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“I walked out with my brands on display, and he’s practically your brother,” I reminded him. “You don’t need to—ohhh.” A happy sigh escaped me as he set me down on a thick, cushy mattress. “Damn.”
“The room is fireproof, as is the bed. I’ll find you something to eat; you get comfortable.” His lips brushed my forehead, but I wrapped my arms around his neck before he could abandon me.
“Wait. If we’re going to complete the mate bond, I’ll need some kind of plant that interferes with fertility. I’m not ready to have a kid any time soon.”
He nodded. “I’ll teach you how to tap into your magic and find it yourself.”
My eyes widened. “Thank you.”
His lips brushed my forehead. “You are very welcome, Gorgeous.”
My cheeks were warm with the genuine-feeling compliment, but I fell asleep as he slipped back out of the cave.
A few dayspassed by quickly, filled with both terrible dreams and fun, steamy moments with Priel. We played around a bit, and talked a lot, getting pretty damn hot and heavy both physically and emotionally, but never taking the plunge into actual matehood.
Priel always waited until I was going to sleep to slip out of the cave to find food. He did so again on the fourth night, but the moment I closed my eyes, I was pulled into a new dream.
Or, I supposed, a vision.
Mare’s screamcut me to the soul.
My eyes opened, and my arms flew out at my sides as I stumbled. I caught my balance on a wall—one inside the Stronghold.
The door was off its hinges, the massive thing stuck diagonally in the hallway just in front of the doorway. Beyond it, I saw flashes of fae fighting. A massive basilisk and sabertooth seemed to be battling alongside a group of others, holding a wave of men and creatures at bay.
Inside the Stronghold, two thick fae that I recognized held a bleeding, furious Ervo, who was cuffed at the wrists and ankles in some kind of thick, stone restraints.
Another one held Mare, his sharp claws shifted and pressed to the center of her chest. Two more had Sunny and Dots, though both of the other women were draped over their shoulders, unconscious.
Horror clutched my stomach.
They wouldn’t hurt us, right?
That was the whole damn deal. They brought us to Vevol, and they didn’t hurt us. They couldn’t.
Could they?
“Give us the location of the oracle or your chosen female will bleed,” the man with the claws snarled at Ervo.
When I recognized him as Clevv, nausea made me sway and clutch the wall.
I had kissed that man.
He had touched my skin.
And now, he was threatening the closest thing I’d ever had to friends.
My eyes jerked back to the other men.
All of them were other members of Priel’s pack.
They looked almost as horrified by Clevv’s threats as I felt, but said and did nothing to stop him.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
I wasn’t built to witness horrors. I wasn’t strong enough to see terrible things happen, or watch people hurt. That was a huge part of the reason I knew I couldn’t live like my parents did, and—
Clevv slashed his fingers over Mare’s chest, and her next scream made my eyes water.
