Without her, he wouldn’t have known a nestqueen could be gentle and fair. She tried to make sure everyone in her clan felt loved and supported, without picking favorites.
She was his sun, his paradise, and he wanted to spend the rest of his years by her side.
Xylo held on to his bond thread, knowing it was the only thing keeping him alive. Their connection was golden, vibrant, and full of life—which only meant she had to be, too.
But why couldn’t he sense her?
What was preventing their communication? All he could come up with, in the haze of his pain, was that his nestqueen was a great distance away… or unconscious, blocking all hints of what was happening.
He had to remain strong and vigilant. No matter what, he would hold on, so he could see her face once again before surrendering to the cosmic embrace.
His bondmate connection to Odelm remained, but it lacked its usual coloring. The teal-and-pale-green coiled mental cord was gray and weak to the touch.
He could sense the same torment radiating through their bond, proof that his nestbrother experienced what he did. He was in too much pain to provide comfort or relief to Odelm; all Xylo could do was to try to shield his bondmate from his agony and hope he persevered.
They both needed to survive this torment for her. They were her Favored and needed to act like it.
She was a prize worth fighting for, and he couldn’t wait to embrace her again.
Using all of his remaining energy, he held on to his golden thread, searching for what he wanted most—his nestqueen.
He needed a sign—a glimmer of hope all was not yet lost, that he still had a chance to survive until he could see her face once again.
Blocking out the world, he prayed to the Stars for forgiveness and begged for one more chance to make things right with his life, his nestqueen, and his clan.
They were his everything.
He begged for one last chance to follow the pathway the Stars had led him down.
A piercing, golden light beamed across the spiritual plane, blinding him with numbing intensity. He surrendered to the light and was swept away with its sweet relief.
As soon as the light crashed into his teal mental shield, a wave of images and sounds washed over him, so real he lost the grip on his thoughts.
He saw his body on the floor, lying beside his bondmate, in a pool of their blood.
Getting kidnapped in a shower.
Waking up surrounded by a wall of coils.
Speaking with a golden orb which transformed into multiple forms.
Saving a male with emerald tattoos.
Being rescued by Kaede… and then mating him.
The last thing he saw was four Cryopods holding his sleeping clan.
Chapter Twenty
Odelm
Sucking in his breath, he tried to make sense of the flashbacks that could only belong to the one he longed for. The darkness faded into Destima’s familiar tropical paradise.
Sitting on his heels, he tried to calm down, taking in everything he had just experienced.
He could not speak or reach out, because his body was a living inferno, burning to ashes as the cosmic embrace beckoned him into its ranks. He tried to call for help, but each time, he fell short. He didn’t have the energy to reach Xylo through their nestbrother connection but hoped he wasn’t experiencing what he was.
Losing a bondmate was painful, and Xylo’s death would make him feel like an unmated male just rejected from a courting bond—once again. However, if he lost his nestqueen, he would die.
