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We snaked through turn after turn until the feeling was too much to bear. He was right here. I could see his face in the darkness behind my eyelids, f
eel his touch on my clammy skin. My heart hurt so much I couldn’t even breathe. Jayce had to hold me up, half-dragging me through the corridors as every molecule in my body trembled and shook.
“Xero!” Kai’s sudden hiss made my eyes fly open.
We were in a long, low-ceilinged corridor. It stank of sweat and blood and waste. Stains glistened in the dim light on the uneven stone walls and floor. Heavy iron bars crossed deep-set arches all along the walls. Cries and moans of the damned echoed hauntingly through the chamber.
I didn’t hear Xero’s voice, but I could feel him. He was close enough to touch; I was sure of it. Breathing hard, I turned, controlled solely by my need. Finally, my gaze fell where Kai’s had landed a moment before.
My blood seemed to freeze in my veins.
The lump shackled to the wall in the cell didn’t look like either human or demon, but like a poorly taxidermized bird. His arms stretched over his head, held in shackles that were bolted to the wall, given the appearance of grotesque wings by the tattered remains of his sleeves. I couldn’t see his face, and his scent was masked in blood and sulfur and despair, but every nerve in my body jumped in recognition.
It was him. I knew it was.
Xero.
I felt zombified and mostly useless, and my body jerked awkwardly as my feet shuffled toward the iron bars.
“Get this door open,” I gasped.
He wasn’t moving. My heart thundered with effort and anxiety as I clung to the bars, my gaze fixed on him, willing him with everything inside me to wake up.
Kai did something to the door, and a moment later, a bright green flash lit up the passage. The door swung open. Then my vampire bond-mate grabbed my limp arm and dragged me into the cell. It was like jumping in a cool pool after nearly dying of thirst in the desert. I just needed to touch Xero to get that life-saving sip.
But I wasn’t even sure where to touch him. He was so broken.
Air whistled through his lips, creaking, labored, and uneven. Purple and green welts, some split and oozing blood, covered his body. Fresh scars crossed his old ones, and he was caught in some terrifying half-form between human and demon. I reached out with trembling hands to touch him.
“Xero.” The whisper stung my cracked lips. I knelt on the floor beside him and pressed a hand to his shoulder.
Fuck. He’s burning up.
Tears spilled from my eyes as I slid my hand to his chin and lifted his head as gently as I could. “Xero?”
A sound from down the hall made me whip my head around in terror. I was already feeling better from the mere proximity of my mate, but Xero was in no condition to walk, let alone run.
We needed just a little bit longer. We needed to heal him enough to give him a fighting chance of getting out of here alive.
I turned my wide eyes up at Jayce, who nodded.
“Don’t worry, we got you. We’ll keep watch. Get him on his feet.” He jerked his head at Kai, who followed him out into the hallway.
Kingston knelt beside me and pulled something from his pocket.
“You have a lockpick?” I gaped accusingly.
“Yeah, why?”
I groaned. We probably set off some alarms blasting that green whatever-the-fuck, and he could have just unlocked the door. Now that I was skin-to-skin with Xero my brain was coming back on, and I could see all of the ways that we had royally fucked up this rescue mission.
“Nothing. Just get him out.”
Kingston went to work. I kissed Xero’s forehead, my lips trembling, my touch gentle.
“Come on, baby. Wake up, we gotta go.”
He mumbled something in his sleep, jerking slightly.
