The words come out harsh as reality fully sinks in. I grab Rowan’s shoulders before I can think about it, pulling him close enough to see the surprise flicker across his face.
“Where’s Regina? Is she—did I?—“
My voice breaks. I can’t finish the sentence. Can’t ask if the nightmare was real, if I hurt her, if I…
“She’s fine.” Rowan’s hands come up to grip my arms, steadying me. “Killian. She’s fine. She’s at the library with Sean right now, but she’s fine. You didn’t hurt her.”
The relief hits so hard I almost black out again. Or maybe that’s just the blood rushing around in my head. Hard to tell.
“The library,” I repeat stupidly.
“Yeah. Research. She’s been, uh…” Rowan stops himself and takes a breath. “You’ve been out for almost two weeks, man.”
Two weeks…
“What?”
“Villeneuve put you in a stasis. Some kind of dragon magic.” Rowan’s jaw tightens on the worddragon, which makes zero sense in my already chaotic brain. When he sees the way I’m looking at him, he adds, “It’s a long story. The point is, you’ve been stable. We didn’t know when you’d wake up. Orifyou’d even wake up.” He stops again. “I don’t even know how you’re awake right now. The stasis field is still up. You shouldn’t be able to move.”
I look around the room again. Take in the symbols, the general Frankenstein’s lab aesthetic going on around us.
“This is Villeneuve’s place,” Rowan offers. “He teleported you here after the fight.”
“Yeah. I gathered that.”
“And he’s a…?”
“A dragon,” Rowan says with a strained smile. “Mystery solved?”
“When the fuck didthathappen?”
It makes more sense than I want it to. The lack of any scent I’ve ever encountered before, the fact that he can use magic. And he’s a cranky, ancient asshole, so that checks some boxes, too.
“Another long story.” Rowan’s voice sounds hoarse and exhausted.
I should probably care more about the dragon thing. Under normal circumstances, the revelation that the spooky asshole who’s been lurking around our mate is actually an ancient mythological predator would be pretty fucking high on my list of concerns.
Right now, I can’t focus on anything except the scar on my shoulder. The way it pulses with every heartbeat.
But Rowan said it’s been two weeks.
Even if I’m a shifter, an alpha, I should be at least halfway to crazy town right now, unless…
Unless they’re trying tosaveme.
That’s what Rowan isn’t saying. That’s why I’m here instead of in the ground where I should be. Villeneuve didn’t kill me. Probably because Regina asked him not to, because she thinks they can fix this.
They can’t. I’ve already seen the writing on the wall, the movie that plays out in my brain nonstop.
The inevitable.
“Rowan.” I tighten my grip on his shoulders. He winces slightly, because I’m probably digging my fingers in hard enough to leave bruises, but he doesn’t pull away. “Listen to me.”
“You need to rest, Kill. Let me go get the others, tell them you’re?—“
“Listen to me.”
He goes still.
