“Excuse me.” She cleared her throat.

Justice turned his head to meet her gaze, a grim frown twisting his full lips.

Ellie didn’t glance at Fury. “I am going to return to the dorm now so please don’t call anyone. I’ll tell them I’ve been visiting a friend. Don’t get security involved in this. Fury and I are even now. There won’t be any more problems between us.” She forced herself to look at Fury then, seeing shock slacken his handsome face. “Are we even now?”

He shook his head, frowning.

She swayed on her feet from shock. Her knees collapsed but Justice caught her before she hit the floor. His strong hands gripped her waist to steady her until she regained control and straightened. He released her instantly when she pushed at his hands. She gaped at Fury.

“No? What more do you want from me?” Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. She was no longer able to hold them back. “I’m sorry! I thought you’d be safe, damn it. I’m telling you the truth. I had no other choice. I did everything I could for you. I couldn’t tell you what I had to do because I didn’t think you’d trust me. I couldn’t risk you repeating anything I said to you.”

Fury blinked. The look in his eyes definitely appeared pained. “We aren’t even because now I’m in your debt. I didn’t mean to hurt you with my teeth.”

Ellie used the backs of her hands to wipe at her tears. She had her key card fisted in her palm. Fury never ceased to astonish her.

“I know that and I believe you. It’s not a big deal about the scratch. We’re even then, Fury. You don’t ever owe me anything. I have to go.” She bit her lip. “Please move out of my way.”

Fury stepped away from the door. Ellie darted forward the second she knew she wouldn’t touch him. She nearly staggered out of his bedroom, down the hall, and through a large living room. She saw the front door and headed straight for it. She held her head high when she swung it open. Cool night air blew across her damp face.

She glanced down to where her watch should have been to see how much time had elapsed. Her bare wrist made her wince. She wasn’t going back into Fury’s bedroom to look for it. No way in hell. She lurched forward, took in her surroundings, and identified her location. He shoes slipped a little on the damp grass until she reached the sidewalk that would lead her to the dorms.

A hand suddenly gripped her shoulder and spun her around. Ellie stared up at Justice North fearfully. He’d followed her from the house.

“Why don’t you want him arrested? What the hell is between you both?” Justice’s grip gentled but his confusion was evident in the way he regarded her.

Ellie studied his pretty cat-like eyes. His facial structure wasn’t completely human, the bones of his face too pronounced with brawny cheekbones, and his nose was wider and flatter than a human nose. His features were…different, like Fury’s, except his traits were feline. She stepped back out of his hold. His hand dropped to his side.

“I need to return to the dorm and let security know I’m okay so they will call off the search. What happened in there isn’t what you think. He didn’t rape me or hurt me in any way.”

“What happened between you and Fury at the testing facility? Tell me now,” he demanded.

She peered around him only to see Fury’s windows dark and the front door firmly closed. Fury wasn’t within sight. Her gaze returned to Justice.

“Why,” he growled, “would you allow him to hurt you the way he has and not want retribution? Tell me or I’ll beat it out of him myself. He has refused to share any of your history. You are the only thing he won’t discuss.”

Ellie blinked back tears, hated the idea Fury would suffer if she didn’t admit her crime. “It’s his story to tell, not mine.”

“He won’t. I’m his best friend. He is acting insane. Make me understand or I’ll have to lock him up, have him evaluated, and force him to tell me what has happened. He won’t take being caged well. If you care at all, you’ll tell me what he will not.”

She hesitated, hated being put in the middle of it, but didn’t want Fury to suffer more for what had happened the last day she’d seen him inside his cell. She stared at Justice’s shirt. “You won’t use it against him?” Her gaze lifted. “Swear it to me.”

“I love him like a brother. Family is everything to me. I’d rather cut off my own hand than harm him.”

She believed the sincerity she saw in those exotic eyes. “There was this horrible technician named Jacob. He enjoyed hurting New Species but one day Fury elbowed him in the face. It broke his nose. The guy went after Fury the last day I worked at Mercile. I’d just stolen some downloaded files from a doctor’s computer and had swallowed it to try to smuggle it past security. I used to check on Fury, um, there was an observation room, and I overheard Jacob saying he was going to kill him. He’d had the camera inside the cell turned off. I got there as quickly as I could.” She hesitated.

“Go on.”

Her gaze lowered to his shirt, unable to look into the man’s eyes as she told him the rest of it. “He’d drugged Fury and had stretched him out, chained down on his stomach. He had started to do vile things to him. I attacked Jacob and he died.” Her voice broke.

“Fury should be grateful for this.” Justice reached out and gripped her chin, forcing it up until she had to meet his gaze. “What are you not telling me? Why does he feel you did him wrong if you saved him from that fate?”