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Saoirse touched it first.
“Bhrunyz. To me.”
The air shimmered and then all nine feet of black mass and horns was standing in front of me. He growled, showing his teeth. I couldn’t breathe.
Shit.
Shit.
No.
My blood turned to ice, and my hands shook. His scent filled the room. I nearly threw up.
He swung his arm at me, and I was suddenly Bhrunyz’s rag doll.
My whole body slammed into the floor. I screamed.
Bhrunyz grabbed me, and I scratched at him. Hit him. I wasn’t dying without a fight. I wouldn’t give up.
I tried to shake myself free as bright dots filled my vision. “No!”
I crashed into the stone again. I heard a crack and pain rocketed through my body. Before I had time to breathe, I was airborne and falling to the floor, too disoriented to even try to spot the floor. A split-second later I hit something rough and sharp.
The world went black.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Everything hurt. I tried to reach Donovan along our bond, but it was like grasping at air. Bhrunyz had taken me to some deep, dark pit and I couldn’t reach my mate. I was stuck without a way to call for help.
The cave smelled like dirt and mold and death.
I was in Bhrunyz’s lair. Lucas said Bhrunyz tortures his victims until fear floods their blood, and then he kills them. That was my fate. And it was probably too much to hope that I’d find some way out of here.
I had to believe that if I stayed alive long enough for Donovan to figure out what just happened, then I’d be okay. He must’ve felt me pull his power before our bond cut off. He’d order the pack to hand over the brooch. I just had to hang on.
I got up on my hands and knees, but one of my arms wasn’t working right. I glanced down and my stomach rolled. There was a curve in my arm just below the elbow. It’d broken and healed that way. Which meant I’d been unconscious for an hour or more.
My heart picked up as I started panicking. Why hadn’t Donovan gotten the brooch yet? That was more than enough time…
I’d been through worse though. I wasn’t sure when, but I’d been cursed and almost died. And I’d already survived Bhrunyz once. Panicking wouldn’t be useful. Using my head—that was helpful.
I took a few even breaths as I tried to get control.
I stood up, and the cave walls swam in my vision. I must’ve hit my head really hard if it wasn’t healed by now. I swallowed down nausea.
Bhrunyz hadn’t killed me yet, which was a good sign. He wanted to play with me first, but that meant that I could buy some time for Donovan to take Saoirse down.
I had to think if I was going to survive. Bhrunyz was probably going to know I was awake soon if he didn’t already. Shifting would make me safer, but with a broken arm, it wasn’t a great idea. I could run on two feet just fine, but on only three paws, I’d be slower.
In human form, I had a lot more vulnerabilities, but my human eyes had already adjusted so I could see in the dark. The cave was taller than expected, but if I stood on my tiptoes, I could touch the ceiling in some spots. There might be a place where Bhrunyz couldn’t reach me. He was pretty big, and I could make myself small. It was a long shot, but I was grasping at hope wherever I could find it.
The cavern had three smaller tunnels branching off the main chamber. All I could see at the end of each tunnel was darkness. The floor was mostly dirt with rocks, some the size of my fist and others three feet wide. I could smell death and decay, but I wasn’t sure if it was just Bhrunyz’s scent that permeated every inch of this place or there was a stash of decaying bodies somewhere in this hellhole.
There was a mildewy smell, too, but I didn’t see any water. There weren’t any stalactites or stalagmites, which made me think that despite the smell, there might not be any water. Which was bad. I could go a while without food, but not without water.
A scratching noise brought me back to reality. Claws on dirt and rocks. If he was making as much noise as possible to scare me, then it was working.
I’d faced Bhrunyz once before, and I hadn’t wanted to again. I’d barely survived the first time. My only choice was to run. Even if there was no way out.
