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With my chin gently between his fingers, he turned my head to inspect the side of my neck that hurt so badly, and I heard him suck in a breath.

“We have to get you to the infirmary immediately,” he said. “You’ve lost so much blood.”

Blood?...

Like an avalanche, the preceding events crashed in on me so violently that I jolted against him and nearly jumped out of his hold. The simulation. The vampire. The mer bitches that had locked me in there.

“No, not the infirmary!” I insisted.

The room around us came into clarity. The walls, floor, and ceiling were once again a glaring white. The simulation was over, though after having survived, I wasn’t so sure now that none of it had been real. Because I was out of it, and the pain in my neck was still very real. The weakness in my limbs was very real. How could a computerized illusion do that?

“What? Why on earth not?”

Anger bubbled up inside of me, mixed with a fair bit of embarrassment.

“Cora, Letti, and Adina were the ones who trapped me in here,” I admitted, glaring down at my lap. “If we go to the infirmary, I’ll have to tell Caesar what happened.”

Tobias stared down at me with confusion, like nothing I was saying made any sense. He shook his head in an almost irritated fashion. “I don’t see the problem. They should be punished for what they did to you.”

“No. I don’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing how badly their little stunt hurt me.” My voice cracked, and I suddenly felt like I was on the verge of falling apart. The impact of what those girls did, what they intended, was only just starting to hit me, and I didn’t want to process it right now.

I took a steadying breath before I continued, garnering my strength. “And I don’t want to be a tattletale either. The mers have enough reasons to hate me as it is. I don’t want them thinking I need Caesar to protect me. If I’m going to get back at them, it will be on my own terms.”

He looked at me for a long moment, different emotions swirling in his amber eyes as he considered my argument. Finally, he let out a rueful breath.

“Okay. I know a harpy who owes me a favor. We’ll get you to him and no one will have to know about what happened tonight.”

Relief washed over me, mixing with a growing tide of gratitude at his rescue. I twisted my fingers into the fabric of his shirt and clung to him.

“Thank you.”For everything.

He gave me a gentle answering squeeze, then pecked the top of my head.

“I’ll send him a text,” he said, shifting our combined weight so he could reach his phone in his back pocket with his free hand.

I listened as he tapped out a text message, savoring the feel of him as so many thoughts and emotions tumbled around in my head.

There was no doubt in my mind that I had almost died in this room. If Tobias hadn’t shown up when he did, I would have. Had Cora and her lemmings meant to get rid of me? Did they actually hate me so much that they wanted me dead?

And Tobias. How? Was it just a happy accident that he found me here? How did he stop the simulation?

I relaxed against his chest, inhaling the dark, smokey scent of him. It didn’t really matter how or why he came to be here, but it did matter that it washimwho came. It couldn’t have been anyone else. And I was so unbelievably grateful to him, I couldn’t even begin to put it into words.

Tobias’s phone made aswoopsound, and he put it back in his pocket.

“He’s on his way. He should be here soon.”

I nodded, nuzzling into him with the gesture.

“How did you find me?” I couldn’t help but ask.

His body stiffened around me, his muscles tensing and heat radiating off of him.

“I was out for a jog when I saw those three bitches snickering about something,” he ground out. “When I confronted them, they told me what they’d done to you, and I came running. I should have known Adina was up to something the way she was buddying up to you.”

Rage and betrayal simmered in my veins, just below the shame and hurt. I had really thought Adina was becoming a true friend. I had fallen for her act, hook, line, and sinker. I was such a fucking fool.

“They actually wanted me to die,” I mourned softly.