Page 69 of Shifter Situations

It didn’t listen.

I dozed off, clutching my stomach as the crippling cramps from not eating hit me again.

Pain was all I felt, even in my dreams.

Red lips stretched into a grin, her giggle echoing around me.

“I cannot believe that you lost.”

I released a frustrated breath. “I can’t either. I was sure I was going to win that round.”

“You know what that means, right?”

“I do, but it's four in the morning, Sweetheart. Where are you going to find an open tattoo parlor at this time?”

“I’ll call around. I have the best idea, and you are not talking yourself out of this one.”

I snatched her to me before she could walk away. “How about we try in a couple of hours? I think I can keep you busy until then.”

She hummed in agreement, her vivid red nails dragging across my bare chest as her voice faded away from me. The memory was replaced with black smoke, a flickering flame in the background.

“Make the call, Druid,” she taunted me. “I’m always ready for you.”

The dreams weren’t ever the same, but the endings were.

I was awoken by a different type of torture.

Scorching heat against my chest had my eyes flying open, wishing they would end this suffering already. Kelvin leaned into my line of vision, his face blurry as I focused on anything except his eyes.

“Screaming for us today, Druid? We certainly would be a lucky bunch if you did. When will you show us your girlfriend’s face? Or was that your mate? I can never tell. You’re so vague when you think of her.”

I’d rather die on this table than let him see what she looked like. As badly as I longed to hold her one more time, I had mixed emotions about her finding me.

I hoped that she didn’t. I was too weak to fight them with her.

I hoped that she did. I wasn’t ready to die without making amends for the mistakes I’d made.

As they drained my power, I did my best to keep the bond closed between us without thinking about my actions. The one thing that fueled my need for silence was the mind-reading vampire-mage.

After they got what they wanted, two bear shifters dropped me onto the floor of my cell, kicking me in the gut before slamming the barred door.

I crawled across the floor, digging out a fragment of one of the stones, and I marked the wall.

Eight hundred and forty-six.

When I knew that everyone was gone other than the guard, I called quietly to him. “Levi?”

He padded over, his clunky boots making no noise as he stopped at my cell door.

“I need you to do me a favor, one I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay.”

“Name it. I’ll do everything I can to make it happen.”

I pulled myself up to rest my back against the damp wall, letting the dripping water fall onto my shoulder and down the burn mark on my chest.

“I have a mate, and when Kelvin kills me, I need you to find her.” I blew out a long breath before continuing.

“Davidson County, Tennessee. Reignwood Drive. Don’t go inside the gate, Levi. Wait for her to come out, then tell her I’m so fucking sorry and I love her.”