“Take me home!”
The next one is a scream that hits me like a blade to the skull.
Why is it happening again so soon?
I’m going to die here…
No.
Fight it, Roran. Diana needs you.
“How do you know about—” I flinch as he kicks open the emergency escape door. He knows about the hidden emergency door.
What the hell’s happened to this place when I wasn’t here? It’s been less than two weeks.
Right then, the entrance door explodes open, hitting the wall so hard I hear it even over the screaming in my head.
A glow floods the room—so bright it sears my vision, but that’s not even the worst part. The screams swell, sharper, louder, until my eyes water and my ears feel like they’re on fire.
Novax jerks back, startled, his grip slipping from me, but I still can’t see a damn thing.
“You dared to touch what’s mine.”
That growl…
“And I. Do. Not. Share.”
Something shifts. His voice cuts through the screams—no,commandsthem.
They shrink beneath it.
Every step he takes mutes the chaos, until I can see clearly: Malec is standing over Novax.
Novax is on the floor, crawling back in terror.
Malec’s skin—what is happening to him?
Every scar on his body glows in pulsing blue light, like it’s somehow… alive.
Am I hallucinating?
Did Novax drug me instead?
I hear a gun click, and my head snaps toward Novax.
Fuck. Malec isn’t armed. He didn’t carry any weapon with him back here, at least not one I saw.
“Malec! Get out of here!”
I stumble forward instinctively on those damn heels—shielding him with my body, my arms fly wide.
“You needme! Take me and leave him alone!”
What the fuck am I doing?
I’m risking my life for my kidnapper. I inhale.
No. For my sister’s savior.
