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"Fuck off," Emlyn snarled, so deep and throaty that I jumped, my clit throbbing inappropriately. "I'm going next."
Wynvail didn't reply. He was probably rolling his eyes.
When Em's legs appeared through the hole, I drew up my magic and threw it out in a net, searching for heartbeats and—there, around the corner. I didn't wait for Em and Wynvail to come through; I took off running, my feet pounding the stone. I knew Harvey's pulse by heart, but it was frantically fast, thrumming with fear.
"Harvey?" I called, pushing faster and skidding around the bend in the corridor. I had to grab the edge of the wall so I didn't faceplant the floor.
"Oh," I breathed when I saw him sitting five feet away, pushed into a corner like Wane always was. His knees were to his chest, his arms gripping them tightly, and his face was tucked out of sight. Even from here, I could see he was shaking all over. No longer screaming, but still terrified.
"Buttercup?" I murmured, approaching slowly, scuffing my shoe on the ground so he knew I was coming. "It's Haley. I'm here, you're safe now."
He didn't react, didn't even flinch. I closed the last few steps as slowly as my panic would let me, and knelt beside him. I reached for the bond first, but it was like frayed threads in my fingers. I'd felt Kai, though, at least in whispers of emotions, so I kept trying.
He was breathing, and shaking, but unresponsive. Shit. My face crumpled, but I bit my bottom lip and held it together.
"I've got you," I murmured, throwing a silent snarl over my shoulder when I heard footsteps. But it was only Emlyn, staring at Harvey with the same heartbreak and horror that ravaged my chest. "I'm here, Harvey."
I spread my wings as I crawled closer, wrapping them around my mate and tipping him into my arms, one hand curved around the back of his head, the other stroking slow, careful touches down his back, his wings.
"It's only me and Em here," I told him, my voice a low murmur. "We're not gonna let anything else happen to you. Whatever Cronus did to you, it's over."
I'd kill the monster before I let him hurt my mate again. I shut out thoughts of what could be happening to Kai. I needed to focus on Harvey; he needed me.
Em approached slowly, a low, murmuring rumble in his throat, the same noise he made to me when memories made me black out. Harvey still didn't stir.
I ran my fingers through his hair, rubbing my thumb over the back of his neck, murmuring that he was safe, Em doing the same with his purring growl.
Oh gods. We’ve lost him. Cronus broke his mind with this twisted, fucked up maze. I’ll never see him smile or smirk again, never hear him laugh or tease me.
But Harvey sucked in a breath and shuddered violently. The second my scent hit his senses, his arms snapped around me and he seized vicious hold of my body.
"I'm here, Em's here, you're safe," I promised him, stroking his hair, tightening my wings around his body. My heart stabbed with pain, and I wanted to ask what happened to him, what Cronusdidto him, but I didn't want to throw him back into that trauma.
"Where's Wane?" he croaked, shaking uncontrollably in my arms. "I want my brother."
I met Emlyn's gaze, more cracks spreading through my heart. My bottom lip caved in. I couldn’t speak.
"He's close," Em murmured, sparing me having to answer. "We're going to get him soon. Promise."
I stiffened when quiet footsteps approached, and someone knelt beside us. I knew it was Wynvail without having to look, and I came so close to baring my teeth in a warning hiss. But I couldn't let go of Harvey, and I didn't want to spook him with the sound.
"Don't act like I've spoken," he whispered, so quietly I almost missed it. My brow furrowed. "I might know where to find Wane, but I can't guarantee he'll be there. I've only been once, but—the people there talk about Cronus's favourite shadow."
Harvey flinched in my arms, lifting his head to stare at Wynvail, all the blood draining from his bronze face until his skin was wan. "His favourite?" he breathed so quietly, his lips barely moving.
Wynvail's throat bobbed. I expected a quippish remark, but he just nodded, so small a movement it was easy to miss. So Cronus wouldn't see it?
"That's what our uncle and father called him," Harvey rasped, letting go of me to scrub his face. "Is … is the titan our…?"
He couldn't voice the fear. I'd worried the same thing, but it was a horrific idea, I shunned it every time it crossed my mind. Knowing everything Cassander and his brother had done to my mates for twenty years was bad enough, buta hundred years?It was unthinkable. Sickening.
Wynvail glanced away. "No. Locke is—dead. Cronus killed him."
"Good," Em and I hissed at the same time. His hands rested on my back and Harvey's, offering us both support. I was surprised he hadn't wrangled us into a messy, frantic hug yet.
"You saw it?" I pressed Wynvail, holding Harvey closer to my chest. "You saw him die?"
His eyes fixed on the floor. "I was there. I was tasked with cleaning up his corpse. He's dead."
