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He was too late, and I never wanted him to see what they’d done to me. He drew me close, but his arms were like barbs, promises I’d dreamed of, and could no longer have.
The fissure became a chasm, and the last of my sanity drained away.
SEVENTEEN
RANSOM
There was a harrowing irony to the fact that I woke as she vanished.
From the bond she’d left on my neck.
From reality.
When she saw me, her eyes went wide, and a shadow of fear crossed her face.
Fear at… at me?
A low, wounded sound rose in her chest. I tried to reach for her, but she recoiled.
She fought me, distressed sounds rising in her chest as she tried to get away. I let go, heart beating a mile a minute, but the moment I did, she staggered, turning and trying to run.
“Shatter!” Dusk caught her arm, but at the touch she spun on him, eyes wild and empty as she lashed out.
Again, I saw what was written in black lines upon her skin. The word‘Stalker’was written across her forehead.
A prank?
I couldn’t understand. She was terrified. An angel worth the whole world twice over—and someone had tormented her?
The alphas back there… I didn’t know who they were, but I hadn’t done enough. I would go back?—
“Enough!”Dusk’s aura split the air, his word weighted with command. It was for her, not me, and it had her frozen still.
I took a step forward, but Shatter flinched from me and Umbra grabbed my arm.
When had he got back?
“Look at me,” Dusk growled at her.
Her gaze darted around wildly, anywhere but him, until his fingers closed around her chin and he dragged her to face him. “We had a deal, Gem. Rule number one.”
Her expression crumpled, her breaths becoming sharper, but her eyes locked on him.
I frowned, but Umbra’s grip became firmer as I tried to take another step forward. Something flickered in her eyes at Dusk’s words, finally, something human surfacing in our connection.
Dusk didn’t take his eyes from her. “You aren’t going to run from me.”
She was shaking still, face ghost-like in the moonlight.
“Do you understand?” he asked. His yellow eyes were piercing in the night.
Finally, she made the slightest motion of a nod, and when Dusk let her go, she didn’t move.
I stepped toward her again, but she recoiled, this time her fist closing around Dusk’s sleeve as she cowered behind him.
I shoved down the aching wound at seeing terror in her beautiful eyes at the sight of me.
She was my angel. One that scattered the darkest of voids. She didn’t need to be scared of me. Not ever.
