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No. He didn’t register saying the word out loud but the male cocked his head in a knowing way.

Rion clenched his fists and his nails bit through his flesh. “You touched her?”

He kissed his fingers in a dramatic fashion. “And truly divine she was.”

White hot rage blasted through Rion’s body. His earth ripped through the solid marble floor, sending large chunks of it flying in all directions. They slammed into the walls, knocking large holes through the wood and plaster before thudding against the ground. The floor splintered and cracked, moving in a wave that mirrored his fury.

The male blanched and had enough sense to step back.

“Where is she?” Rion’s voice was low. His anger visible through the billowing cloud rising behind and around him. He would annihilate this male, rip the skin from his flesh until he had answers. Rion would repeat every atrocious act he’d ever committed to every single soul in this manor if that’s what it took to get her back.

The male stepped back again. “I don’t—”

Rion’s magic snapped forward like an adder and wrapped around the male’s left arm. In one motion, it wrenched his forearm back at a ninety degree angle, snapping the bone clean in half.

The male howled in pain, but Rion closed the distance and gripped the male’s throat next. Rion stared into his dark eyes, feeling an old sort of anger course through his body that exhilarated the darkest parts of him.

He’d get Arianna back or they would discover exactly what kind of monster he could be.

“I will ask you one more time.” Tears were streaming down the male’s face now. Rion glanced at the arm he’d broken. The bone jutted from the middle of the forearm at a nasty angle and blood dripped onto the destroyed floor. “Where is she?”

The male whimpered and reached up to grasp his wrist with his uninjured arm. “Please—” Rion growled, shook the arm off, then sank his fangs into the male’s throat.

He’d tear him apart right here, make an example out of him. He’d—blood filled Rion’s mouth and he violently recoiled as if something hard had slammed into his body. No, not something.

Rion blinked, trying to clear his vision. Everything shimmered and spun and he studied the figure slumped against the broken floor as if seeing her for the first time.

Tear-filled cerulean eyes stared back. He fell back a step, registering her pain and anguish and betrayal. So much betrayal.

The bond frayed. What once had been a solid rope spun apart until it was nothing more than a bunch of single threads.

Then those threads broke, snapping so hard Rion gripped his chest to hold everything in place. Another snapped. Again and again and again as if they were being pulled apart by the pressure of emotions flying between himself and Arianna.

It sent him reeling.

His lips couldn’t form words. His body couldn’t move. He just stood there frozen, watching, trying to convince himself this moment wasn’t real.

Arianna wasn’t kneeling in a puddle of her own blood. She wasn’t gripping the side of her neck where his fangs had just been. Her body wasn’t trembling with fear and pain. Her arm wasn’t—gods. Her arm.

Her blood filled his mouth and coated his teeth. Bile rose in Rion’s throat and his stomach clenched so hard, he was sure it would empty its contents right there.

Another thread snapped, leaving the remaining few pulled so taunt, Rion was certain they’d break in the next few seconds.

Then a roar filled the room. A male rushed from a side door with long brown hair. His magic ripped from the air and slammed into Rion’s body, shoving him back.

Rion couldn’t catch himself. He did absolutely nothing as his body was thrown across the space, putting ten feet between him and his mate.

But Talon didn’t run to him first. He ran to Arianna’s side, knelt to examine her injuries before rounding on him again. Those eyes were familiar. Those were the eyes Talon had given him on the battlefield, except the anger ran deeper now.

Rion didn’t known why Talon hadn’t killed him already. He didn’t know why the male wasn’t moving from beside Arianna. Didn’t know, because Rion still hadn’t looked away from his mate.

He couldn’t. He was frozen, trapped in a capsule of his own perfect hell.

She had been afraid before, but this—this was different. A bottomless cavern and ingrained in a way he’d never be able to fix.

Rion had just attacked his mate. She was the one person who might have stood by his side until the end of time. The only one who’d ever helped him. Healed him. Made him feel worthy.

Now. Now there was nothing.