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“But not fast enough.” Harper’s lips trembled, and she pressed them tight together. He’d never seen his female Prime look frail. Not until right then, as she leaned into her own mate with silent tears dripping down her ashen face. Larkin stood at her other side, rubbing the sphinx’s back, her own eyes red and puffy.
Penelope blew her nose on a tissue. “I can’t lose her, Richie. I can’t lose another child.”
His shoulders tight, Richie rested a comforting hand on her shoulder but didn’t speak. His mate stood at Penelope’s other side, stroking her arm, clearly sensing how close the woman was to breaking.
Penelope fisted her tissue. “There must be someone who can do something.”
“If there is, we never managed to find them,” Devon whispered, as if her voice lacked strength. She buried her face in Tanner’s chest and wept.
“What about Vivian?” Penelope persisted. “Can’t she build more protective shields around Khloé’s organs?”
Wiping her wet cheeks with her fingers, Jolene shook her head. “Vivian said it’s too late for that. The infection has progressed too far. Khloé won’t …” She took in a shaky breath.
Penelope narrowed her eyes at the Prime. “You were supposed to protect her. You said you would. You promised me you would.”
Jolene’s eyes fell shut. “And I failed.”
“No,” Martina cut in, clutching Beck as if he was the only thing keeping her on her feet. “You didn’t fail, Mom. Enoch was just too powerful.”
“Fucking Lazarus demons always are,” Beck gritted out. “Which is why he never should have been allowed to join our lair,” spat Penelope. “He shouldn’t have—”
“I know you’re looking for someone to blame, Penelope, but that’s not going to help. Nothing is going to help.” Richie cleared his throat. “At this point, there’s nothing we can do except be with Khloé during her final moments,” he said, unshed tears in his hoarse voice.
Penelope lifted her chin. “I don’t accept that. No. I refuse to accept it. She’s going to live. She is.”
Meredith touched her hair. “Penelope …” It was a soft entreaty.
A sob wracked Penelope. The strength seemed to leave her legs in an instant, and she dropped to the floor, wailing. Richie and Meredith crouched beside her, just as broken.
Keenan couldn’t bring himself to feel for them. A strange apathy had taken him over. Maybe it had also settled into Teague, because the hellhorse paid them no attention. He was hyper-focused on Khloé, as if staring at her hard enough might just wake her.
Keenan wished that were the case. He took in a long breath, and his chest expanded, but the tightness remained. Resting his forehead on the cool hand he still held between his own, he closed his eyes.
Conversation continued around him, but he tuned it out, concentrating on the weak, unsteady pulse that beat against his thumb. Even as it weakened, there was something comforting about it.
“Keenan?”
He tensed at the sound of Knox’s voice. The Prime had moved closer to him, but Levi stood between them—a good thing, because the thought of punching Knox was far too fucking tempting.
Keenan couldn’t even look at him as he said, “Not now.” Bile burned the back of his throat. “It would be better if you left.” Because the moment his mate’s heart stopped beating, sheer rage would take Keenan over. He’d lash out for sure, and he’d lash out at the one person who could have prevented the second death orb from hitting her if he’d just called on the flames of hell to begin with.
Female arms surrounded Keenan from behind. Harper. Her shoulders were shaking with silent tears. He wondered if she too blamed her mate. Probably not. She was soft beneath the hard shell she presented to the world. She wouldn’t pin the blame on anyone but Enoch.
Keenan didn’t lean into her touch. He didn’t want comfort. He wanted his mate to wake the fuck up and live. But it wasn’t going to happen. Khloé was a fighter through and through, but not even she could power through this.
She was already gone, really. Her heart might beat, and her soul might even still be in there somewhere, but she wasn’t going to wake up. For the first time in a while, he itched to reach for his flask, and he knew he’d do that very thing once she passed.
“Raini, what the hell?” asked Harper, straightening.
Keenan looked up and frowned. Biting her lip, Raini stood in the doorway with Maddox Quentin. Keenan and his demon both tensed. “What the fuck is this?”
“What is he doing here?” demanded Jolene.
“I went to find him,” replied Raini. Keenan hadn’t even realized she’d left his apartment.
Maddox looked at him. “I can help your mate.”
Everything in Keenan went still. “What?”
“I can heal her,” said Maddox. “Save her.”
Hope and skepticism swirled inside Keenan, vying for supremacy. “How?”
Maddox shrugged. “I just can. Do you want me to do it or not?” It was clear the matter was neither here nor there to him.
