Nothing. I sit up, clutching the pillow as if it can answer me. “Soren?” I whisper again. The room stays silent. Of course, it does. I laugh once, and it comes out broken. “Great. Now I’m talking to the magical vampire in my chest. Very normal. Very sane.”
Exhaustion drags at me, but I’m afraid to sleep. What if something happens? What if the bond changes? What if he needs me and I’m unconscious like some useless…
Pain explodes in my abdomen. I choke on a scream and fold forward, clutching my stomach. It feels like something hot andserrated is being dragged through me, slow and deliberate. My body locks, and every muscle goes rigid.
“Oh God,” I gasp. “Soren.”
The pain twists deeper, and I bite down on the pillow to keep from screaming loudly enough to bring the guys running. I don’t want them in here. I don’t want anyone in here. If Soren has to endure this alone, then I can, too.
That’s stupid.
Truly the dumbest shit I’ve done.
But it’s my choice.
The pain shifts, spreading lower, turning into something vile. My skin goes hot, and my stomach rolls when forced pleasure blooms in my belly, taking over the agony. This is somehow worse, though.
“I’m going to kill them,” I growl into the pillow when, yet again, it feels like something large is being shoved into my ass, only it’s not mine. It’s him. Someone is raping my mate, and unbridled rage starts to boil. This is easily the tenth time, and that’s not counting the individual orgasms they have forced out of him.
Soren is trapped inside his own body while someone invades him, and I can feel how helpless he feels. I can feel his loneliness.
All the rage has dissolved away, and it’s just fear. He’s afraid, and I can’t help him. That thought breaks me.
Soren, who snapped necks like it was an average Tuesday. Soren, who threatened everyone in the room for looking at me for too long. Soren, who said and did terrible things because softness scared him more than violence ever could. Until now. Unless they stole it all away from him. From me.
My monster.
My peace.
My mate.
A sob tears out of me, muffled by the pillow. “I’m here,” I whisper, even though he can’t hear me. “I’m here. I’m still here.”
The pain spikes again. This time, I can’t swallow the scream. It rips out of me, raw and broken. I immediately slap my hand over my mouth when I hear movement downstairs. Fast. Too fast.
“No,” I choke out. “No, no, no. Stay down there.”
Footsteps hit the stairs anyway, so I roll off the bed and stumble toward the bathroom. I lock the door behind me even though it won’t make a damn bit of difference if they decide to break it down to check on me.
“Talia?” Vaughn calls from the bedroom.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re a shitty liar,” Laurent says.
“Go away.”
“No,” Vaughn answers.
“Please,” I choke out, and it’s followed by silence.
“We’re right here,” Vaughn says, softer this time.
“I said go away!” I yell at them.
“We heard you.”
“Then why won’t you go away?” I ask tearfully.
