Kaz spoke through clenched teeth when he demanded,“Where is Atria?”
“Don’t you know?” Delilah shot him an arch look. “I thought for sure you’d be able to feel it by now.”
“Feel wh—” The question died on his lips as a whisper, a gossamer tendril of foreign feeling, demanded his attention.
The tether.
Kaz snapped his head toward the caravan. His heart jumped into his throat and lodged there, making it almost impossible to draw in a breath, tothink.
She’s here.
He’d been so distracted by Delilah that the shadow of his mate’s emotions were completely overwhelmed. Not anymore. Now that he was looking for it, he felt the infinitely fragile thread connecting them, the desperation that pulled it taut, as if it was trying to reel him closer.
The ruins in his chest, that shattered citadel of strength he’d built on their connection, began to repair itself brick by brick as he lunged for the caravan’s extended steps. Delilah, Fracture, everything was forgotten as he tore open the door.
He barely registered Delilah’s parting words as he threw himself inside. “Grab a pillow!”
The interior of the caravan was dark and quiet. They’d pulled the shades down on the windows so only thin bars of light splashed across the vintage kitchen table, cabinets, and swivel seats.
And there she was.
Atria hovered in front of one of those seats as if she’d just stood up. Her long hair was a mess. Her clothes were askew. The knees of her pants were smudged with dirt and what might have been blood. Her face was drawn with stress, her eyes bloodshot, and her hands were fisted against her heart, as if she was trying to contain something that desperately wished to be free.
The door swung shut and latched behind him with a clatter.
“Kaz!” His name, one single syllable, cracked. “Oh gods, I’m so sorry. Delilah told me to wait inside—”
He crumpled.
“Kaz!”
He didn’t know what he was doing. All he knew was that he couldn’t support his own weight anymore and that it didn’t fucking matter. He needed to touch her. He needed to know she was okay.
I need her more than air.
So he crawled. He dragged himself to her on his bloody hands and knees, breaths sawing in and out with immense effort.
Atria rushed to meet him, worry blazing through the tether that now sang louder than ever in the back of his mind. He didn’t even realize he was speaking until he pressed his face into her belly and felt his lips moving against her shirt and the soft flesh underneath. “...love you so much. Can’t do it. Don’t fucking leave me again. Can’t. Can’t do this. Please, gods, please don’t.I’m yours I’m yours I’m yours—”
“Shh, shh. I know. I’m here, my love. I’m not going anywhere. Oh, big guy, please don’t cry.” Soft fingers dug into his hair, petting, soothing, as her magic washed over him in a glorious, warm wave. The sharpest edge of his fear began to dull.
Was he crying? Yes.
His shoulders jerked with a hiccup.Huh.
He’d nearly soaked the front of her shirt as he clung to her, his arms banded around the backs of her thighs. Kaz didn’t have the wherewithal to be embarrassed. It was either tears of relief or he’d throw up. If he had to choose, he vastly preferred the tears.
“My love, my love. I’m here. I’m safe.” Atria’s soft, heartbroken voice drifted around him, simultaneously making everything better and so much worse. It was like he’d been wrung out. There was nothing left of him but empty spaces waiting to be filled in.
“I can’t do this again,” he gasped, clawing at the fabric of her pants, the back of her shirt, as he tilted his head to look her in the eye. He was shaking. Every tremor seemed to come from somewhere deep in that hollow place that the broken tether had exposed. He hated all those empty nooks and crannies. He hated that she wasn’t there. He hated that at any moment she could walk away and he wouldn’t feel her, wouldn’t know she was well and safe and—
In an instant, he understood exactly what she’d felt when she woke up to find him missing from the nest. The sudden loss of her was so disorienting, it swept his entire sense of self out to sea. He’d barely survived it once. He knew with absolute certainty that he wouldn’t be so lucky a second time.
“I can’t, Atria. I fucking can’t.”
Atria sank onto her knees and cupped his cheeks, her thumbs smoothing away tear tracks. “I willneverwillingly leave you, Kaz. I swear. I’m safe now. This will never happen again. Going forward, I’m going to tie us together at the damn hip, okay?”
“Not that.” He dragged her closer, until they were pressed together, and begged, “Bond with me, princess.Please.I can’t fucking— I can’t deal with this anymore. When we’re not tethered, it feels like I’m fucking empty. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I get it now. I do. When you disappeared and the tether snapped, it was like someone had scooped out my soul.”
