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The inferno subsided, and the frost finally numbed me. The onslaught didn’t end, only my reaction to it.
I started to drift once more, in and out of a space I wasn’t familiar with. This time it didn’t feel so terrifying or absolute. This time, it felt safe. It wasn’t silent. Quiet voices drifted over me. The sound of Nova snoring. Whispers I couldn’t quite make out. My mate’s breathing. The rhythmic sound of his heart. The intoxicating scent of his skin . . .
I sighed. I had no mate. Markus had rejected me. The bond was broken, and we were truly free from those cruel chains. I was in a dream, or maybe hovering on the brink of death.
Yet I couldn’t help feeling like it was home that wrapped its gentle embrace around me as I began to gravitate toward the darkness and silence. Like maybe there was something more than simple contentment that was keeping me guarded and grounded.
It must have just been a happy home. Warm and inviting. Comforting and safe.
Death brought forth such a beautiful dream.
One I wanted to live in a little longer before I let go.
CHAPTER 28
Elias
One day passed.
Then two.
Three.
Four.
Every hour was misery. The anxiety was death by a thousand cuts, slow and growing worse by the minute.
Vampires that were made usually changed within hours. Sometimes less. Sometimes more. How quickly the venom took was the deciding factor. It either poisoned or healed, but never this.
Dannika’s heart beat frantically. Faster than either shifter or vampire. Her skin heated, turning feverish to the touch. She didn’t sweat. She didn’t speak. She didn’t move.
But she did change. Over the days, I noticed her hair growing faster. Its luster returned to an even shinier state than before. Her pallid complexion turned healthy again, glowing with an effervescence. The gunshot wounds closed shut, but the skin didn’t turn smooth and flawless. It remained jagged, red, and angry, like a healing surgical incision that was merely months old.
My hands clenched into fists at the thought of her pain. I had to put a pin in it for the time being. Mathis would be dealt with after this. War or no war. He’d gone after my queen. He would die for it.
I traced my fingers over the puckered scar for the hundredth time, wishing I could turn back the clock. Wishing I could take back what I’d said and how I’d pushed her away.
I bowed my head, fingers slipping from her stomach. A warm hand grasped mine with lightning speed.
Danni shivered.
I froze. It was the first response to my touch she’d expressed. I nearly buckled and fell to my knees right then.
“Danni,” I murmured, leaning in.
She groaned. Her eyelids fluttered. Fingers tightened. On the other side of her, Nova’s ears twitched. The giant wolf rolled, cracking an eye open to look straight at me. Letting out a yawn, she settled her head on Danni’s thigh.
“You’re my mate.”
Her words were soft, yet scratchy. Her throat was dry from disuse. I searched her form, starting from her toes, checking her body to make sure everything moved, finally looking deep into the icy-blue eyes I’d feared I’d never see again.
Need coiled in my gut. Hunger like I’d only known once.
During her heat.
I swallowed. My hand cupped her jaw, my thumb brushing over her cheek. “I’ve been a shit mate.” My voice came out as a growl. I had to dial it back. Cool the predator. Force the creature that lusted for blood and war over her attack to subside, at least for the moment.
“No,” she said, pushing my hand away. I hid my flinch as she sat up. “You’re my second-chance mate. My real one. Not pretend.”
