I’ve seen this before… when Tiberius takes over someone’s dream, turning them puppets inside their own mind.
The air shifts, heavy and wrong. pressure crushes against my chest as I canfeelhim trying to slip into my safe haven.
No, no, no.
My stomach drops, dread sinking deep and fast.
I try to link someone, screaming into the void for help, before it hits me. The pixie potion is still blocking Anxo’s link in my mind.
Panic claws up my throat, sharp and suffocating.
I start screaming, hoping someone—anyone—will hear me. My hands are shaking as the dagger digs deeper into my palm, my grip slipping, and I know I don’t have much time before I lose against Dean’s strength.
I fall forward, my forehead touching Dean’s, but no one comes. No one hears me. It’s just us. Just me… failing him.
I can’t lose him. Please… please, I can’t lose him.
A scream tears out of me when the dagger slips again, slicing deeper into my palm. The pain barely registers when whatever hold Tiberius had on Dean suddenly disappears, and he snaps out of it.
The dagger slips from his hand, falling between us.
The fog in his eyes finally clears, revealing that soft brown again.
Dean blinks, shaking his head at the way I’m sitting on his lap, his hands coming up to cup my face. “Why are you crying, baby?”
His voice is gentle. Confused. Completely unaware of how he nearly killed himself.
Relief crashes through me, and my hands wrap around his wrist. Dean’s eyes widen when he sees the blood smeared across his shirt.
He grabs my hands, flipping them over to press the blanket against the cut and apply pressure.
“Did I do that to you?” Horror floods his expression as it clicks.
Dean panics, his pulse racing as his gaze flicks to the dagger between us… and then to the stab wounds covering his body.
It hits me all at once how close I came to losing him, and I fall into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder.
“I’m okay. You’re okay.” I pull back, my hands moving over his rapidly healing wounds.
“I… I don’t understand. Hazel, what the fuck is going on?” His voice is unsteady, edged with fear and confusion.
A sob catches my throat, and Dean immediately pulls me into his chest.
“He’s here. Tiberius is here.”
Saying it out loud makes it real. Too real.
Dread filled my lungs at the thought of him being this close. He has to be nearby if he got inside Dean’s head and almost—
He wanted me to watch my mate kill himself withmydagger.
Dean’s face darkens, but before he can speak, shouts echo from downstairs.We’re on our feet and moving before the next breath leaves my lungs.
Adrenaline hits fast and vicious, drowning out everything else.
We find Seiji, Jackson, Akihiko, and Yua pacing in front of the main gate. The tension in the air is thick enough to choke on.
The moment they see Dean, everyone starts talking at once, and it’s clear they’re rattled, panic and alarm crashing over each other.
