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Like it had never happened at all.
A moment of doubt flooded through me, making me question everything I knew. What if none of it was real? After all, what was more believable? The idea of me being linked to some prophecy, on a path set out by an ancient shifter god with men who loved me and gave me a true place in the world? Or that I was trapped in a fantasy borne of my mother’s sick power, and nothing I had been through in the last year was real?
In that single moment, standing helplessly lost in the dark, I had never felt more alone.
My knees gave out and I sank to the unforgiving floor. Realising that I was close to passing out, I forced a deep breath into my straining lungs, making Liam’s scent suddenly swirl up around me from the shirt I wore. A ball of emotion rose in my throat as reality came crashing back into focus, relief and determination steeling my resolve and belief that I wasn’t going crazy. Something was very wrong, there was no doubt about that, but everything I knew wasn’t a lie. It was real, it was right in front of me, and I needed to get up and figure out how to fix whatever was happening.
Shoving myself to my feet, I planted a steadying palm back on the wall and pushed my light forwards, searching for any sign of where I needed to go. The rasp of denim and the soft sound of my heels on the stone filled the space as I walked into the tunnel, opting to move on towards the castle rather than back where we had come from.
It was only a few minutes before I came to a sharp corner, a dark mark on the wall in front of me making me frown. Edging forward, I reached out to touch it, the inky smear coming away wet on my fingers. My heart began to pound as I looked down at my hand and my light illuminated not the black I had expected, but a deep, vivid red.
My eyes automatically darted forwards, searching for more of the liquid that I refused to name. A small spot sat on the floor close to my foot, a splatter of drops leading to a larger splash at the outer edge of my light. Nausea and dread swirled in my gut as I stepped forward, following the still-wet trail.
I stopped dead as a shape came into view at the far reach of my light, suddenly unable to move even though the shadows were hiding any detail from me. Shaking uncontrollably now, I clenched my fists and forced my fear aside, refusing to let it rule me now as I started moving again.
I didn’t even think as the shape became a familiar, booted foot and I broke into a run. A keening cry echoed around the space as I fell to my knees beside the motionless body, the grief-stricken sound pouring from my throat as Liam’s wide, unseeing eyes gazed up at the ceiling. Something irrevocable broke inside me as I stared at the gaping wound in his neck, his throat slashed as he lay in a wide pool of blood that was already cold on my skin. There was a blue tinge to his slightly parted lips, and a sob ripped out of me as I leaned forward to press my forehead to his silent chest.
All concept of time fled as I sat beside my mate and let the grief flow over me, my mind void of any rational thought as my heart shattered to pieces. It was only when I finally accepted that the breath I was praying he would take would never happen that a fragment of rationality crept in, and I began to question what was happening. He was my mate, and not only did I know what that meant, I had witnessed first-hand what happened when one of a bonded pair died. It made no sense that I was alive, that I was having to endure this agony, because our bonds meant that when any of us were lost, we would all follow.
I gasped, blinking back into awareness as it hit me. I was still alive, which meant that the bond wouldn’t have dragged Noah and Zeke down either.
Standing, I forced my eyes away from Liam, silently promising to come back to him when I had found the others. On shaky legs, I stumbled forwards, my steps making wet, slapping sounds on the hard ground as his blood dripped from my jeans and boots.
My mind whirled with confusion and pain as I pushed myself on, every heartbeat making me more desperate to find the others but sheer exhaustion refusing to let me move quickly. It took nearly two hundred steps to reach the next break in the passageway, my head whipping around as a noise echoed towards me.
“Out…”
My gut twisted as I heard the rough whisper. It was barely audible, and the resounding echo made it impossible to pinpoint where it originated. Forcing my feet to keep moving, I headed on, coming to a chamber that sat directly beside the path. It was larger than the other resting places we had come across, with a huge altar sat at the back of the space and stone benches circling it, like it was designed for a gathering. Dark, dripping runes covered the walls and the floor, but my gaze took nothing else in as it immediately fixed on the centre of the room, where Zeke and Noah’s battered bodies lay together in a lake of blood.
My stomach surged, forcing me to twist abruptly to the side as I violently vomited across the floor. They were ripped apart, deep slashes exposing guts and organs as well as the white of bone, and all hope left me that any of my mates were still alive.
“Get out!”
The voice was louder this time, though I could still hardly hear it over the ringing in my ears, my vision swimming until I squeezed my eyes shut against the sight before me.
The sensation of fingertips on the back of my neck jolted me out of my stupor, making my spine snap straight as I gasped in shock. Spinning around, my eyes searched the darkness, seeing nothing but stone walls. My pulse stuttered as I realised that the runes covering them were drawn in wet, shining blood. Their blood. Their deaths.
Movement caught my attention at the mouth of the chamber, making me step instinctively back before remembering what lay behind me. Part of me wanted to run to them, to touch them one last time and pointlessly try anything to revive them, but some deeper intuition forced me to face whatever was out there.
Shadows rippled again at the doorway as a low, ominous cackle sounded. A long, agonising scrape of nails over stone followed, making me shudder and struggle to contain a dry heave as my stomach rebelled against the horror.
And then my light disappeared.
A gut-wrenching scream erupted from my lungs as my orb was suddenly extinguished, plunging me into utter, all-consuming blackness. I stayed frozen as the cackle sounded again, louder and closer now as whatever I was facing crept towards me in the darkness, the metallic smell of blood in the room now tainted with pungent, rotting death.
I felt powerless. Utterly helpless and consumed by fear as all sense failed me and I stared blindly into the darkness, crippled by pain and grief and not knowing how to get away. Foul breath ghosted across my face, making me wince as a tear crept down my cheek.
I grunted as razor-sharp claws slammed into my chest, sending pain radiating through me and leaving my ears shattered as the creature screeched its warning in full.
“GET OUT OR DIE!”
The pain in my ears was all too real as I woke up screaming, the sound echoing around the small chamber we were sleeping in and making Noah wince as he tugged me up to sitting.
My pulse pounded in my ears as I struggled to take in my surroundings, beads of sweat running between my breasts and down the back of my neck as my stomach rolled.
“I’m going to be sick,” I wheezed, pushing him away and rushing over to the side of the room.
I heard low murmurs as he followed me and held my hair back from my face, guiding me away from the mess and helping me sit back down as three sets of eyes stared at me in concern. Worry and confusion radiated down all three bonds as I dropped my face into my hands and tried to breathe, the sudden realisation that I could feel them again making me break down into sobs.
