My grip on her wrist loosens. My claws retract. Every muscle in my body unlocks at once, and the shaking that follows is out of my control.
“Kol,” she says. She reaches out in the dark, her soft palm pressing flat against the hot skin of my jaw. “They took Alex.”
She swallows hard, her throat working. “She surrendered so they wouldn’t take the rest of us. I tried to stop him. He was too fast. I’m sorry.”
The air leaves my lungs.
Ah-lex is gone. My warriors are bleeding out on the stone above me. I try to push myself up to hunt the males dragging my mate’s healer into the deep dust, but my arms shake and give out. The white-hot heat in my being burns through the last of my physical strength, pinning my face to the floor.
I cannot move. I cannot protect them. I can only bleed.
Eh-ree-kah’s dark eyes spill over. She wraps her arms completely around my star-blazing head and pulls me against the soft, yielding heat of her stomach. Her fingers sink deep into my mane.
She cannot hold my weight. Her bones should snap. She should collapse beneath me.
She holds me anyway.
She holds completely still in the dark of the ruined tunnel, anchoring my devastated body against hers, holding the world up just for me.
Chapter 16
WE NEED A MEDIC, BUT THEY STOLE THE MEDIC
ERIKA
My knees hurt.
I’ve been sitting in the dust of the deep chambers for an hour. Maybe longer. It’s impossible to tell in the pitch black.
Kol is dying in my lap.
That is the only thought my brain can process. I have both my arms wrapped tight around his neck, holding his broad frame together as the transformation rips through his body. His breathing is a wet, terrifying rattle. Every muscle in his chest is locked rigid with pain. The only light in the cavern is coming from the shrinking patches of gold skin left on his torso, the last bits holding out against the spreading black starfield.
The bone knife Amelia gave me is still locked in my fist. The blade is wet with dark, shimmering blood that is not mine. I remember driving it into the rival warrior’s arm. The shock of contact jarred my whole arm. It bought Kol’s warrior half a second to close the gap and swing, but the intruder spun onthem like a beast with nothing to lose. My fingers cramp open and the knife clatters onto the stone beside my knee.
“Kol,” I whisper, my voice cracking. I press my palm hard against his chest, right over his heart. The erratic, pounding heartbeat is terrifying. “Kol, please. Stay with me.”
He doesn’t answer. The starfield burns so hot it scorches my palms.
I need a medic. I need Mira. But if I let go of him to find her, I’m legitimately terrified his heart will simply stop.
“Don’t you dare leave me here,” I beg, my hands shaking as I drag them up his jaw.
The erratic pounding beneath my palm suddenly stutters.
Slowly, his hands twitch in the dust. They rise, uncoordinated, until his thick claws lock around my waist. He takes a ragged, shuddering breath that sounds like tearing stone, and forces his chin up.
His black eyes find my face in the dark.
He shifts, forcing his dense muscles to unlock. The physical pain must be blinding, but he swallows it down.
He grunts, his claws digging a fraction of an inch into the fabric of my pants as he forces his frame upright. He hauls me with him and I grab his thick wrist to keep from tipping sideways.
He pulls me flush against his chest, dropping his chin to press his forehead hard against mine.
“My mate.” The projection punches straight into my brain. It is raw, exhausted, but unyielding. An absolute refusal to drop while I am standing. “Safe.”
He drags one sharp breath in through his nose, his nostrils flaring against my hair. Whatever scent he finds seems to anchor his failing body. His forehead lifts off mine.
