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A heartbeat later, the sound of shattering glass fills the room.
I grab my wand and struggle to my feet. The room is empty, with broken furniture everywhere.
Jagged shards of glass stick to the edges of the window frame, while more glitters on the porch roof outside my window. Cold wind blasts into the bedroom, making the curtains dance, but an eerie stillness comes from outside.
A wave of dizziness sweeps over me, and I press a hand against the mattress, leaving bloody streaks on the sheet. Slowly, I crumple forward to lie on the bed, my heart pounding, and warmth spreading beneath my cheek. Searing pain burns my throat, and the metallic tang of blood fills the air.
The howls of wolves continue from outside, too slow to help.
“Rowe!” Delilah’s panicked voice sounds muffled in my ears.
I struggle to gather my strength, to rise and see what’s causing her so much distress. She sounds in pain. I need to help her.
Gentle hands grip my shoulders, rolling me onto my back.
The glow that fills the room illuminates Delilah’s terror-filled eyes as she presses her hand against my throat. “Oh, god, Rowe.”
Aching and disoriented, I lift a shaking hand and tap my wand against her auburn hair. “You’re an angel.”
“Ambros! Where is Ambros?” She looks away from me. “Help! We need help!
Another angel enters the room, this one with a fiery halo glowing around his head. “Move! I can help her!”
Delilah hesitates. “You can’t. We should wait for Ambros…”
“He’s not coming. Would you rather she bleed out?” The angel shoves Delilah out of the way to straddle me, and Zane’s face swims into focus. “Rowe, I need to bite you.”
Fear rises, but I push it down and tap my wand against his freckled cheek. “Repair service granted.”
Zane catches my hand, turns my wrist toward his mouth, and sinks his fangs into me. A comforting tingle fills me, and the pain in my throat recedes to a dull throb.
He swallows a mouthful of blood before dropping my hand and claiming my other wrist. I barely register his fangs piercing me. He sucks hard, and the tingles increase, pushing toward pleasure.
Dropping my hand, he leans over me, tilting my head to the side to expose my throat.
“I’m so sorry, but it’s the only way,” he whispers before he bites into the ragged wound Bryant left.
Pain jolts through me, followed by another by a rush of tingles, and the top of my head buzzes. The bright glow flooding the room flickers.
“Oh, god, please.” Delilah takes my hand, desperately squeezing my fingers. “Hang on, Rowe. Just a little longer.”
I blink slowly, my eyes drifting past her to the broken window as the glow fades. A distant crackle of thunder resonates, and clouds roll in from the ocean, obscuring the moon.
Footsteps pound into the room, and panic cracks Tris’s voice. “What’s happening? What’s Zane doing to Rowe?”
I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out.
“He’s bonding her.” Delilah offers me a watery smile. “Without Ros here, it’s the only way to heal the amount of damage done to Rowe.”
“Rowe!” Haut’s voice thunders through the house.
“Fuck,” Tris curses. “If he comes in here now, he’ll kill Zane.”
“Hold him off.” Delilah glances toward the door. “He’s almost done.”
A door slams, followed by shouts and a crash from out in the hall.
The buzzing intensifies, like electric ants running under my skin, before the sensation settles within me, and a new awareness of Zane fills me.
