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These new revelations empowered me, springing me from my bracing stance toward Lysandra’s quivering frame. I wasn’t sure exactly what Elix was doing to wreak such havoc on the house and surroundings, but I had no doubt that this was all her now, and that she was giving everything she had into fighting back against Agnan.
Using the quaking floor as leverage, I threw myself toward the dark fae, smothering him against the ruptured floor. Lysandra’s body batted at me, intense eyes glowing as brightly as the fire burning around us.
“I will kill her!” Agnan screamed through Lysandra.
Gone was any resemblance of the dark-haired fae we had all been on the lookout for. Agnan revealed his true face now, his glittering irises rife with malice and the desire to do exactly what he had just said.
So, it was shapeshifting, not possession. Lysandra’s body was nowhere in sight.
I raised my snout, gnashing my teeth, but as I went it for his jugular, the house began to collapse around us. Blood soaked through my gums, and I raised my head to see a beam crashing down onto my head.
Rolling away from the wall, I fell through the crack on the floor and out into the yard, the walls crumbling inward. Chickens screamed, feathers flying everywhere when I ambled to my feet, my chin jerking one way and then another as I searched for Elix.
Elix! Elix! Elix!I cried, unable to use my voice. I morphed into my fae body, gasping and tripping forward as more creaking and groaning filled my ears. Shingles plopped into the dirt, another plank of wood collapsed.
But there was a stillness that hadn’t existed before, even if my heart was in my throat.
“Elix!” I rasped, my throat crude and dry. “ELIX?”
Another hen shrieked at me, racing away from the building site, and I whirled in a full circle, looking for my mate. Then my furious pulse stopped altogether.
The unmoving form lay adjacent to where the porch had stood minutes earlier. Sprinting forward, I prayed to all the godsthat it wasn’t what I thought, but as I got closer, I couldn’t deny the filthy, tangled-haired figure was a lifeless Elix.
“ELIX!” I choked, dropping to my bare knees. “ELIX, NO!” Gently, I cradled her pale cheeks in my trembling hands, staring at her translucent lips. “Wake up!”
Slowly, I shook her, willing her to breathe, to flutter her eyes, anything. But the eerie stillness prevailed. “Please, Elix. Open your eyes.”
A songbird chirped in a tree overhead, and I wanted to scream at it to shut up.
“Elix, look,” I begged her, my chest so tight, I could barely breathe. “Agnan is gone. He’s really gone this time. We got him, my love. You got him.”
I gathered her in my arms, pulling her limp body to my naked chest, stifling the sobs of agony amassing through my soul as I rocked her.
“You can’t leave me, Elix,” I whispered. “I need you.”
A small twitch almost made me drop her, and I pulled her away from me, eyes raking over her unmoving figure.
“Elix!” I panted. “Elix, are you awake, my love? Look at me!”
I took her hands and raised my fingers to her wrist, feeling for a pulse. Feeling nothing there, I put my forefinger under her nose.
“Oh, gods!” I sputtered, feeling the faintest breath of air. “You’re there! You’re alive!”
Without waiting for a response, I jumped to my feet, gathering her in my arms. I wanted to put her on my back and shift, but in her state, she wouldn’t be able to hold on. I had to carry her, at least until I found a phone and called for help.
“Hang in there, my love,” I murmured. “I’ve got you, you hear me? I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“J-Jace…”
I stopped in my tracks, mouth agape, but Elix’s eyes were still closed.
Am I imagining things?
“Jace?” This time, I saw her lips moving, but her eyes remained closed, her face ghastly pale.
“I’m here, baby,” I whispered. “Don’t talk. I’m going to get you home.”
“A-Agnan…”
