Sawyer nodded. “Yeah. Like something—or someone—toasted him.”
Jake shared a look with Jes. “You think the girl we rescued possesses the ability to burn someone?”
Sawyer opened his mouth to answer, but Erin spoke before he could.
“Not burned as much as fried. Like the guy’d been hit by lightning or touched a high-voltage electrical line. His skin was charred, but he also had lacerations like you’d see on someone after electricity from a bolt of lightning leaves the body.”
Harley’s mind was still spinning from that horrible image when the door of the conference room opened and Tessa Reynolds, one of the STAT agents with the support team, walked in with the kidnapping victim she and Sawyer had rescued last night. Petite with wavy, dark hair and soft-brown eyes, the woman was maybe twenty-three or twenty-four. She’d been unconscious since last night thanks to whatever drug the kidnappers had given her. Harley had been a little concerned she hadn’t woken up yet and was relieved to see she was okay. Looking at her, it was difficult to picture the girl frying anyone with a bolt of electricity.
“This is Adriana Perez,” Tessa said. “I told her a little bit about what happened last night at the club, but thought you could fill in the rest, Jake.”
Harley’s pack alpha nodded. “Thanks, Tessa.”
Giving Adriana a reassuring smile, Tessa walked out of the conference room, leaving Jake to make the introductions. When he was done, he gestured to the empty seat on the other side of Harley.
Adriana hesitated, looking at each of them a little nervously before pulling out the chair and sitting down. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did last night. If you hadn’t been there, I can’t even think what would have happened to me.” She tucked her hair behind her ear, the pulse in her neck visibly fluttering. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but were you able to rescue my boyfriend, too?”
Harley exchanged looks with Sawyer, silently wondering if he’d left out the part about Adriana’s significant other. As if reading her mind, he shook his head.
She turned back to Adriana. “Boyfriend?”
“Kristoff Neumann. We met while I was being held captive.” Eyes pleading, Adriana reached out and took Harley’s hand in both of hers. “He’s tall and blond and has the most perfectly beautiful face you’d ever want to see. Please tell me you got him away from those evil people.”
Anguish and hope poured off Adriana in waves, tugging at Harley’s heartstrings. She could easily imagine how two people being held captive and fighting for survival could fall for each other. She wished like anything she could say they had rescued her boyfriend, but she couldn’t lie.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “You’re the only one we were able to rescue. Whoever was holding you captive escaped with everyone else. They would have taken you, too, if I hadn’t shot the guy with the ragged leather jacket who was carrying you.”
Tears filled Adriana’s eyes, her heart beating so fast Harley could feel the thrum of the girl’s pulse through her palm. All at once, she began to hyperventilate. Harley opened her mouth to say something to calm her down, but the words caught in her throat as sparks suddenly shimmered and danced across Adriana’s skin while her dark hair floated up in the worst case of static frizz in the history of the world.
Harley had half a second to hear Sawyer curse as he and everyone else at the table jumped to their feet right before a crackling sound snapped in the air. Body tingling like she’d stuck her finger in a light socket, Harley flew backward out of her chair and smacked into the wall with a thud.
* * *
Sawyer’s fangs and claws slid out as he ran over to catch Harley before she tumbled to the floor. He knew he had to get his crap together and pull his fangs and claws back in before his teammates saw them and lost their bloody minds, but that was easier said than done as he gently lowered Harley to the carpet, her strong staccato heartbeat the only proof she wasn’t dead. Her eyes fluttered open, a groan escaping her beautiful lips, and relief coursed through him.
“Are you okay?” he asked urgently. “Can you hear me? Say something if you can.”
He felt more than saw someone drop to a knee at his side, but he was more than ready to ignore whoever it was. That was, until a big hand came down to settle over the top of his where he was holding Harley’s shoulder. That was when Sawyer realized Jake was hiding his fully extended claws, protecting his secret.
Sawyer appreciated the gesture even as he cursed himself. He hadn’t lost control in years, not since the first few months after the change. But seeing Harley flying through the air like that had set him off like nothing he’d ever experienced. Closing his eyes for a moment, he took a few deep breaths, forcing his claws and fangs to retract as everyone else in the room descended on them.
“Crap.” Harley pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked down at her hands in confusion. “What the hell was that? My body feels like I took a bath in novocaine.”
“I’m so sorry!” A panicked Adriana was suddenly on her knees at Sawyer’s side, tears running down her face. “I didn’t mean to do that. It was an accident.”
Sawyer’s inner wolf went on alert again as Adriana reached for Harley’s hand and he had to clench his own into fists to keep himself from stopping her. What the hell was wrong with him? Fortunately, everyone else was focused on Harley and Adriana, completely unaware of his internal struggle to keep his crap together. It was easier to do when Adriana pulled her hands back, like she knew she shouldn’t touch anyone.
“What happened?” Harley asked Adriana. “I was holding your hands, and the next thing I know, I’m on my butt.”
Adriana flushed, looking contrite. “Sometimes when I get nervous or scared, I lose control and zap people. When you said you shot the guy in the leather jacket, I lost it. I…I guess I was afraid the people who kidnapped me might get angry at what you did to one of their own and take it out on Kristoff.”
“Do you think you can stand up?” Sawyer asked her.
Harley nodded, taking the hand he offered and letting him help her back to her chair. Sawyer ignored the questioning glance Erin threw his way. Instead, he held out the other chair for Adriana, gesturing for her to sit. She stood where she was, arms wrapped around her middle, eyes darting toward the door like she wanted to bolt.
“Relax,” he told her. “Harley’s okay and we all know you didn’t intend to hurt anyone.”
“I know,” she said. “It’s just that I keep thinking about Kristoff and…” Her voice trailed off, her eyes glistening with tears again.
“Harley only shot the guy with the leather jacket in the leg,” he explained. “I honestly doubt the kidnappers will hurt your boyfriend as a way to get back at us. He wasn’t even there when it happened.”