Page 44 of Lycan Witch
I close my eyes for a brief moment, trying to tap into the mate bond and access his strength and speed, just as I did in the lake before, but the bond won’t open. “No, no,” I mutter, the hollowness in my chest growing.
My wolf can’t outrun his without that power.
I can’t win.
He launches himself out of the door, his shoe stomping onto my back and shoving me to the ground face first. I squeeze my eyes shut, willing it to not be real. This is a nightmare. It has to be. Gods damn it, why can’t I wake up?
“Still here?” he teases, whispering in my ear. “It’s almost like you want me to hurt you.” He stands, and his foot slams into my ribs. I scream, feeling the bones crack, and curl into the fetal position as I try to shield myself. “Is this what you want, Adara? To be treated as the traitor that you are?”
Get up!my wolf snarls.Fight back, you fool!
My palms heat, but the minute I open my eyes, the flames die under my skin. Gideon’s face swims in my vision, blurred by the tears.
“You’re pathetic,” he spits, bending to reach for me again, but I fling myself to the side, away from him.
My legs shake as I get to my feet, my wolf pacing inside my chest, confused and wary. I won’t win against him in a fight—he could shift and tear me apart in wolf form or beat me senseless in our current form, proven by the throbbing spot at the back of my head and my various broken ribs.
Slowly backing up, I shove my wolf deeper inside me, refusing to allow her to come out when we can’t tap into the bond. The world tilts and spins before me, but I force myself to keep my eyes on Gideon as I move farther back. Dark amusement flashes across his face, a wolf enjoying the chase as he plays with his prey.
He throws his arms wide. “The monster you always thought I was, right?”
Blood coats my tongue as I bite hard into my cheek.
He chuckles. “You thought I loved you.” He takes a slow step forward, and my heart rate quickens, knowing he could reach me in a second, but his words—
“I loveyou,” I whisper, hoping it’ll break him from whatever hell he’s crawled from. “I love you, Gideon, and whatever this is, you have to fight through it!”
“You think this is a spell?” he says, incredulous, before dissolving into another chuckle. “This isn’t a spell. This is me, darling. This is me!”
I brace myself for his body to slam into mine, for his hand to grab my throat or my hair, for another fierce blow to my already broken ribs, but a car flies down the driveway, gravel spraying in every direction as it swerves around Gideon’s truck and spins around.
“Get in the car, girl!” Mila yells, fear and anger warring on her face as she looks behind me at Gideon.
I throw myself at the car, clinging to the door as I hear him snarl behind me. I’m barely in the seat before she hits the gas, and I have to pull hard to slam the door shut, narrowly avoiding Gideon’s truck bed. “F-Frank—” I stammer, turning around in the seat to look at the house fading in the rear windshield.
“Who do you think called me?” she says, pedal pressed to the floor as she flings the car onto the two lane road and peels down the pavement. She takes a quick glance over at me, her lips forming a thin line. “Girl, you shouldn’t even be asking about him. You’re a gods damn mess.” Her eyes dart to the rearview mirror. “For good reason. Gods, by the fates, I swear today is just wickedly bad.”
I try to force myself to relax back against the seat, but my muscles tremble, and as the adrenaline fades, the pain becomes unbearable. I suck my bottom lip into my mouth and bite down, whimpering at the searing pain in my side.
Mila glances over at me, frowning. “I got you. I know exactly where we’re going, okay? Just hold on for a minute longer.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, willing us to move even faster to wherever we’re heading and praying to any god that can hear me that they’ll have something to help this pain. But really, if the gods are listening, they’ll hear the true prayer beneath that—one for the man who broke my ribs as he became the monster of my nightmares, one for this pain in my heart that splinters my soul.
Save him, save him, save him.
Because if they can save him, then maybe they’ll save me too.
Chapter twenty
Gideon
“Adara!” I roar, struggling against the enchanted chains binding my wrists to the cement floor. I fling my body at the glowing ball floating in the space just outside of my reach. “Adara!” My chest heaving, I glare at the witch’s device, sweat trailing down my back. I reach down inside me, trying to pull my wolf to the surface, but I can’t even hear his voice. And for once, I miss the insufferable bastard.
A chasm opens in my chest as I watch the projection within the ball. Frank tries to stop me, but only suffers for it as I grab his throat, holding on to Adara’s hair. Fear is written across her face, and I beg the fates to stop this.
“Adara!” I yell once more, falling to my knees as she’s tackled to the ground, my foot striking her ribs—hard. I know that blow broke her ribs, but she still refuses to fight back. “Do something! Fight back!” I try to tear the chains out of the floor again, but the bolts hold firm, the metal clasps around my wrists biting hard into my skin. Hot blood trickles down my hands, dripping onto the floor off my fingers.
But I can’t rip my eyes off the scene playing out before me. Monique stalks toward Adara in my body, and bile rises up in my throat.