Page 56 of Claim Me

Nox and Bane instantly disappear, adopting their ethereal forms. I assume they’re taking a shortcut through the wall, which I can’t do.

I run to my door instead, rush out into the hallway, and sprint to the quarters beside mine.

The phantoms are already corporeal inside, both of them kneeling by the couch, their hands on a now unconscious Fallon.

She’s pale. Ghostly.Dead.

Just like after Klas’s execution.

“What the fuck is going on?” I demand. “Why does this keep happening?”

Bane’s dark eyes hold a note of fear as he looks up at me. “I don’t know. This isn’t like her other episodes.”

“Are we supposed to revive her?” Nox asks, his hands hovering over her as indecision wars in his gaze.

“She’s not…” Bane trails off, his head falling to her chest. “She’s not dead.”

Nox frowns. “But she isn’t breathing.”

“Her heart isn’t beating either,” I add, my vampiric ears missing the sound of her alluring pulse.

“I know.” Bane’s brow is furrowed as he glances at me and then at Nox. “But I can still feel my connection to her. Which means she can’t be dead.”

Nox considers that for a long moment before saying, “I sense her, too.”

My jaw clenches as I realize that I also feel her inside me, her soul tied to mine despite us not finalizing our fated bonds.

Because I haven’t rejected her.

Do I even want to reject her?That’s a question that’s been swirling in my mind since I found myself suddenly bound to her.

A few days ago, I would have said,Yes, I definitely want to reject her.

Yet now, I’m not so sure. Mostly because it feels wrong to utter those words aloud. Which is all part of the soul-mate magic—it makes it hard to reject a fated bond for a reason.

I just never thought this sort of thing would impact me.

I’ve lived a long time without a mate, and I was fine with that.

But Fallon… Fallon’s changing everything.

And now she resembles death.

“What do we do?” Nox asks, taking the question right out of my mouth.

“We wait,” Bane says. “Just like yesterday.”

My teeth grind at that plan. I’ve always been a patient man, but this female tries my patience at every turn. Even in this. “We’ll give her five minutes. Then we’re resurrecting her.”

“I don’t think—”

“She was only out for five minutes yesterday,” I interject, cutting off Bane’s argument. “So we’ll give her five minutes today. Then we’re going to revive her.”

I refuse to discuss alternatives.

My mate is dead.

That’s unacceptable. Not when I haven’t even had a chance to decide how to proceed with this whole bond. Not when I don’t know her secrets. Not when I don’t know the real her.