Page 32 of Tethered Magick
Back, I ordered my primal spirits, each of them creating a cacophony in my head. There was no time for distraction. Every second mattered when it came to the life of my mate.
As if stabbing Lorn wasn’t enough, Mara had severed the mate bonds with black magick imbued within the knife, and then set in motion an elaborate scheme to have Lorn kidnapped and…
No. Fuckno.
“You’re going to turn her?” I could hardly believe the words I’d uttered, but it was the only thing that made sense.
The vampire’s grin turned to a full smile, and he slow clapped as the pieces all fell into place.
“I knew you’d get there eventually. Bravo. Turns out your girlfriend believes the only way to truly destroy your mate bond is to turn your mate into a vampire. If she’s not fully shadow touched, it should break the claim she has on you.”
I seethed.
Mara had done all of this in an effort to get me back.
Not even my own mother had betrayed me as badly.
Fuck!I roared again and rammed the bars as hard as I could, uncaring of the severe pain in my shoulder, the silver induced welts on my skin, or the critical wound that had ripped down my abdomen from the botched teleportation.
I didn’t even care that I was bleeding all over the concrete floor. I’d never let Lorn be taken from me. I’d dive into the middle of a teleportation and be spliced a thousand times if it would keep her safe.
It was worth it to have ended up here with Lorn. If they’d taken her without me…
I swallowed, my throat dry from screaming. We wouldn’t have been able to track her. Without the bond, she would have been lost to me and my pack, especially hidden in vampire territory. Even Axel wouldn’t have been able to find her.
The vamps’ protective wards would have concealed her from us.
Then she would have had to face all of this on her own.
Bile burned at the back of my throat as I realized how much danger Lorn was in even with me here. I couldn’t stop them or protect her from behind bars.
The vampires went back to ignoring me and simultaneously sunk their teeth into Lorn—one at her neck, the other at her wrist.
I lost my shit, snarling and testing the strength of the bars. I put my considerable weight behind my efforts, letting my puma add to my bulk as I tried to break through my cage. The bars bent but didn’t give.
Lorn’s mouth parted, and she moaned from the sex induced venom they injected her with as they drank from her. My beast raked his claws through my heart as I watched the vampires who’d taken her… taken us… steal her pleasure.
“Chayton,” she gasped, and arched into the vamp holding her against his taut frame. Lorn had yet to open her eyes, lost in the sex induced haze, oblivious to the grievous injury that had yet to heal on her stomach or the vampires sucking her dry.
Though the bleeding had slowed, I took no comfort from it. Her lack of blood made dread sink like a rock in my gut.
She wasn’t bleeding because she was running out of blood.
“Lorn!” I called, begging her to hear me. “Lorn, open your eyes.”
“Dason?” she murmured in confusion.
“That’s right. Open your eyes for me. Please, Lorn. Please.”
She keened again as they overwhelmed her with more venom. Her color grew paler than it’d been all night, the fluorescent light giving her a bluer hue.
Ripping his teeth from her neck, the vampire who’d been silent this whole time slashed his wrist with his fangs and held it against Lorn’s lips.
“That’s it,” he purred into her ear. “Drink up, angel.”
Lorn sputtered and choked, and then to my horror, she drank.
“Thirsty,” she murmured against his skin.