“Lola, it’s alright,” Ann’s calm voice said to my side. “We’re here. Dimitri is safe.”
But I didn’t move. Icouldn’tmove. Carter had been attacked. Dimitri was hurt. Arc was still missing. I had to protect him. Protectthem. I was failing. Too weak to do anything. Fate had been cruel to bind me with so many souls. I didn’t deserve them, didn’t deserve to be their core. I couldn’t protect them, not without my lost soul.Useless, the old voice in my mind whispered.
“Lola?” Marcus said softly, crouching on my other side. “You can let go now, he’s safe.”
“Get back.” My voice was unrecognizable. Something between a hiss and a growl as my whole body tightened above and around Dimitri’s unconscious form.
Marcus was pulled away before Kai said, “Give her a minute. Her mate instincts are all over the place, you can’t reason with her now.”
“She’s the core,” Ann continued, as to comfort my now silent friend. “And her mate is hurt. It’s a primal reaction, don’t take it personally.”
A comforting presence took Marcus’ place and the people around quieted the moment his hand landed on my back, moving up and down my spine in a slow motion.
“Lola, baby. He needs medical assistance, but we can’t move him if you don’t let him go,” Carter whispered before dropping a soft kiss on top of my hair.
“I can’t,” I breathed out. “I—What if someone tries to hurt him again?”
“No one will. I just need you to step back for a minute so we can place him on the stretcher. If you want to climb on it with him, that’s fine. You barely weigh anything, it won’t make much of a difference.”
Stepping back for a minute. I could do it. Couldn’t I?
With a shuddering breath, my muscles relaxed. Only enough for Carter to pull me up and into his arms, wrapping me in a tight hug.
“It’s going to be okay, baby. He’ll be okay,” he said in the crook of my ear.
My ear.
I pulled on my hair to cover it, my heart back to racing in my chest.
That damn asshole had pulled my braid up, revealing my ears to everyone standing around.
To Carter.
“It’s fine, they’re covered.” He kissed my temple, holding me tight as Kai and Marcus lifted Dimitri off the ground under my watchful glare. “We’ll argue about you keeping things from me later. Or not. I guess I can live with you hiding the fact that you’re actually the first Succubus.”
He forced a chuckle. I buried my face in his chest, breathing him in.Carter is safe. Even though Dimitri was badly hurt, Arc missing, Blake heartbroken somewhere, Carter wassafe. He could be my rock right now.
“I’m sorry,” I croaked, my throat too tight with restrained tears for my normal voice to come out.
Carter moved, hand caressing my hair softly. “It’s alright. Everything will be fine.”
He leaned forward, placing me back over Dimitri on the narrow stretcher.
Everything will be fine, I repeated to myself. It had to.
They had to place the stretcher over the bed because I wouldn’t let go of Dimitri. Surprisingly, no one tried to force me or convince me to get off.
Marcus and Kai were gone, giving a report to Carrie about what had happened and the rogue guards following unapproved orders.
Dimitri was still unconscious under me, even as Ann and her team moved around the room to check on him.
“He appears to be fine,” Ann concluded, stepping closer to stand next to me. “Nothing major going on. He’s severely dehydrated, beyond exhausted, and has many injuries, but nothing that would be life threatening to a weaker being.”
“So, he’s simply…passed out?”
Ann nodded to Carter who stood in the corner, his arms crossed over his chest. “I don’t know what happened to him, but he seems to have been stabbed a few times, even though the wounds have already mostly healed. His heart rate and blood pressure are through the roof, so I’m guessing he’s actively trying to hold the madness at bay.”
“Do you think the madness is acting up because of something specific?” he prodded.
