With a curse, Sarang closed his eyes and focused, drawing on that well of power within himself. He felt a brush of Shiloh’s life force there, tucked in the way back, stored from the last time he’d siphoned from him, but he ignored it. He wouldn’t feed her his mate’s energy. That belonged to him and him alone.
Instead, he pulled from his own reserves, feeling the room spin and his breath quicken as his body strained as though running a marathon. Between the two of them, healing her was possible, and though it was strenuous, the act didn’t take too long to accomplish.
As soon as he felt her qi stabilize, he let go and stumbled back, landing hard on his rear. He heard Tull call out his name, but merely shook his head, regretting it a second later when that had his vision winking in and out dangerously. Pressing a hand against his chest, he internally felt for the life-bond, worried that he actually had damaged it, or worse.
The only other person he’d ever brought back from the brink of death had been Shiloh, and if this little ploy had cost him that connection, he’d tear Bishop limb from limb, friendship with the prince be damned.
With most of his energy drained, it took longer than it should have to locate, and he was still in the process, still reaching within him, hunting for the spark, the thread tethering them together, when the doors burst open.
Three of the soldiers he’d brought along with him rushed into the room, frenzied looks on their face.
“Sir,” the one standing in the center, Yen, spoke hurriedly, barely even sparing a glance at the blood all over the table. “It’s the prince. He’s missing.”
“What?!” Bishop shoved Tull out of the way and stormed toward the soldiers.
“What are you talking about?” Sarang followed suit, abandoning the healed woman. “How can he be missing?! How did someone break into the club?!”
“No one broke in, sir.” Yen pulled up security footage on his multi-slate, setting the device to project the holographic images.
They all watched as one of the bodyguards, Valentine, used Sarang’s private door code to enter his suite. There were no cameras set inside, but a couple of minutes later, he exited with Shiloh in tow. The two of them walked toward the elevator, and the video cut to the parking lot, where Shiloh followed the guard and got into a black vehicle.
There was no struggle. The whole time, the guard was walking in front of the omega, so it wasn’t like he’d held a hidden weapon on him either.
“Where is he?” he growled and spun on Bishop, grabbing the beta by the collar and hauling him up.
“I don’t know,” Bishop said. “Valentine isn’t one of ours. He isn’t in the prince’s pocket.”
“Then why did Shiloh go with him?!”
“I don’t know,” he repeated, then turned to Yen. “When did this happen?”
“I came up as soon as I was sent the footage and realized what it was,” the soldier explained. “The security team noticed too late. He was flagged by the cameras at the back exit less than ten minutes ago.”
“Plenty of time for him to have contacted me.” Bishop shoved Sarang away and checked his device. “Nothing. If this was part of his plan, he would have called me.”
“What if he’s waiting to get somewhere secure?” Tull suggested, only for both Sarang and the beta to glare his way.
“Things have been good,” Sarang insisted. “Shiloh wouldn’t leave me.”
“On that we agree.” Bishop paled suddenly. “Shit.”
“What?”
“The life-bond.” He stumbled back as though shocked, leaning against the edge of the table. “What have I done?”
It wasn’t hard to figure out what he’d just realized.
Sarang could locate Shiloh anywhere in the city with the life-bond.
And the beta might have just forced him to destroy it.
Before Sarang could dwell too much on that terrifying possibility, shouts rang out, echoing down the hall and into the room.
Tull got a message on his multi-slate and swore all over again. “We’re being attacked!”
Chapter 28:
Shiloh played with the bag of marbles in the back seat of the hovercar, excitement brewing. It felt strange wearing clothes again after so long without, but the black silk and faux leather pants fit perfectly and were soft against his skin.
