While collared, she was back to being weak.
Captured again.
With less hope than before.
When the Evernell wore off completely, she would still be collared. She would still have a stinging, painful back wound.
While she was passed out, Lemmuns had patched her up with what felt like stitches and an itchy bandage.
“Aww, she is waking up.” Lemmuns’ voice floated through her consciousness as she gained her bearings. “Just in time to see you.”
Nix turned her head toward the voice. Her stomach turned, and a wave of nausea consumed her when she saw it.
Lemmuns had Ryker strapped to a metal table. Ryker’s tan skin was now pale and clammy. The dragon shifter’s eyes shot back and forth like he couldn’t see. Like the pain was so much that it…
A loud bellow of torment tore from Ryker’s chest as Lemmuns stuck a long, sharp metal tube down Ryker’s throat.
“I have always been fascinated by dragon fire,” Lemmuns spoke like he was chatting to himself. “The ability to turn air in your lungs into a deadly weapon from your mouth. Absolutely fascinating.”
“What are you doing to him?” Nix cried out in horror as she watched Ryker’s body begin to convulse.
“I’ve just been taking samples.” Lemmuns rolled his eyes as he lifted the metal tool out of Ryker’s throat and mouth. “Honestly, so dramatic.”
“Let him go,” Nix shouted, pulling at her limbs. “Just…use me. Let him go.Please.”
“You beg so prettily,” Lemmuns said dreamily. “I’ve always wondered.”
Crazy fucking monster. Nix glanced around to look for any kind of help. On the other side of the room, she saw a stone statue, and her breath caught in her throat. The familiar height, build, and sculpted face…
Thierry had turned to stone.
CHAPTER 42
Nix gaped in horror at her gargoyle mate. Thierry’s chest did not move with breath. His eyes were hollow and empty. Stone.
From head to toe, he was stone.
“Ah, yes,” Lemmuns said. “I was testing some of my new elixirs. Did you know, with the right ingredients, you can create a potion to make any alpha shifter feel as if their mate has died?”
He explained, “It sends most shifters into a catatonic state, leaving them completely vulnerable. On the gargoyle…it did that.”
“What the FUCK?” Nix yelled, feeling her own heart lurch at the sight of her mate. Breathless stone. Hard, lifeless… “I’m going to FUCKING KILL YOU,” Nix screamed and thrashed in the restraints.
Her back wound pulsed with pain; she surely ripped one of the stitches, but nothing could calm her.
A few feet from Ryker were Persius and Bael, both unconscious, drugged, and strapped to other metal tables matching the one Ryker laid on. Both men wore tenseexpressions and shifted their heads in their sleep like their weakened bodies sensed their mate’s sorrow.
“WAKE UP,” Nix yelled to them, even though they would awake with no ability to help her.
Was this what the Goddess meant about time being angry with phoenix shifters? Was this Nix’s punishment?
“Let’s see how we can rid you of that pesky fire, yes?” Lemmuns spoke to Ryker as he picked up a small metal drill.
Ryker’s body trembled under his restraints. She watched as his throat bobbed on a thick swallow. Lemmuns had inserted some type of mouth guard to keep Ryker’s lips wide open for his twisted experiment.
He planned to drill…
“NO,” Nix warned loudly, her voice going hoarse. “DON’T YOU DARE.”
