“Ronan is missing, and I bet that beast has something to do with it.” Dean glowers in my direction.
I snarl. Ronan’s name is a trigger for me, and in my wolf form, it’s harder to control my anger.
“What do you mean, he’s missing? When did that happen?” Lucca asks.
“When we were on our way back to the castle. We were tracking a group of humans, but their tracks and scents disappeared,” James replies.
Lucca tenses. The humans who attacked us caught us completely by surprise. We noticed their approach only once they were already upon us. The two incidents can’t be a coincidence.
“Karl is not responsible for Ronan’s disappearance. He was with me when we were ambushed by hunters. I bet they were the same humans you were tracking.”
James’s forehead crinkles. “And where are those humans now?”
Shit. Lucca wasn’t conscious when the Nightingale female appeared and got rid of those hunters for us. And I can’t answer the question in my wolf form, not that James and Dean would believe me anyway. If it weren’t for my healed wound, I could have easily attributed her appearance to a hallucination.
A sharp pain in my chest brings me down.Cheryl. I whimper, knowing in my heart I’m too late. She’s gone.
“What’s wrong with him?” Dean asks.
I wasted too much time chasing Manu and then dealing with these asshole vampires. Now my sister, my only friend in the world, is dead.
“I don’t know.” Lucca turns to me. “Karl?”
“He can’t communicate in his wolf form, can he?” Dean speaks again.
His idiotic questions are aggravating, but I don’t have it in me to bite his head off. I look at the starry sky and howl.
“What is he doing? Is he calling his sister to his aid?” James asks.
“He’s howling for his sister, but she can’t answer his call. Not anymore.”
MANU
I’m pacing in my room when I hear him. I rush to the window and open the shutters even though the night is so cold, the wind hurts my exposed skin. He howls again, and the sorrow in that sound robs me of air. Karl is in terrible pain, and I can feel it as if it were my own.
I turn and grab my cloak. I can’t stay here, confined in this self-imposed prison when my mate, my love, is suffering that much. I forget why I can’t go to him. My boots rasp loudly against the stone floor, but I’m not worried about being stealthy. I dare whoever tries to stop me from going to my mate’s aid.
In my arrogance, I don’t count on crossing paths with the only male who can prevent me from going after Karl. My uncle.
He manifests in the hallway, blocking the way. He’s the only vampire I know who can smoke in and out of places.
“Manu, you can’t go after him.”
“I have to. He needs me.” Tears are already streaming freely down my cheeks. I don’t know if the sorrow is mine or Karl’s. It doesn’t matter. We are one even if we’re apart.
“Have you forgotten what will happen if you get near him?”
My lips quiver. “How can I forget when I’ve been living in pure agony since that bitch cursed me?”
“Then what madness is this? If you go to him when he’s suffering so, youwillbreak. You’ll succumb to the call of the mating bond. You won’t survive if he dies because of you.”
He’s right. I’ll shatter into a million pieces. A loud sob goes up my throat. “What kind of existence is this? Maybe it’s better if both Karl and I die. Then we can be together.”
Uncle Raphael steps into my space and holds my arms. “Don’t say that. Don’teversay that. I can’t lose you, Manu. You and Lucca are all I have left.” He pulls me into a fierce hug. “You’re all I have left,” he repeats in a tight voice.
In all my life, I’ve never heard my uncle sound so broken. I knew he suffered when Mom died, but he kept his emotions in check because he’s the king. He can’t show weakness. Now, he’s cracking. I lean into his hug, pressing my wet cheek against his chest, and cry in earnest. He doesn’t say anything else, but his body is shaking. I think he’s crying too.
Fourteen
