His fingers twitched around mine.I swear I’ll keep you safe. I’ll do whatever it takes to keepallof us safe.
I know you will.
You’re giving me permission?
I had no idea what he needed my permission for, but...I nodded and—
Jackknifed in two as something fierceyankedaround my heart.
I struggled to breathe as a sudden, insidious drain chewed at my meagre strength. An involuntary whimper escaped as I felt my energy trickle out of me and into him. It wasn’t exactly painful, but it was deeply violating—as if he fed off my very soul.
Lucien’s shoulders straightened as mine rounded.
Colour returned to his cheeks as he flexed his fingers and balled his hands.
Dizziness came for me as the world tilted. I clung to him for balance, vision greying at the edges. Through the bond, my stolen energy coiled inside him, granting him strength he didn’t have before.
Wrapping his arm around me, he took a step toward the leader on the wall.
The connection between us sharpened as he mentally reached toward the men. I felt him sink invisible talons into the nearest heartbeats again, feeding like a vampire off their lifeforce.
One man scrunched up his face as if he had indigestion. Another clutched his chest and groaned. A third pressed a gloved hand to his forehead, blinking hard as if his world spun, same as mine.
The leader tapped his temple, then shook his head, his gaze locking onto Lucien. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re doing, but it stops. Right now.”
Lucien bared his teeth. A bolt of heat prepared to strike—
But a gunshot rang out.
For a second, I panicked on who he’d targeted this time. Whisper? Dillon? Lucien—
A searing line of fire tore across my left hip.
I cried out as slicing pain cut through flesh and carved over bone.
“Rook!” Dillon bellowed. “Fuck!”
Auntie Mei screamed, and Uncle Wen cursed.
My leg buckled. Hot blood poured down my thigh in ashocking gush, soaking my white nightgown with a river of black.
“Shit!” Lucien’s arm banded tight around me, keeping me upright. Ripping me close, his free hand clamped over my bleeding hip. His fingers shook against my nightgown as blood welled, wet and tarry between them. “Are you okay?Fuck!”
“Jesus Christ, Rook!” Dillon tried to run to us, but the leader snapped his fingers, and two men aimed their rifles at him, stopping him mid-stride. “Fuck you!” Dillon snarled. “Fuck all of you!”
The leader’s voice rang out, calm and ice-cold. “That was your final warning. I was told not to hurt either of you, but you’re just notlistening. Whatever you were doing—whatever little parlour trick you thought you could play is over because if it isn’t...I’ll stop playing nice.”
Lucien kept pressure on my hip, his anger a tangible thing. Lifting his blood-covered fingers, he inspected the wound beneath. A gush of relief came through the bond. “It’s not deep. It’s just a graze—”
“Did you hear me?” The leader took a deep breath as he’d run out of patience. “Look at me and acknowledge just how close I am to slaughtering everyone.”
Lucien growled under his breath making Whisper join in. The energy he’d borrowed from me percolated like a churning cyclone in his belly.
“Look at me!” the leader roared.
Lucien glowered at the man, his hate blaring in my mind and almost drowning out the pain in my hip. “You’re all dead men.”
“I don’t listen to empty promises.” Pulling out a black device from his utility belt, he waggled it. “I was warned you were different. I was also told what to do if you misbehaved. This is your last chance.”
