The woman pursed her lips and crossed her arms, eyeing him.
“I’ll get him,” Toby shouted from across the courtyard.
Rhyn paced under the watchful gaze of the convent member, itching to leave Kiki to find Katie. Instead, he forced himself to wait. He’d lost one brother this night. He wanted to make sure Kiki was okay before leaving him.
Toby reappeared after a few minutes, tugging a reluctant Lakhna with him. The otherworldly creature ducked and covered his head from the moon and crowded Toby as they crossed the courtyard. Rhyn pointed to Kiki, and Lakhna cringed. Rhyn was about to demand to know where Katie was when he heard her agitated voice.
“You had to leave Hannah on the beach?”
Rhyn stopped in place. He’d never thought he’d hear her voice again, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard anything that stopped his world in place. He turned to see Katie supporting Hannah as they entered the Sanctuary courtyard. Katie wore simple jeans and a t-shirt. Her dark curls cascaded down her shoulders, and her face glowed. Her bright eyes locked on his. She stopped too far away for his comfort, struggling to support her sister.
“Toby. Get Hannah,” Rhyn barked.
“Rhyn, I’m too little!” Toby whined.
“You’ve got to the count of five to have you both out of my sight.”
Toby hesitated.
“One.”
The angel darted forward and clumsily took Hannah’s arms. Katie helped him stabilize Hannah then watched them walk away. Rhyn stared at his mate, heart beating fast. Of all the words in his head, none of them made it to his tongue.
“I see you made it back,” Katie said awkwardly.
“You look better than I expected.”
“Gee, thanks, Rhyn.”
“I mean, you look beautiful for a dead woman.”
She crossed her arms.
“I told you I’d get you back,” he said and took a step towards her.
“Toby brought me back,” she pointed out. “He said if you listened to him, you could’ve found me faster.”
“That little shit.”
Katie fought back a smile at the irritated look on Rhyn’s face. He was in raw form: bloodied, drenched with underworld rain, disheveled, in need of a good shave. His thick frame was still on edge, as if he expected one of the Sanctuary’s nuns to turn into a demon and fly at them. He looked every bit the muscular, powerful, glowering half-demon the nuns wanted to throw out of the Sanctuary.