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“Ellie,” Arianna chided. “What is going on—” She looked between them again and her mouth fell open. Gavin’s eyes tracked Ellie’s every move as if he drank her in, even after the aggressive pass. He watched the rise and fall of Ellie’s chest and something like hurt flashed across his face when she turned away.

“You love her,” Arianna said. Her sister cursed and rose from her seat.

“Where are you going?” Talon demanded.

“For a walk.”

“We don’t have time for that right now. He’s infatuated with you, so what? We have more pressing matters to tend to.”

Ellie whirled, a retort on her tongue, but her gaze drifted toward Arianna and she swallowed it back. Her little sister stared at the rug, took a long breath, and exhaled it from between clenched teeth. “Fine.”

Fine must have meant she’d stay, because she didn’t reach for the door again. Gavin just studied his hands.

Suddenly a snap echoed through the inside of Arianna’s chest so violently that it sent her to her knees. Arianna clutched her chest, fighting for breath, but she couldn’t rise to her feet. Tears sprang to her eyes and another snap reverberated through her torso, slamming through her as though she were being physically assaulted.

Hands were on her back then and whispers sounded in her ear. Her stomach churned and Arianna vomited all over the rug before clutching her chest once more. Someone pulled her hair back. Another picked her up and moved her across the room.

Wave after wave of desperation and pain flew down the bond. She tried to catch her breath, but she couldn’t move, could barely think.

She was breaking. The bond was breaking and she was breaking with it. Any minute now and the last thread would snap. She’d be separated from him, left with nothing but a cold place in her chest where Rion used to be.

She wouldn’t survive. Not this time.

The emotions flooding through her were intense, earth-shattering, and desperately savage.

They were . . . Rion. These emotions were from Rion. She had thought their bond was too far gone to be able to sense him like this. Now she felt everything. Every. Single. Thing. The ache of hunger in his stomach. The burning need for water that clawed at his throat. The blinding pain that wracked his body.

But the bond. It was the worst. Like someone had taken a white hot poker from the fire and skewered her alive. She was being turned over a fire, over and over again, the bond itself the cause of the flames.

Arianna tried to touch it and jolted back as if she’d been burned.

Only one. There was only one left. Then darkness claimed her.

***

Arianna woke with Ellie leaning over her, pressing a cool rag to her face. Talon stood close, his arms crossed as he leaned against the arm of the sofa she rested on.

Ellie noticed her first. “Drink this,” her sister said, but Arianna pushed it away, fearing it might be something to ease her pain. She couldn’t afford to sleep now. “It’s just water,” Ellie promised.

Arianna took a tentative sip, then another set of hands were guiding her into a seated position. Talon perched at her side, a vision of worry.

Her chest was raw and aching. “The bond,” she said and tears brimmed to the surface. Rion had gone silent down their single strand. She couldn’t sense his earlier anguish or pain. She couldn’t sense anything.

Ellie exchanged a worried glance with Talon. “Tell us.”

“It’s almost gone.” Her voice cracked. “We have to find him.” She tried to rise, but Talon pushed her back down.

“We will. Gavin told us where to look, but—”

Arianna looked up at the sudden shift in her friend. “But what?”

“We have to proceed carefully.”

Arianna finally focused on the male seated across from them. He appeared uncomfortable and refused to meet her stare.

Talon continued. “He has Fae in captivity beneath this manor that have been there for years.”

“Why?” her voice rasped.