Evan is dead.
No.He can’t be dead.He can’t!
“Ev?” I say, nudging his shoulder. His beautiful blood-stained face doesn’t flinch, doesn’t show any recognition to my voice. A hoarse cry escapes me as I cradle his head, my hands shaking. “Evan, baby, please! Answer me!”
Without thinking, I bite into my wrist and hold it against Evan’s mouth, tilting his head back to ensure some of my blood goes down this throat. He doesn’t swallow or choke.
He doesn’t do anything.
“Evan, please! You can’t…”
Tears blur my vision, my chest constricting. This can’t be happening.Evan can’t be dead.
Red appears beside me, shifting in an instant and leaning over to listen to Evan’s chest. “Still alive, but barely. Fucking hell… his throat. What did Foxx do to him?”
Red tears Evan’s shirt open, tugging the collar away from a gaping wound at his neck, where blood is pooling everywhere. It looks like Foxx ripped a chunk of muscle right out of him.
“Red,” I plead, words failing me.
Red covers the wound with this hand, light pulsing under his skin. “I don’t smell venom,” he says. “That’s good. Stars above, Evan. Hang in there.”
Good? How the fuck is this good? Evan isn’t even conscious. He’s barely alive!
Over his shoulder, he calls, “Sage! Call for help! He needs blood!”
I struggle to draw breath. “Evan, please,” I say, leaning over to kiss his forehead. “Please, baby. Don’t leave me.”
Kaine roars behind us. “Your sire is a fucking coward! Couldn’t even stay to fight!”
Water hits my back, startling me back to the present. When I look over my shoulder at the man in Kaine’s grasp, anger rises like boiling magma.
“WHERE IS HE?” Kaine roars, lifting Foxx from the ground. His eyes are blazing a deadly shade of gold, long hair blowing in the breeze. Kaine slowly turns his hand in a clockwise position, causing the rope of water around Foxx’s neck to tighten.
Foxx flails, hands groping at the water, but to no avail. His finger slips right through.
“You think you’re so clever, covering for that sick fuck. Do you even realize what you’ve done?”
Covering for him?
“Where. The hell. Is he?” Kaine bellows.
The man’s eyes bulge as he struggles to draw breath, and that’s when I notice it. His features are shifting right before me, nose and lips altering as if they can’t settle on a preference. Even his hair is changing from blond to red to russet brown.
Dread fills my stomach like a lead balloon. “That isn’t Foxx.”
“No fucking shit, Sherlock!” Kaine snaps, his voice dripping with poison.
“What happened? Where is he?”
“Probably hitching a ride out of the city,” Kaine says. “This son of a bitch changed himself to look like Foxx so hismastercould get away!” Kaine spits the word master, disgust dripping from his lips.
I shake my head, still confused. “But that was him at the club. I’m certain of it.”
“Of course it was. But as usual, he fled at the first sign of trouble. He’s such a fucking coward. Your mate almost had him, then Foxx disappeared around a corner. I followed him, but this fucker,” Kainesnarls again, fangs exposed, “knocked me over the head and went after Evan.”
The truth hits me square in the chest. This guy tricked Evan into fighting him just to protect Foxx?And Kaine still chose to fight for Evan?
My hands ignite with fire as the Foxx look-alike flails, still trying to break free of Kaine’s water noose. “You must be Breckley,” I say. “The chameleon.”
