Page 73 of Crave Me

“I don’t know!” Cara’s familiar voice filtered through my thoughts, the panic in those three words forcing my eyes to open. “She was shot. And now she’s not moving.”

Shot?I repeated.Who? Where?

That last question was repeated by Kaspian out loud, whether as a result of me pushing it to his mind or him just knowing what to ask, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t fucking care about the source. I just wanted answers.

Cara listed a street name and started talking about explosions.

“How many others are injured?” Kaspian demanded.

“I don’t know ye—” The line went dead, making Kaspian curse.

“Call Larus,” he said, taking immediate command of the situation. “I want Manx and Langly, too.”

“On it,” Paxton replied, the male’s voice gruff and unexpected.

When did the warlock arrive?He usually stayed in Kaspian’s quarters, serving as his personal assistant.

“Let’s go, Veritas,” Kaspian demanded, his use of my last name making me look at him. “Your mate’s been shot, but not you. So get the fuck up.”

What?I gaped at him, then palmed my chest again, realizing that was what I’d felt.Nyx!

I tried to pull myself upright, but the world spun from the effort, my vision blackening again.Fuck. It felt like I’d been shot, not her.How is this even possible?We’d rejected the bond. I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t feel anything.

And yet…

Kaspian grabbed my arm. “Snap out of it.”

The order had me gritting my teeth.

Not out of annoyance at my second-in-command, but at myself.

He was right.

We needed togo.

I pictured the street Cara had mentioned on the phone and told my legs to start moving.

Except the world shifted around me instead, dark shadows stealing my vision and casting me into a sea of darkness.

Only for the street I’d just envisioned to appear in a blink.

My eyes widened, then immediately watered as a cloud of smoke infiltrated my being. Coughing, I ran out of it and found Cara shouting orders in the middle of the road.

Mercenaries were responding and jumping into fiery buildings, pulling out unconscious bodies.

But there was only one figure that held me captive.

Nyx.

I ran to her, my legs suddenly remembering how to move properly.

“Thank fuck!” Cara shouted upon seeing me, but I blew past her in favor of my unconscious goddess.

“Nyx…”

She wasn’t breathing.

Her skin lacked her usual golden glow, too. It was pale, almost ghostly.