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Air caught in my lungs, my shoulders jerking back.

Her fevered yellow and green eyes peered up at me with anguish.

“Shit,” I hissed when fresh blood trickled from her nose and eyes.

Feeling Tsai there at the entry, I turned to her. “Go get Zid and Scot!” Scot was the closest we had to a medic, while Zid worked more with plants and organic medicines.

Panic had me fumbling for the keys in my pocket, finding the ones that unlocked the cuffs.

“Croygen.” My name barely made it out of her mouth, turning into a pained groan, like her insides were tearing her apart.

Unlatching her, I yanked the cuffs off her wrists, my arms curling underneath her, lifting her body and carrying her to my bed. Her skin burned into mine, yet it shivered at the same time. Lying her gently down, I hoped to see some relief since the goblin metal no longer touching her, but her body didn’t stop shaking.

“Captain?” Both Zid and Scot came into my cabin.

“She’s sick. Help her,” I ordered them, a flurry of panic starting in my gut. She looked awful, as if she would stop breathing at any moment. “I took off the cuffs.”

Scot pushed in next to me. His hands moved over her face, feeling her sticky, hot skin to examine her.

Zid leaned in closer, his head wagging. “This isn’t goblin poisoning.”

“Then what is it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” His lips pinched.

“I have.” Scot’s hands left her. He stood up, glancing at me. “With you.”

“Me?” My forehead wrinkled. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“When I found you in New Guinea.”

Pausing, my mind stumbled back to what he was talking about. It was so long ago and such a hazy period, I barely recalled anything from that time. I had almost died because of my stubbornness. When I had enough of Ryker and Amara shoving their lust in my face, I left, saying fuck you to the pledge I made to the Viking. And then I turned my back on him, trying to get as far as I could, pretending my promise to him was something I could walk away from.

It was when I discovered what happens when an oath is disregarded. Going against it shredded me from the inside out. When Scot found me, I was so out of it I didn’t remember much. But from what he told me, the condition I was in was exactly like this.

My gaze dropped to her, fully taking Kat’s symptoms, seeing all I went through happening to her. The agony and unbelievable torture. “Holy shit.”

The longer it was ignored, the worse it got. How many times did I think I’d turn away from my duty even after that first time? Believing I was stronger. That I could break it. That I could forgo my commitment to Ryker. But, fuck, the magic always seemed to know.

There were two types of obligations.

A life owed or…

Apromise.

And no fae did either unless they were stupid, i.e., me, or there wasnochoice.

“Kat…” I ground out, my throat dropping to my stomach. “What the fuck did you do?”

Chapter 11

Katrina

Voices muttered around me, my sight little more snapshots of blurry faces. My consciousness slipped further and further away, trying to separate itself from my body. Every molecule burned and twitched in pain, pleading to crawl from under my skin.

When I was young, entering fae puberty, I had the equivalent of human growing pains. A combination of restless body syndrome and unbelievable spasms through my muscles. But ten times worse because I was also trying to shift and adjust to a cat form as well as a growing person. The pain was torture since it wouldn’t let up for hours, sometimes days. They were so bad I used to throw up.

This was a thousand times worse.