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Ordus

Pain lances the bottom half of my body—a sharp, skin-deep, biting pain.

The shrill ringing in my ear makes it hard to make out the muted words vibrating through the current.

My head is filled with the thick clouds not even the sun can penetrate.

I groan, waving my limp arm to address the source of the hurt.

What could be seconds, or minutes, or hours drag on.

The clouds thicken and disperse, ebbing and flowing like the faint tickle of bubbles skating around my legs.

Legs?

My brows knit together.

Why do I have two legs?

I summon every ounce of energy I can to peel my eyelids open.

My vision refuses to adjust to the darkness.

The only thing I can make out is the outline of a shark with brightly tipped ears.

Vasz? What’s he doing here?

I crane my neck behind me.

Where’s Cindi?

She was beside me on the beach.

We were talking about the bag with the shiny gold emblem on it that she can store her treasures in.

I had to breathe through my mouth because the smells were getting too overwhelming, and Cindi’s bitter scent of fear was making my instincts narrow to tunnel vision.

Then, suddenly, it went cold.

I was thrust into a void with no end in sight.

She was right there .

Panic surges through my blood stream.

Where is my mate?

Power trickles back into my limbs with the rush of adrenaline.

I need to get to her.

I promised I’d protect her, that nothing would ever do her harm.

I cannot fail her.

I cannot lose her.

“Cindi,” I croak.

Piercing pain rips through my leg as Vasz dislodges his teeth from my skin.

Vasz shoves himself right up to my face, barking and growling, giving me a piece of his mind without saying a single word.

He doesn’t need to say anything.

He has the same question I do.

Where is our human?

I pull him forward by his arm, fighting the haze of black mist blanketing my vision.

“Find her,” I whisper as I grab his fin. “Find my mate.”