouth quivered as he spoke. “What are we gonna do, Nova?”

She offered him a smile, but it felt wobbly and uncertain on her lips. “We’ll figure it out.”

The same words Mathias had spoken to her earlier that night, when she’d finally admitted to him that she didn’t have her shit together at all, that she was scared.

She was still scared, even more so now. Not only because Ozzy was gone, and she didn’t know what her life was going to be like without the old man being part of it, but because she had somehow let another man into her life.

Into her heart.

Mathias.

How had she been so careless as to let her guard down with him, after a lifetime of keeping herself safely closed off, her wants and desires sealed up behind steep, unbreachable tower walls?

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.

Friendswith them all.

Including the one whose voice went through Nova as sharp as the blade that had slashed Ozzy’s throat.

That man and a few others now broke away from the others with Mathias and started heading for the back room.

Were there more than just the one involved? Could Mathias possibly know?

And then, a sickening, worrisome thought: Is that why he had tried to stop her from touching Ozzy? Because he was afraid of what she’d see through Ozzy’s eyes?

She didn’t want to think it.

She wanted to believe her trust in him was well-placed, that it was real.

But Mathias was still approaching, leading Ozzy’s killer right to her.

No. Oh, God...no.

She couldn’t let him see her. She couldn’t let him get near Eddie.

Nova retreated from the door.

“Come on,” she whispered, barely making a sound. “We have to get out of here. Now.”

CHAPTER 9

Mathias was more impatient than anyone to begin the hunt for Ozzy’s killer, but before he could even think about hitting the street with his team and the JUSTIS officers who’d arrived to assist, he had to make sure Nova and Eddie were safe.