"More than just fight," he admitted softly. "The ones who took her? He killed all of them. I guess only the guy she said she wanted to talk to was still alive. He was scared and still all keyed up from doing something like that that he's never done before."

He let out a breath and reached out to lightly brush through her hair with his fingers. "But you helped get the drugs out of Beryl's system and I have no doubt she can handle him just fine now. It's you I'm worried about."

* * *

A faintly satisfied look crossed his face as he watched her gaze at him. He reached out and hesitantly cupped her cheek. "I'm glad we were able to use the bond like that. I'm afraid I wouldn't have found you..." In time. His eyes glinted again sharply. "I killed them," his soft voice held the threat of another growl. "And...I'll kill them if they try again."