I screamed in my head,Yes! What the fuck is wrong with me?!
A cool hand pressed to my forehead. I shivered.
“She’s burning up,” Lucus muttered.
“Shit. Now, she’s shaking.Give her to me!”
Maso growled in warning at Alic, and the air grew volatile until a familiar voice cut through it all like a blade.
“Both of you, shut up.”
Van! He’s okay!
“I have a key to her place,” he said smoothly. “Let’s take her there. Fast.”
Yes. Thank you. Gods, yes.
“Fine. Let’s go,” Alic barked, urgency returning to his voice.
Ras added, “Someone needs to inform her family we’ve secured the situation. They’re waiting for an update.”
Good. So smart. I want to kiss him again.
As I was lifted and carried, jostled gently, my mind began to slip.
My apartment wasn’t far. I just needed to rest. I’d poured out too much power. Too much blood. Too mucheverything.
The heat surged again, but this time I didn’t fight it. I let the darkness take me, but one final thought echoed in the quiet of my mind.
I’ll get answers later.
* Song: Tantrum by Ashnikko
18
VAN
"I'm so scared. I'm so scared."
I clenched my jaw, making damn sure my eye roll was hidden. She wasn’t Aniyah—few people were. Most people screamed and froze. Aniyahmoved. Bold. Fearless. Complicated as hell but carved from something real. Grit and magic and pure fire. She wasn’t whimpering in a hallway; she was out there confronting the threat head-on, probably with a smile that dared the bastards to try her.
Natalie’s long nails dug into my arm like talons as I tugged her along, her sobs hiccuping between breathless murmurs about the “bad men.” All I could think about was Aniyah, outnumbered but unshaken, with only two guards flanking her and a plan too wild not to work.
Still…what if?
The thought needled its way through the cracks in my focus.What if she overestimates the situation? What if one of them gets to her before she can react? What if those two aren't enough? What if they take her?
I shook off the thought with force. No. Her plan was solid, strategic. She’d accounted for everyone’s strengths. She was three steps ahead, as always, and we all had our roles to play. Mine, unfortunately, was this.
What if your flame dies before you ever tell her the truth? Before she knows what she is to you? Will you be able to live with that?
Natalie stumbled, nearly dragging me down with her dead weight. I caught her reflexively, but everything in me wanted to drop her on the floor and bolt. I could already hear Aniyah’s voice, irritated, clipped, with that look that made me feel two inches tall.
“Protect the talent,” she’d say. “They’re the lifeblood of this place. That’s what we’re built on.”
Grinding my teeth, I yanked Natalie upright again, every thought slingshotting back toher.
“Ouch! That hurts.”
