My chest went tight as I struggled to breathe.
I felt cut off from my mate, like he was already dead.
No, that wasn’t true. I could feel him in my heart.
He’s alive. He’s going to survive. He… he… he’ll find us!
Novak wrapped his arms around me as I continued to fight, desperate to return the way we’d come.
He continued to run as I beat against his chest. “Go back!” I begged him. “Please.”
His jaw clenched and I knew he wanted to do exactly that. But he wouldn’t. He was choosing me over the fight.
And a part of me despised him for that.
“Novak,” I whispered. “You have—”
Our bodies slammed into the jagged rock wall as an explosion shook the compound overhead. Novak took the brunt of it with his wings, his body curling protectively around mine.
I gazed up at him through my tears, then around us at the destruction.
And realized with a start that we were too late.
That there… there was no going back now.
Because rocks had fallen into the tunnel behind us, closing off the entryway, making it impossible for any of us to retreat.
No… This… No.
I…
I didn’t know what to feel.
How to speak.
How to think.
I simply stared over Novak’s shoulder as he stood up again, continued down the path.
I felt weak.
Broken.
Alone.
Pain ripped through me, the agony in my chest cutting off any hope of breathing.
Auric…
I clutched at the air.
Clutched at Novak.
Clutched at hope, but dread weighed me down.
Something’s happened.
Something too horrible to be real.
