Rhiannon’s POVNova sent for Beth at once. Then she sat back down opposite me, a frown creasing her face, and she apologised.“I can’t let you go. I know the Alpha has vouched for you, but his mind is not his own at present. With the poison in his system, I can’t be sure that his word is fact as I usually would. I am sorry, Rhiannon.”“I understand,” I said reluctantly. I did get it, but it didn’t make it any easier to bear. She went quiet a moment later, and stayed that way for a minute or two. I guessed that she was mindlinking with someone. The seconds dragged by, but eventually she looked up at me, blinked as though she was just coming back to herself, and offered me a tight smile. “I’ve been informed that Beth is waiting for me upstairs. I won’t be long.”Then she grabbed her notes hastily and, clutching them to her chest, she scurried out of the room.I moved into action the second I heard the door at the top of the stairs close. It wasn’t like Nova to make a mistake like leavi
Rhiannon’s POVI woke up slow and groggy, my mouth gummy, my eyelids practically stuck together. I went to scrub at them and found that my hands were tied together behind my back.Huh, I thought, a sliver of amusement curling through my chest, this is becoming something of a habit. The air smelled musty, and from the dim light turning the insides of my eyelids red I figured I was inside somewhere with a window. I couldn’t be outside; I was cold not but sat-out-in-the-snow cold. I knew, from the mate bond, that Stephen was beside me. Thank the goddess for that. I’d found him – but at what cost?At last I managed to peel my eyelids open. Fuck, what I wouldn’t give for some makeup remover. I blinked, feeling crusty mascara crumble onto my cheekbones, and wrinkled my nose. Disturbingly, that wasn’t the worst thing I felt.I pressed my dry tongue to the back of my teeth. It stuck to the roof of my mouth and wouldn’t budge. Worse again was the soft, repetitive pounding in my head, the cras
Hyacinth’s POVI felt like I’d been looking for Stephen for hours. Rhiannon hadn’t sent me another mindlink since her earlier one had cut off, and worry was brewing in my belly because of it. I was terrified for them both. I kept picturing Stephen unconscious on the floor, hurt, bleeding, limp, and it made shards of horror jab deep into me with every new image I conjured up. I was frantic, racing from room to room, my heart pounding out so loudly that I felt like it was screaming and screaming at me to find him, find him, find him...I didn't even have my twin sister to help me. I could always rely on Rhiannon. Without her, I felt as lost as a mouse in a very big house. ‘It’s okay, sweet thing!’ said Dolly. ‘You’ve still got me and I’ve still got you. Come on, we can find Stephen together!’‘You’re right.’ I forced a smile as I darted up another flight of stairs. I’d been everywhere around the medical centre and found nothing. ‘But I’m out of ideas, Dolly. Where should I look?’‘Hmm
Hyacinth’s POV‘Cin, sweetheart?’ murmured Dolly.I hadn’t moved. Alpha Caleb had a hand on the door and was looking at me expectantly.It was so unfair. Now I’d let myself consider it, this great truth that had been lurking over my shoulder this whole time, it had shattered me. I couldn’t dismiss it; it made too much sense for me to do that.But I didn’t have time to let it break me, either. If I wanted to see Stephen, to tell him, maybe, I had to find him – and fast. I straightened my shoulders and nodded at the Alpha. “Let’s go.”The door swung inwards before we could leave. Alpha Caleb staggered backwards, reaching out to grab anything to steady him. All the blood rushed from his face and fear gripped me. He looked like he was a breath away from death.“Alpha?” I murmured.A middle-aged woman swept into the room before he could speak, though he did jerk upwards and attempt to make himself look a bit less like he was on the brink of collapse. It was oddly endearing, seeing our ever
Hyacinth’s POVI ran straight into a Warrior Wolf. He grabbed me by the shoulders to steady me. “Woah there, little Omega,” he said fondly. “Take it easy.”I blushed and ducked my head. “I can’t. I have to find them.”“We’re on the case.” He flexed his bicep and grinned at me, shaking his head slightly to ruffle his shock of blonde hair. This man was a himbo and, usually, I would have been here for it. I vaguely recognised him from training sessions – I was pretty sure this guy was the one who played pranks on his buddies and got told off for not focusing enough. He was all kinds of cute, but he didn’t exactly fill me with confidence.“I want to keep looking,” I said, channelling Rhiannon’s defiant streak and pushing my chest out. He shrugged. “Makes no odds to me, sweet thing.” His gaze drifted down to my boobs. I pulled my chest back in quickly. It wasn’t like he could see anything, what with the hundred layers of knitwear I had on, but still… ew.‘Do you feel dirty?’ Dolly shudde
Stephen’s POVI’d been able to do nothing but wait. I was tied too tightly and was far too woozy from whatever Marcella had given me to be able to help Rhiannon. I’d had to watch as she’d collapsed, as Marcella had re-tied her hands until the bloodied skin there had been rubbed even more raw, as she’d stiffened and told me she’d be back and not to do anything stupid, and as she’d held up another cloth infused with heady herbs to my nose and forced me to breathe it in.I’d never felt so helpless or so useless before. I was stuck.And then Hyacinth had come for me.My heart had screamed out for her, so loudly it had woken me up. I’d come out of my daze and seen her, her eyes brimming with tears, her lips bitten and red. She looked more beautiful to me than she ever had before.It was only my terror for Rhiannon that had kept me from losing my head entirely. All I wanted was to kiss her, the sweetest sort of heaven after an eternity in this hell, but I had a duty to my mate.Rhiannon loo
Caleb’s POVThere was darkness, but it was not empty.I walked through it. The earth formed wherever my feet touched the ground. That was how it all was, here: things came into existence as I passed through them. I couldn’t see the trees growing around me or disappearing behind me, but I was acutely aware that they were there.An owl flew overheard, a lantern dangling from its talons. Its warm, orange glow bobbed above me, but it didn’t light my way. It lit up its own, small circle, which followed it into the distance before it, too, disappeared.“Where am I?” I called out into the darkness. Nobody answered.Driven by instinct, I shifted out. Knight’s huge form split my skin; his soul was quiet, though, leaving me alone as I padded on his paws through the dark. Up ahead, a star flickered into existence. It burned brighter and brighter the closer I got. When I finally reached it, it seemed as small as it always had. Its silver was like molten metal, shimmering softly in a light of its
Rhiannon’s POV“You have all done this so very wrong,” sighed a voice that I at once both knew and did not. “At every given opportunity, you have made the wrong choices. I am only trying to help, but my help is restricted. You are fortunate, Rhiannon. Your sister is the only one making the right choices. Today, her brave and foolish choice benefitted you.”The voice faded away. I tried to work out where I was; sluggishly, I felt my limbs returning to me. I felt cold still, and it was too much effort to move, but I thought I might, just maybe, be alive.I remembered Marcella. I remembered the drug. I remembered lying face-down on the floor, hearing Stephen coughing beside me. I remembered wondering if that cough might be the last noise I ever heard him make.Then there was nothing. And now? Now I was lying somewhere with my eyes closed, my body fucked, and that voice still ringing in my ears. Who was talking to me? I could hear other people, too, but none so clearly as that voice.“Rhi