“I don’t have to be,” Hawk replied, eyes turning just as black. “Because you aren’t alone in there.”
I looked away from Hawk, eyes widening as I stared at Dante.What do you mean by that?I asked Hawk, watching Dante raise his gun. The safety clicked off, forcing everyone to move around me.
It means he’s been playing in the heads of too many people, and someone finally figured out it goes both ways. Dante created a path into someone’s mind, and they just followed it back into his own.
I shuddered at the thought of what that could possibly mean.
The first shot rang out through the air, echoing in the cavernous hall. I flinched, falling backwards into Xerxes’s embrace as pain burned through my shoulder.
I screamed, watching the bear throw himself in the way of Dante’s gun. But it was too late.
The next shot had fire burning through my chest, down my spine. It was something else entirely.
More shots went off, and Thor went down with a roar. Dante was bleeding from a wound in his stomach, clutching at it, long claw marks running down his chest.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
When he ran, we didn’t go after him. I shoved away from Xerxes and Hawk, rushing to Thor’s side. “Help me roll him over,” I said, looking back at Xerxes, at Hawk. “He can be saved.”
“I’m going to pull the others in,” Sunniva said. “But then we have to move.”
Thank the Goddess for her, because I couldn’t think of anything other than the fact that Thor wouldn’t move.
Xerxes helped me roll Thor into his back, giving me full view of the two bullets he’d taken. The wounds were both in his chest, too much blood soaking his fur.
I moved, gripping either side of the beast’s head. “Comeon,” I said, breath coming faster as I waited for him to make some sort of sound. He couldn’t be dead. Not like this. “You’re okay. You have to be okay.”
“Ivy,” Hawk said, his voice soft. Too soft for him. “He’s barely alive.”
Bile rose in my throat as I looked back at him. “Heal him, then.”
“Why?” he asked, though he pressed his hands over both bullet wounds. “He’s happy for death. He’s been seeking it for a long time. He’s okay going like this. He’s okay being free.”
I closed my eyes, feeling tears burn behind them as I bowed my head. “Hecan’t.”
He can’t because I couldn’t ignore the possibility that we were put together for a reason. I couldn’t ignore the same feelings I had when I first learned about mates and bonds. He couldn’t die before he got to behimagain.
He wasn’t allowed to die for me. He wasn’t allowed to die at all.
“Then he needs to shift,” Hawk said. “You need to convince him to shift right now, Ivy. It’ll help push the bullets from his body so he can heal. Can you do that?”
I forced my eyes open and looked over at Hawk, whose hands were covered in blood.
Nodding, I moved so I was looking down at Thor. There were so many little scars dotting his snout. Some around his eyes. He’d received them all while shifted. It made me wonder what the man would look like if all the scars transferred over to his face and body once shifted.
“You need to shift,” I whispered, voice breaking. “You know how, deep down. You remember how it felt to be a boy. I need you to remember that now. What it felt like. And I need you to shift.”
The bear growled, eyes opening. They found mine, a spark flaring within them.
I nodded, heart pounding with hope. “That’s it,” I said. “I need you to be human again. For me, please. Just shift.”
44
Thor
Her voice echoed in my ears as I tried to remember. The bear was ready to relinquish to me, but I had no idea what that would feel like to bemeagain.
I couldn’t remember what it felt to be the other half. I’d been in this form for so long.
