Page 281 of Psycho Gods

“Arabella?” Corvus bellowed desperately as Jax roared, “Sadie? Jinx?” Everyone held their breath as they waited for a response.

It was dead silent.

Nothing.

I wanted to sob. I wanted to scream. I wanted to fall to my knees and plead with the sun god for Aran’s safety. I wanted to curl up into a ball and protect myself from the sheer agony coursing through my soul.

Standing up straighter, I scanned the room.

I would find her, and she would be okay because there was no other option. Somewhere along the way, she’d become the reason I got up in the morning.

Aran was an intoxicating combination of dark humor and sweetness.

Other people were intimidated by her harsh disposition, but I’d always preferred the darkness—I was its prince, after all.

The shimmering void expanded around Luka. With each body I scanned that wasn’t Aran’s, I considered how far I’d go to save her.

There were spine-chilling creatures kept in the underworld, some of which had advanced tracking abilities. Sure, they were class five creatures who would likely commit unspeakable atrocities if they were released. Still, they could help us find her.

I staggered over a man’s mutilated sternum.

His rib cage was intact, but his heart had been ripped out in the battle.

I empathized.

Across the room, Corvus bent down and threw body parts aside as he searched for her like a madman. Scorpius stood perfectly still and listened. Orion carefully climbed through the gore, eyes wide and unblinking as he searched beside us.

Luka and I combed through the faces, his grip painfully tight on my arms.

The shifters fanned out, looking. “Ssssadie?” Cobra hissed brokenly, shadow snakes streaming off his skin like a black tide.

No one responded.

They weren’t here.

I needed to do something. Every second that passed was a second Aran could be dying. I refused to accept a world without her.

It didn’t matter that our soul bond was corrupted.

It didn’t matter that the world was gray.

It didn’t matter that I was empty behind my sternum.

I’d endure all of it a thousand times over if it meant I got to spend my life with Aran under my arm. My back burned with pain as I moved, a reminder of what I was willing to do for her.

Anything.

I would give up everything.

Without her by our sides, Luka and I were nothing. There was no point to any of it. As soon as we’d realized Aran was missing, the disconnect from other people that we’d always felt had returned tenfold.

We didn’t care about others.

We pretended.

But there was no point in pretending anymore if we didn’t have Aran.

There was no point in living.