Page 119 of Unveil

Bart gives us a wolfish grin. “And a wedding to attend.Mine.”

My stomach lurches. “The fuck are y’all talking ab?—”

The butt of the shotgun cracks against my skull. White-hot pain explodes behind my eyes, shattering my vision, and Luna’s scream pierces through the ringing in my ears.

Then everything goes dark as rough black fabric scratches down my face.

“Stop! Get off him—Ah!”

She’s torn from my lap, and I roar, lunging for her blindly, but something pierces my left shoulder. I stagger at the impact, landing hard on my knees, head reeling.

Luna shrieks a curse, igniting new hatred in me, and I claw the sack off my head. I don’t know where my gun went, so I reach for my crossbow instead, but…

…my left arm…

It won’t. Fucking. Move.

I grit my teeth, trying again, but it hangs uselessly at my side.

Not even a twitch.

Luna struggles across the fire against both Wildes, my jacket ripped away as she fights tooth and claw. She’sright thereand I can do nothing to help her. And her screams… they’re so far away.

What the hell is happening?

My heartbeat thunders in my ears. I reach behind me with my other arm, fighting the numbness. My fingers brush the hilt of something foreign lodged in my deltoid. A dart. Atranquilizerdart.

Fuck.

My mind shouts against the darkness pressing in, nerves sparking and misfiring as my body turns traitor. I twist to wrench the dart free, but I can’t control my grip. Luna shrieks again, followed by a grunt that isn’t hers.

She’s fighting back.

Equal parts relief and terror flood through me.

“Orion!”

“Luna…” I inch forward, searing my palm on hot coals, but I keep moving. “I’m?—”

A boot slams into my ribs, and a sharpcrackdrives me into the mud, gasping through the pain. I draw a ragged breath and reach for her, only to close around something soft, a point at the end.

A feather. It’s one of hers, stained black, bent, and ripped from her bodice.

Protect her. Protect her. Protect her.

It’s the mantra I swore to years ago. It’s all I’ve ever done, all I know. And it’s always worked.

Until now.

“Stop! You’re hurting him! Orion, please get up. You have to?—”

Her voice cuts off on a scream.

“Leave her alone! Take me!” I roar into the night, but my plea is swallowed by the woods and the sudden flapping of wings.

“I’m okay,” she gasps, suddenly at my side. “It’s okay. Stay with me. No—don’t! Please don’t?—”

A final kick slams into my skull.