Page 47

ALARIC

N o.

No.

NO.

“Alaric!!” Elias yells, falling to his knees beside me but his voice is coming from far, far away. There’s a ringing in my ears, like after a chemical explosion.

I can’t move.

I can’t breathe.

I can’t think.

She’s…gone.

The roaring in my ears gets louder, near deafening, the pain in my chest unbearable.

“Alaric,” Elias yells in my ear, somehow loud enough to be heard over the din in my head, the destruction of my entire world raining down around me. “Listen, damn you!” He shakes me hard enough to force me to obey.

My entire body jolts—a nearly silent thump-thump of her heart. There’s still a spark left, a tiny one but…yes, it’s there. There’s still time. I meet Elias’ gaze and he nods.

“You must hurry.”

“Handle things here and at their stronghold. I’m taking her to Ashcliff.”

“Good luck, brother,” he says, clamping me hard on the shoulder. Enid dashes up then and he whirls to catch her, pulling her into his arms as she screams and cries. He mutters something low in her ear and I see her sink into him like he’s the only thing that could possibly keep her afloat just before Dahlia and I disappear. We land in our bedroom and I immediately stagger to the bed and place her gently atop it.

“Alora!” I cry. “Alora! To me! NOW!!”

A moment later the door bursts open and Alora hurries in, shock on her face. “My Lord, we didn’t—oh gods!” she whispers as she takes in Dahlia, still and bloody on the bed. Livia and Vernon file into the room behind her, expressions quickly changing into matching ones of horror. “What’s happened?”

“Fire. Now,” I bark, ignoring the question. I turn back to the bed but hear them scurrying behind me to obey. Triston bursts in, lagging behind the others and quickly starts taking orders from Alora. My heart is racing so fast that the beating is just a constant, faint buzz, the individual beats undiscernible, and my blood feels like cold acid in my veins. I cannot lose her. I will not lose her. I take the briefest of moments to steady myself and then I ease onto the bed beside my mate. My love. My everything.

I shift behind her and pull her back to my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around her. Tears prick my eyes, but I don’t dare think about the possibilities. I tear into my wrist again and force it between her lips. She only needs a few drops of my blood in her system. After enough has trickled down her throat, I brush her hair aside and lean down, my lips brushing her throat.

“Come back to me, Keeva,” I whisper brokenly before sinking my fangs deep into her flesh. She doesn’t react and my heart clenches, but I force every ounce of will and power I can into the venom now pouring from my fangs, demanding that it work its will and transform her into one of my kind. After a few minutes, I pull away and lean back against the headboard, holding her tightly in my arms and, for the first time in a very, very long time, begin to pray.

I know it’s coming, but when her heart thuds with its final beat and then falls silent, that small spark that remained fading into nothing, everything inside of me rebels, every instinct roaring and clawing like a feral beast. I hear the faintest gasp from across the room as Alora realizes what’s happened, quickly whispering to the others to leave immediately. A vampire who’s lost his mate is…unpredictable, to say the least. My mind reels, desperate to rip the heart from my own chest to try to stop this agony, but I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to force the clamor away. I have to hold on.

She will return.

She will survive.

She will come back to me.

And so, I wait.