Becca’s mind reeled, caught in a tornado of thoughts, whispering, screaming, happy, sad, hundreds upon hundreds of them, all clamoring for attention, all threatening to drown her essence and sweep her away.

Stop. “You have to stop.” Nero’s desperation cut through the roar, a tiny anchor in the whirling chaos.

“I’ve almost found her.” If she could just focus, she was sure she’d be able to find Stanbury’s mind out of all the others. She’d found Grey. Except she hadn’t really found him, only known he’d been close.

Becca, please. Nero’s essence— no, his physical body jerked away from her, and he blasted more wind at the men in the hall. Men with howling fear, their thoughts panicked. They didn’t have the right weapons. They needed help. They—

“Come on, Becca. Let’s get out of here.” Werner, Glenn, and the others were almost at the end of the hall, and a part of her just wanted to flee with them. But a stronger part couldn’t leave Nero. This was her chance to save kids instead of helplessly listening to them scream. And God damn it, there was something about Nero, something she couldn’t explain, that wouldn’t let her abandon him. She barely knew him and didn’t know his kids at all, but he needed help, and she could help. That was it. He needed help. But in her heart, she knew the reason was more than that, soul-deeper than that.

“Let it go and get to the stairs.” Nero grabbed her arm. Your power is too strong, and you’re untrained. You’ll lose yourself. I can’t lose my dugga’s magic and them and you, too.

You won’t. She wasn’t going to let that happen.

She wrenched free of his grip. “I’m finding her, and we’re getting your power back.”

Stanbury had to be close. Nero had said she’d taken his magic in a room in the building. Of course, Stanbury could have left in the twenty minutes they were locked in the cell. But—

Mother of All. She was as stubborn as a dragon— Nero’s thoughts. Not hers. It was even becoming hard to separate him from her and everyone else.

She strained to keep her essence within her. He’d cursed her for being stubborn as a dragon. Well, she’d be stubborn and make her magic do what she wanted.

She mentally shoved at any of the voices that she sensed weren’t nearby, but there were still too many. Come on, Stanbury. I know you’re here. She’d heard the other woman’s thoughts before she’d first escaped. Surely that would help her make a connection now. They were running out of time. Maybe if she thought about how that first connection had felt, her subconscious would be able to recognize Stanbury’s thoughts again.

But that sent a shiver racing through her and the terrifying thought that magic was real seized her heart. Her pulse raced faster, and she clamped down on that thought.

“Becca?”

Yes, magic was real, and she had magic. She’d already dealt with this and had no intention of going back.

“Becca,” Nero growled, his tone tense, his thoughts heavy with worry.

Wind gusted past her and someone yelled, but she didn’t dare break her concentration to check what was going on. Their plan wouldn’t work if they couldn’t find Stanbury, and it certainly wouldn’t work if they couldn’t find her quickly. Nero was running out of time.

Nero grabbed her arm again. “You need to move. I can defend you better in the stairwell.” As well as ensure Werner gets the others to safety.

I don’t want to lose my concentration. She tried to pull away again, but Nero tightened his grip.

“Do you have her?”

“No.”

“Then haul ass to the stairwell and try again.” Since I can’t convince you to stop. He blasted more wind at three men between them and the stairwell door and shoved her into action.

She didn’t want to lose what she had, but he was right. If the stairwell was a better position for him, then that was where she needed to be.

“We’re running out of time,” she said as she bolted to the door.

One of the men clambered to his feet. She punched him in the head, knocking him back to the floor, and took his Glock.

Nero’s wind seized the other two men and tossed them down the hall into the first two.

“Then find her.” Nero jerked his chin at Werner, who was holding the door open. “You guys get out of here and don’t stop for anything.”

“Stating the obvious, snake,” Werner said. He turned to Becca. “Don’t let him mind-control you.”

“Clearly not my magic.” Nero swept a gust of wind around them. “But I’ve got her back.”

“And I trust him.” Becca squeezed Werner’s hand. “I’ll find you when this is done.”

“You better.” Werner wrapped an arm around Glenn’s back, taking some of his weight, and they hurried down the stairs with the others.

