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Taken.

Then Malgrave released him, and everything went to shit.

Carnage grabbed Sentinel and hauled him out of the common room so fast I barely had time to call his name. They disappeared into one of the rooms off the hallway, the door slammed behind them, and I’ve been standing here ever since, trying to understand what the fuck just happened. Because whatever I felt through Carnage wasn’t normal.

Even for us.

Whatever exists between us has been getting stronger since the moment we met. I’ve felt his anger, his amusement, his hunger. I’ve felt enough of him to help us blow apart an entire fucking bedroom.

This was different.

This felt like someone reaching into that connection from the outside.

My arms fold across my stomach as I stare toward the hallway where he disappeared.

“You okay?”

I turn to find Cali beside me. Her hair is still pulled back from training with Scar earlier. However, a few strands have worked loose around her face, and the woman who had a five-hundred-year-old vampire halfway into an arm lock less than an hour ago is looking at me with enough concern that some of the tension in my shoulders eases.

“I don’t know.”

Cali glances toward the hallway. “Yeah, that seems to be going around.”

A shaky breath leaves me. “I felt it.”

Her attention comes straight back to me. “Felt what?”

“What Malgrave did to him.”

Cali’s expression changes. I rub my palms over my arms, trying to explain something I’m still not sure I understand myself. “When he grabbed Carnage’s throat, something came through our bond. At first it was just heat, but then…” I shake my head, “… something pulled.”

“Pulled?”

“At him. Inside him.” Frustration tightens my voice because every word sounds fucking useless compared to what it actually felt like. “I know Malgrave said he bound Carnage’s roar, but that wasn’t a binding. I know what restraints feel like against power. I spent most of my childhood around people who were very fucking creative with them.”

Cali’s mouth tightens.

“This was taking something.” I look toward the hallway again. “And Carnage felt it too. I know he did.”

Cali steps closer, lowering her voice. “Is that why he grabbed Sentinel?”

“I think so. He looked at me for half a second after Malgrave let go, and I…” My throat tightens when I remember the expression on his face. “I’ve never felt panic from him before.”

Not Carnage.

Anger, absolutely. Rage comes off that man like breathing. But panic?

That scared the shit out of me.

Cali’s hand settles lightly on my arm. “Sentinel’s with him.” I nod. “And if Carnage needs anything, every brother in this room is about ten feet away.”

My eyes move across the common room. She’s right. Nobody has gone back to whatever they were doing before Malgrave arrived. Raze keeps looking toward the hallway. Scar has abandoned his beer entirely. Even Ruckus is quiet for once, pool cue resting against the table while he watches the same closed door I do.

“You all really love him.”

Cali gives me a small smile. “Yeah, we do.”

Something about how easily she says it gets me.