“Hunter, I’m not going to?—”
“You want me to do this now or not?” Hunter smirked as she rolled her eyes. She wasn’t the only one who had a stubborn side.
“Well, who’s going to hold your hand and give you a lollipop afterward?” Freja smiled as he chuckled.
“You can hold my hand on the way home.” Hunter pointed at the car. He grinned as she let out a puff of air, creating a foggy cloud. She walked back toward the car, Jin bouncing by her side.
“Alright, Hunter. Let’s get these out. Sorry … it's going to hurt,” Sam said with a frown.
“Let’s move to the back side, behind the other vehicles. I don’t want Freja to be upset.” Hunter looked at the car. He knew that it would bother her to see him in pain. They were mates, and it was only natural. She had been through enough tonight.
Sam spent fifteen minutes removing the shards from Hunter’s body, finally removing the last piece of silver. “There … that’s the last of them, Hunter. You should be able to heal up now.”
Beads of sweat were dripping from Hunter’s forehead. His breathing was heavy as he pulled his shirt back over him.
“How are you doing?” Chasen asked him as he let go of Hunter’s shoulders. He’d insisted on helping with the pain. It was the only thing he could do. He was just shocked at how painful it was. He couldn’t imagine how badly Hunter was suffering on his own from the full effects of it.
“I’m ready to go home. It’s been a long night.” Hunter yawned and looked toward the car where Freja was. “Let’s go home and get some sleep.”
Hunter walked back to the vehicle with Chasen. They were both looking forward to getting cleaned up and having a good night’s sleep. Anyone who woke them up before noon would have a death sentence.
Chasen shot up from the bed. The early morning sun was shining in. They had only been asleep for a couple of hours, and yet something had snapped him awake. Furrowing his brows, he glanced back to see Jin still sleeping. He quietly left the room and walked down the hallway, finding Hunter by the stairs.
Gray eyes met brown eyes. They both looked confused.
“Something feels off. I feel like I need to be somewhere. I have this horrible feeling right now,” Chasen said as he held onto his chest.
“The energies inside me are fluctuating. Something’s wrong, but I don’t understand it.” Hunter ran his hand through his hair as his breathing became ragged.
Something was wrong. Their insides were screaming at them, but they couldn’t figure it out. That’s when it happened.
SNAP.
Chasen collapsed to the ground and Hunter flew backward into the wall for support.
“No. No. No. No,” Chasen kept repeating, over and over again.
Hunter felt the emptiness inside as a light was leaving him. No. It had already left.
“SHIT. BRODY!” Hunter screamed and collapsed onto his knees.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Freja heard Hunter yelling, and she flew out of the room to him. She saw the two men balled up on the floor, just by the stairs, Jin beside them, having also run out after hearing the sounds.
“What’s going on?!” Freja dropped to Hunter’s side, but he was beside himself.
“This isn’t right. This couldn’t have happened …” Hunter whispered under his breath.
“Chasen.” Jin rubbed his back gently but he didn’t respond. He was staring blankly at his knees, in shock. “It’s okay. I’m here,” Jin cooed gently as she continued to try to comfort him. He never even acknowledged her presence.
“Hunter, please. Tell me what’s wrong.” Freja panicked. Did they get cursed again by the witches?
Hunter looked up at her, his eyes red and welled up with tears. “I can’t feel my brother Brody’s light anymore. His energy vanished.”
Jin frowned and looked at Hunter. “You can feel him?” She was confused. She knew they had siblings, but she didn’t know they could feel the other.
“It’s hard to explain, especially right now. But we’re connected to their life force energy. I have my father’s, mother’s, brother’s, and sister’s energy inside me. It’s also how guardians can always locate their charges. Brody and Chasen both have a type of my mother’s energy inside them. And Brody’s is gone now.”
