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Jacee. Please believe in me. I love you.
I do believe in you, and I’m so sorry. I love you, too. Micah?
He didn’t answer, and she paced for a while. Should she go after him? She wouldn’t know where to look, though, besides the Grizzly, and he hadn’t had time to get there yet.
When she saw Nick’s number on the caller ID about a half an hour later, she wasn’t too worried, initially. Micah hadn’t been gone all that long, and she figured the commander was trying to reach his team member for some reason. Micah wouldn’t be able to answer while riding.
“Hello?”
“It’s Nick. I need you to stay calm,” he began.
Immediately, her heart kicked in her chest. “What’s wrong?”
“We’ve got Micah over at Sanctuary. He’s been attacked.”
Shoving the phone in her front pocket, Jacee ran, not waiting to hear the rest. In the wake of her panic, exhaustion fled. Her feet flew as she raced down the corridors, finally coming to the connecting passage between the main building and Sanctuary. Quickly, fingers shaking, she punched in the code, hitting the wrong buttons the first time and cursing; then she let herself in and took off again.
Nick was waiting for her at the lobby level, and one glance at the sorrowful expression on his face sent her heart plummeting to her toes. Rushing up to him, she grabbed his shirt—and realized it was covered in drying blood. Shaking her head, refusing to accept what that meant, she met his gaze.
“I’m sorry,” he began. “I didn’t have time to change clothes yet.”
“How is he?”
“They took him into surgery. We don’t know anything yet.”
“You know more than you’re saying.” Of that, Jacee was certain. He couldn’t hide the anxiety brimming in his eyes.
“Not here. There’s a private waiting room upstairs.”
Her mate’s condition was bad, then. Her legs barely supported her as they started off for the elevator, and Nick gently took her arm. When they reached the right floor, she was hardly aware of anything around her because she was concentrating so hard on making sure her bond with her mate was still solid.
What she found was frightening. The thread was wavering, thin and weak. That, more than anything they could say, told her just how terrible the attack had been and that Micah’s life was literally on the line.
The commander led her into the private waiting room, which, as it turned out, wasn’t all that private. Zan and Selene were there, along with Aric and Rowan. The Healer’s shirt was covered in blood as well, and she fought not to be sick.
As soon as Micah’s sister and brother-in-law spotted her, they walked straight over and enveloped her in a group hug, saying nothing for several long moments. When they let her go, Aric took her arm and guided her to a chair, where he made her sit. He took one side of her, Rowan the other. Aric spoke first.
“We’re not gonna lie to you, Jacee. It’s bad.”
She swallowed hard, fighting back tears. “I can feel how weak our bond is. Tell me who or what did this.”
“That monster who’s after him waited for his chance and took it.” Aric’s jaw clenched with anger. “It attacked while he was out on his motorcycle, caused him to wreck. He didn’t stand a chance.”
Nick lowered himself into a chair across from them. “I don’t understand why he’d take a risk like that, especially after I warned him about my vision, more than once.”
“Vision? What vision?” Jacee gazed at the commander in dread.
“He never told you?” Nick released a heavy sigh. “I foresaw tonight’s attack, but I didn’t know when it would happen. I’ve warned Micah on more than one occasion to look out for it.”
“And he never told me.” She couldn’t wrap her head around that.
“He was probably trying to protect you,” the commander said gently. “And it wasn’t my place to interfere.”
“This is my fault,” she whispered. “We argued, and I drove him away.”
“No, you absolutely did not. He forgot my warning and went to blow off some steam, that’s all. But he either got my messages or remembered just in time to change the original outcome, because he’s still alive.”
