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“There’s nothing there,” Kane says.

As he speaks, another wave of pain comes. My back arches, and I fall into the shifter.

“Selene!” Kane wraps his arms around me, a note of panic in his voice. “Tell me what’s wrong.” His voice deepens as his wolf enters it. “Is this a curse?”

Selene!Memnon bellows down our bond.Where are you?

The bond—the bond, of course. The pain isn’t my own; it’s coming from my bond.

Kane’s still talking to me, but I’m no longer listening.

Memnon!I shout.Memnon!What’s happening to him? The pain is unbearable, and I’m only feeling an echo of it.

What’s happening?Memnon demands, echoing my thoughts.Are you all right?

AmIall right? Why would Memnon be asking that if he’s the one hurt?

I suck in a sharp breath when I realize who I’m actually feeling.

“Nero.”

My familiar is being attacked.

CHAPTER 22

I slipdown my connection with my panther and into his mind, right as he’s snarling.

He pounces on someone, the action making his side scream. The metallic tang of blood coats my mouth—hismouth—as he sinks his teeth into their neck, then rips out their throat.

Vaguely, I’m aware that my actual knees have buckled and Kane’s fully holding me up. I’m shocked by the violence, but I did recently give Nero permission to maim and kill anyone who tries to hurt him.

Even as his victim collapses beneath him, others close in. There’s one, two, three, four, five?—

A curse strikes my flank, interrupting my count of the assailants, and I yowl at the blistering pain.

I snap back into my own head with a sharp inhale.

No, no, no.

I scramble out of Kane’s arms.

“Selene, what’s going on?”

“My familiar is being attacked.”

In one fluid movement, I hop over the wood railing, my magic seamlessly assisting me, and I dash toward the trees.

“Selene!” Kane calls after me. “Fuck.”

I hear the door to the cabin open behind me and Kane shouting to his pack mates, but it’s all background static as far as I’m concerned. Even the explosive pain that’s spreading across my torso isn’t enough to deter me.

Terror is eclipsing everything but my need to save Nero.

SELENE, WHAT IS WRONG?Memnon’s voice booms across our bond.

Nero,I sob.Supernaturals have cornered Nero, and they’re hurting him.

On the other end of the cord that links me to the sorcerer, I sense him go very quiet and very cold.