Page 96 of Bound in Blood

Then, so quiet it was barely audible over the buzzing around them… a rasp of sound.

Not quite a word, but something close.

He was fully lookingpastLogan now. His eyes were focused. Like he wasn’t even aware that Logan was there. He slowly, jerkily stood from his spot on the boxes, taking a step closer to Logan. No, taking a step closer to thedoor.

The feral swallowed hard, licking his lips, body trembling like a frayed wire about to snap. He took another step forward, and Logan took a step back, suddenly not feeling very brave anymore.

The feral’s lips parted again, the blue flashing for much longer than the black for three flickers in a row. He was sounding something out, it seemed, but his vocal chords weren’t cooperating after years of disuse.

“M…m…m…” The sound was broken and raw, almost like it was being forced out of him against his will.

“Logan, step back,” Marco pleaded. “I don’t like?—”

Just then, the black of the feral’s eyes receded almost entirely. His cerulean blue eyes focused sharply right behind Logan, just over his shoulder. He opened his mouth one more time, and Logan briefly wondered if he was going to call out for one of the twins. Instead, he said?—

“Mein Herz…?*”

Then, from somewhere behind Logan?—

“?????????*,my August,I’m here.”

* I’m sorry, my love…

* ‘My heart’ in German

* Russian pet name meaning ‘sunshine.’ Pronounced ‘SOLnyshkuh’

Chapter

Thirty

LOGAN

Alexei shoved past Logan like he wasn’t even there.

He didn’t look at the blood, or the torn clothes. The matted hair or the dirty fingernails. He said nothing of the smell. No, Alexei only had eyes for the boy beyond the feral.

August.

He’d said the name like a prayer left unanswered for lifetimes, and Logan stood frozen beneath the weight of it.

The feral—August—stood frozen, but his body looked considerably less tense. Instead of tight and coiled like a caged animal, he blinked at Alexei with wide, confused eyes. Like he had no idea where he was or how he got there, only that he wasn’t in danger anymore.

Logan had never once seen Alexei hesitate to do anything. He laughed loudly, spoke what was on his mind, confronted people in the bar that made Logan uncomfortable without a second thought. But now, just a few feet between himself and August, he faltered. Like he was looking at something impossible. His fingers twitched at his sides, like he desperately wanted to reach out, but he wasn’t sure if he was allowed.

August’s jaw worked, his mouth opening and shutting several times. He was trying to say something, Logan figured, but forming the sounds wasn’t easy.

Then, in a voice raw with disuse, something cracked straight down the middle.

“Alexei,”August breathed his name like a sigh of relief. Like slipping into a warm bath after a long, long day.

Alexei exhaled sharply, his entire body folding in on itself as he dropped to his knees, like something inside him had snapped. His hands shook where they hovered in the space between them, like he was reaching out but too afraid to touch. He started babbling in what Logan was pretty sure was a mix of German and Russian interchangeably.

“????????, ? ?????…?*”

“Es tut mir so leid…?*”

“Ich hab’ dich so vermisst…?*”