Page 11 of Demonic Affliction

I try to get out of bed, but my legs are like jelly, and I fall to the ground in a heap. The mate bond flares to life before I can call for them, its tendrils stretching from my chest, frantic and searching.

Rhune. Nyx. Where are you?

I don't know if they can hear me, and I’m not sure if this is even how it works. But a beat later, two pairs of footsteps pound the ground, the sound growing louder as my mates rush toward me.

The door bursts open, and I watch from the floor as Rhune’s eyes scan the room, his expression crumpling with despair when he doesn’t immediately see me.

“Willow?” he practically screams, rushing toward the bed with wild, glowing eyes. “Willow, where are you?”

Rhune starts ripping the covers and pillows from the bed, tossing them behind him in a heap as he desperately searches for me. “Dear gods!” he cries. “She’s disappeared!”

Before I can say anything, Rhune crumples to the ground in a heap, his body shuddering as he attempts to calm himself. “I told you we shouldn’t have brought her! Now she’s gone! That thing took her away!”

“I’m here!” I yell—well, I try to yell—but it comes out more like a wheeze. “Other side!”

Nyx calmly walks around the bed toward my voice, stopping short when he sees me lying on the floor. “Oh, you poor, sweet thing.” He crouches and pulls me into his arms. “Did you try to get up?”

Before I can answer, Rhune’s head pops up, his eyes shining with despair. As soon as he catches sight of me, his expression lights up, and he launches himself across the bed.

“Willow!” he cries. “Willow, I thought I’d lost you!”

“That’s wildly apparent.” Nyx steps out of Rhune’s reach. “Calm yourself. You’ll hurt her.”

“I would never!” His lip juts out pathetically. “How could you say that?”

“Rhune… I say this with love, but you’re a little… unhinged right now. I worry you’ll hug her too hard and crush her.”

I almost laugh, but Nyx’s deadly serious expression has it dying in my chest. Oh my…

Rhune whines, hanging his head. “I promise I won’t…”

Nyx sighs, stepping over to the bed and passing me over to Rhune. “I’m watching you. No squishing.”

“No squishing.” He nods, happy as a clam. As soon as I’m in his arms, though, his promise seems to fly out the window. All of the air is squeezed from my lungs as he wraps me in a bear hug, and my eyes fly wildly toward Nyx for help, who is already in the process of extracting me from his death grip.

“I said no squishing!”

“I am not!”

“Tell that to her! Her eyes are about to pop out, you dizzy creature!”

Rhune whines, looking down at me. His eyes flash with horror, and he releases enough to let the oxygen back to my lungs. “Oh my gods, I’m so sorry, Willow!”

“It… it’s okay,” I gasp. “You’re too… too cute to be mad at.”

Rhune holds me in his arms, brushing the hair back from my eyes. “Are you sure you are okay?”

“Much better now.” I grin up at him. “Oxygen makes everything better.”

Nyx chuffs a laugh, then leans in to wrap all three of us in a hug—one that is much softer than Rhune’s, but just as loving.

He pulls away, placing a loving kiss against my forehead. I look around the room again, and my questions come flooding back.

“Where are we?” I ask. “Where are Dravik and Cin? What happened to Dagny and her mates? Are they alive? Are they hurt?”

Nyx runs his hand down my back soothingly. “We are in Dagny’s home, and everyone is okay. We even brought your pet Kevin with us—though I’m not sure where the furry little asshole has run off to. Dravik and Cin are most likely still out on their hunt, but they will find us here when they are finished. We left a note and directions back at the cave in the cliffs.”

“Okay…” I shiver, remembering how I blacked out. “What happened… after?”