Jax trailed off into a dark, broken sigh that made me shiver.
“He murdered them,” Gem said suddenly, her voice too loud. Too shrill. Her hands trembled as badly as Elian’s, but still, my vampire-fae didn’t even blink. “Hemutilatedthem.”
“But why?” I asked. “The pills I understand, but thepeople? Elian isn’t a killer. Not like this.”
“Once the pills were gone,” Jax said, “there was only one place to get the Black.”
I choked back a sob, the horror of it almost too much to contemplate.
“Their blood,” I whispered. “He drained them for the drugs in their bloodstream.”
Tears brimmed in my eyes. I knew Elian was struggling—getting worse with each passing night. Weallknew it. But to do something likethis? To slaughter nearly two dozen people—supernatural and human alike—just to get another fix? Just to chase down one more second of that elusive high that never seemed to give him what he truly needed?
My entire body recoiled in disgust, and I wanted to welcome it. The revulsion. Hatred. Some vicious, vile rage that would allow me to turn my back on the man I loved and walk away from his mess for good.
But when I looked at the fae who still held my heart in his blood-soaked hands, all I felt was a devastating heartbreak. An anguish that penetrated my very bones and filled me with a desperate need to help him. To take care of him, because clearly, he couldn’t do it himself.
I took a step toward him, but Jax placed a hand on my shoulder and leaned in close.
“Careful,” he said, a soft warning. “He’s not himself. Not even close. Honestly, I’m not sure he’ll even recognize you at this point, but we have to try. If anyone can get through to him…”
I swallowed the knot in my throat and schooled my features, nodding once. Jax was right. Whatever Elian and I were to each other now didn’t matter. We had history—a deep, intense bond that hadn’t faded no matter how messed up things had gotten. And that history had bled into our present—twisted, but nevertheless real. Nevertheless important.
I just needed to bring him back to it—to whatever bond still connected us.
Ignoring the stench of death and blood, I knelt down alone beside him, brushing his shoulder with tentative fingers. Blood soaked into the knees of my pants, chilling my skin.
Elian didn’t even acknowledge my presence. My touch.
“Elian,” I said softly, forcing a smile. “It’s me. Sparrow. Can you hear me?”
No response.
I lifted a hand to cup his face, my thumb tracing his cheekbone. The gesture felt so intimate, so familiar, it threatened to yank me straight back into the past. My heart slammed against my ribs, aching with every beat as I fought to stay in the present.
“Elian, please look at me,” I whispered. “Please come back to us.”
Haunted, silver eyes finally slid my way, locking on my gaze, then narrowing. In that moment, I felt his rage, his confusion, his shame, all of it mingling into a dangerous brew that had his muscles twitching. A warning growl vibrated in his chest, but before I could think of something to say that might calm him, he lunged for me, knocking me flat on my back and pinning me to the blood-soaked floor.
“Elian, stop!” I shouted, but it was no use. Fangs burst through his gums as he lowered his mouth to my throat and—
Vanished.
2
HALEY
The weight of him, the heat, the rage… all of it was gone in a blink.
I bolted upright to find Hudson—still in his winged warrior form—pinning Elian to the wall behind us, one hand around his throat. Whatever urge had sparked the attack on me, it was gone. Elian’s body was suddenly limp and pale, as if someone had turned on the spigot and drained away his life force.
His head slumped forward, and Hudson finally released the deadly grip, scooping him into his arms and carrying him back to me.
“He needs clean blood,” I said, getting to my feet. Elian’s eyes were closed, his breathing so shallow his chest barely moved.
Hudson met my gaze briefly, his own full of anguish. With a brief nod, he looked down at the broken man fading away in his arms.
“Haley,” Jax said, “he fed more tonight than he’s fed in weeks.”
