Page 60 of Claim Me

Safe.

Alive.

But how…?

“Wake up, Miss Doyle,” an accented voice demands. “Now.”

My brow furrows, my instinct to rebel against that stern tone kicking my heart into overdrive.Maybe I don’t want to wake—

“Please, firefly,” a third male murmurs. “I miss those beautiful green irises of yours.”

My defiance melts away, my heart skipping a little at those words.

“Maybe we need something stronger to pull her out of it,” the stern one says.

“Or maybe you need to work on your bedside manner,” that third voice replies. “Seriously, I don’t know how or why you forget all your suave sensibilities when Fallon enters the room, but how about you let me and Bane handle this?”

The stern one grunts.

And the caress of knuckles across my cheek prickles against my senses once more.

All the tension seems to melt from my body, the residual kiss of death dissipating along with it and leaving me feeling more comfortable than I have in a long time.

If this is the afterlife, I’ll take it,I decide.Or maybe this is a dream.

Regardless, I’m going to enjoy it.

Because whatever this is won’t last long. The patriarchs will call me back for my punishment any second now and—

Fallon!Issy screams into my mind, causing my eyes to fly open.

“Issy,” I breathe, sitting upright and nearly colliding with one of the men seated around me.No, not seated. Kneeling.

I shake my head, the semantics not mattering.

Issy?I call to her.What’s happening?

Hide… close… don’t let…Her words are garbled, each one coming out in a screech of sound that makes me wince.

“Fallon?” one of the males asks.

“Shh,” I hush him, needing to focus.What’s going on, Issy?

Taking… over… I… I’m sorry…Her words are a breath in my mind, her agony piercing my spirit.

“The patriarchs,” I say to myself, lost in a cloud of confusion. “What are you doing to Issy?”

I look around the room, searching for answers, my heart racing so loudly that I can hear it thudding in my ears. A perpetual death march. A ticking time bomb.

The sound of a clock counting down…

I blink, startled.

Where am I? What happened to the death plane?

I’m not sure if I’m speaking aloud or in my mind. I’m not sure of anything at all. But I canfeelIssy’s pain, her mental cries bringing tears to my eyes.

“Issy…”