She prayed they’d finally escape. It had been a nightmare, a real nightmare, for all of them for too long, and it needed to end. And to do that, she needed to find Stanbury. She grabbed Nero’s shoulder, and all the other voices disappeared, as they had before in the coffee shop and back in his house. Something steadied within her, and a new hope blossomed. Maybe if there was just Nero’s voice to ignore—

I’m trying something new.

Work fast.

His muscles bunched underneath her hand, and the howl of a wind blast roared through the stairwell.

She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of just him, solid and sure within her, then imagined a wisp of smoke unfurling. Stanbury. The woman was cocky and demanding. She hadn’t cared if she killed Becca. She had wanted to find the dugga at all costs.

The smoke shuddered. Becca tightened her grip on Nero’s shoulder. He was still in pain, the searing agony from the spell and a growing ache from the part of his soul that had been damaged by the spell. His internal injuries from the bullet wound in his chest, that he’d taken from Becca, still had not completely healed, as well as more recent wounds from when Stanbury’s men had captured him.

And none of that was important right now. He needed to protect his inamorata and his puzur.

And she needed to find Stanbury.

The wisp of smoke jerked taut and shot up the stairwell. A voice hissed something, angry about something— no, furious about Nero and Becca’s escape. The voice— she had wanted to keep them, study them, find out how Becca could be connected to the dugga, and if Becca was now mentally connected to her, Stanbury, now that she was the dugga.

Yes. Stanbury.

The voice paused, listening, as if she thought she’d heard something but wasn’t sure.

Becca held her breath.

Someone yelled and wind swept around her.

Running out of time, Nero growled.

She shoved him aside — feeling his flash of shock, which quickly turned to understanding at her dismissal — and she focused on Stanbury. She needed a location, a clue, anything to tell her where the woman was.

“Send more men to the stairwell,” Stanbury said.

“Protocol also requires men to your position.”

“Do you honestly think they’re going to make it to my office? It’s on the top floor.”

Got her. Becca wrenched her focus from Stanbury and released Nero’s shoulder. The voices roared around her with a force that made her knees buckle. She grabbed the railing and fought to turn the volume down.

“I know where she is,” she said, realizing the moment she’d said it that Nero knew, too. A part of his consciousness had been with her, helping to keep her steady and control her magic.

“She’d have to be ten flights up, wouldn’t she?” His wind wrapped around them and swept them up three sets of stairs before sputtering out and dropping them on the landing.

Nero’s pain burned through her head, and his breath was ragged. Moving them like that required too much control. He could get them to the top, but he’d be spent before even confronting Stanbury, and if she was as powerful a sorcerer as he feared, he was going to need as much as he could hold back to defeat her.

The men he’d been keeping at bay in the doorway three flights down rushed into the stairwell and started firing. Nero shoved Becca against the wall, covering her with his body. She would have been pissed if she hadn’t known he could heal from a gunshot wound in a matter of minutes. Even then, though, that would take more out of him, making it harder to fight.

“You’ve got to watch how much magic you’re using. If Stanbury is powerful, I’m not sure how much help I’ll be in a fight. It’s going to be up to you to get your magic back.”

“And if we don’t get to her office soon, none of this will matter.”

His thoughts turned to wrapping his wind around them and flying them up more landings.

“Don’t,” she said, aiming her stolen Glock at the stairs to cover their backs. “You’ll tire yourself out. We’re three flights ahead of them, and I can run seven flights.”

Something banged above them, someone yelled, and heavy footfalls pounded down the stairs toward them. So much for that.

“Fast and hard.” She hadn’t been in a situation like this before, she’d never been on a breach team, and all her combat experience had been outside in the desert or among buildings, but she’d still been trained for it. “Don’t waste your strength on these guys. We can manage.”

“Agreed.” Even if she could tell he didn’t like it.

Five men appeared at the top of the stairs. Nero whipped a lasso of wind at the closest guy and yanked him over the railing. The others jerked back and fired. Becca returned their fire but only managed to hit one in the shoulder.

The voices in her head yelled, the men in the stairwell yelled — and she couldn’t tell if that was in her head as well or not. She strained to concentrate. Focus on the shot. Focus on the situation. Nothing else mattered.

Depending on how many men Stanbury has, it won’t make a difference if I weaken my magic or not. We’re going to be exhausted by the time we get to the top. Nero yanked another man over the railing.

Behind them, more footsteps pounded up the stairs.