Lose her house? She gazed around the bedroom, and tried to see it as Bane might. The walls were pale pink and covered with framed photos of Vale and Carrie. Pang. Makeup littered the surface of the vanity, and romance novels dominated her nightstand. Wispy white lace draped the bed’s four posters.

Too frilly and feminine for Bane’s tastes?

Tragic and sexy Bane, who she wanted more each day. Before, she’d considered doing something to help mend his broken heart. Now she wasn’t sure she could guard her own in the process.

Footsteps thudded, shaking the entire house. Wishing she’d held on to her dagger as she’d run from Drogo, or that she’d thought to keep a kitchen knife in her nightstand, Nola tensed. Had Erik found her? What about Bane and his beast? Zion? Vale? Should she try to teleport or hide?

Less than an hour ago, she’d faced a dragon and survived. Why run now? Why be afraid of a person, other-worlder or even death?

“Nola?” An armed Zion entered the bedroom, his stride long and strong. Spotting her curled up in bed, he sheathed his daggers and exhaled with relief.

“I’m happy to see you,” she said, and she meant it. Yet, part of her wished Bane had been the one to walk through the door. “So glad you survived the attack.”

“How did you escape the closet without disengaging the door lock?” he asked, getting right down to business.

“I’m happy to see you, too, Nola,” she said, doing her best impersonation of him. At some point, she’d kicked off the covers, providing him with a direct line to the crimson stains on her bandage.

He went motionless, fury exploding in his eyes. “Who hurt you?”

No way she’d allow him to retaliate against Bane. So what could she—should she—tell him? Think! But her muddled, sluggish brain refused to work.

Why not tell the truth? “I can’t explain. Literally, I can’t. Something always stops me. But I’ll be fine,” she said, then hurried to change the subject. “How did you find me?”

He slitted his lids, a silent promise to return to the original subject—soon. “I found the cabin in the mountains, the one you and your sister inhabited after you got lost. I ransacked the interior and unearthed a small, hard paper with your picture and an address.”

Ah. Her driver’s license. She and Vale had left their IDs on the kitchen counter alongside a note, requesting aid.

Zion eased beside her, leery. “I come bearing news. While we were parted, Erik abducted your sister. But, with Knox’s help, she mounted a successful escape.”

Nola’s heart plummeted, then soared. “That’s wonderful—”

“In the process, hundreds of humans were killed, and Terran enforcers took Vale captive.”