She was stiff, too stiff.
When I glanced up, the Devereaux were gone.
The only proof they’d been there was an orange blazer on the tile.
Vinny cradled Violet like an infant, rocking her gently.
“I know I fucked up,” he sobbed. “Please, Violet. Just look at me.”
He pressed his forehead to hers.
“Benji,” he whispered. “Why isn’t she waking up?”
My vision blurred as my head swayed back and forth.
“Don’t tell me no,” he pleaded. “You’re her beta. You’re bonded to her. What’s wrong with her? I can fix it. I’ll doanything.”
His scent flooded the room, thick and desperate, clinging to her damp skin.
But she couldn’t breathe him in if she wasn’t breathing.
“Vinny,” I said, voice breaking. “You have to mark her. Now.”
His head jerked back.
“No,” he said, horrified. “She didn’t give me permission.”
“She can’t,” I choked. “She can’t say anything right now.”
His arms tightened around her.
“I won’t take that from her,” he whispered. “She didn’t want me to mark her. If I do, I’m no better than him.”
“Her bond is rotting,” I said. “If you don’t mark her, shewilldie.”
If she hadn’t already.
He lifted her hand and stared at Logan’s mark. He kissed each of her fingers carefully.
“If I mark her, she’ll hate me,” he whispered. “If I don’t, she dies.”
His fear flooded through our bond.
“I can’t do this again,” Vinny whispered.
Not to me, but to whatever god he didn’t believe in anymore.
“She’s cold,” he choked. “Benji, she’s so fucking cold.”
“I know.”
He pressed his mouth to her temple.
“I won’t survive this twice,” he admitted.
The honesty nearly broke me.
His fingers brushed Logan’s jagged mark one last time.
