Chapter 11

I’m running out the door before Kai can stop me. Using Bronson’s eyes for guidance, I maneuver the twisting halls of the Labyrinth until I reach the cellblock my men claimed for themselves.

My heart races faster than a herd of wild horses as I pause in the doorway, my hands coming to my mouth in shock. Bile rushes up my throat as I begin to slide forward, only for Bronson’s arms to wrap around my waist, holding me steady.

“Oh god.”

The entire cellblock is nothing more than tiny shards of gray cement, debris, and residual ash. Even now, flames lick at the walls located near the very end of the hall, closest to where my room was. Damien stands with the twins near the doorway, all of their faces grave.

“Rion?” I whimper, and three heads snap in my direction. “Where…? How…?” Panic rises to the surface, and I feel adrift, as if I’m thousands and thousands of miles away from the shoreline and steadily sinking beneath the unrelenting ocean waves. I claw helplessly at my throat, as if that will somehow stop the onslaught of emotions from consuming me. Drowning me. Killing me.

Rion said he was going to be here. To wait for me.

Here.

Where debris and soot cover the crumbly walkway.

Here.

Where flames devour the walls and ceiling.

Here.

Where my bedroom is nothing but charred furniture and peeling, brown wallpaper.

“Nina, listen to me.” Bronson twists me in his arms and cups my face with his rough hands. His thumbs stroke leisurely patterns onto my sensitive skin as he presses his forehead against my own.

I immediately pull out of his head, embracing the darkness, as he tries to soothe me, tries to talk me off the ledge.

“Feel in your heart, my beloved. You know that Rion is alive and well. You can feel it.”

I sob uncontrollably, gripping his wrists as if I mean to pull him closer…or push him away.

“Rion…”

“He’s alive,” Damien speaks up from behind me. “But he was injured in the blast. Badly. Fortunately, we arrived quick enough to contact the guards and have him sent to the medical wing with Brina.”

“He’ll be fine, Bambi,” Abel cajoles, his voice closer than it was before, as if he snuck up behind me while I broke down in Bronson’s arm. “He’s a tough motherfucker. He’s probably already on his way back.”

“Look in your soul,” Bronson whispers. “Feel him, Goddess.”

I do as he says, retreating to a part of myself where I’m able to reach my men. My body unclenches incrementally as I force myself to relax, force myself to focus on anything other than Rion lying in a body bag.

I would quite literally go insane.

Just like when I was training, I travel to the brilliant, energetic ball of light that symbolizes Rion in my…soul? Heart? Essence?

The part of me that declared him as mine.

The connection is strained, frayed almost, like a wire that has been cut, but I’m soon able to slide inside of his head.

His eyes are open as he stares blankly at a stark white ceiling. Pain radiates throughout his body—throughout my body—but he doesn’t utter a single word as a pretty woman with red hair and a wicked scar on her face hovers over him.

“You have some nasty burns, little kitty,” she observes, her smile widening and distorting her face even further.

But Rion is already retreating inside of his head and focusing on other things. On me.

In his mind, I can see my face, wreathed in a cocoon of gold and silvery light as if I’m the embodiment of the sun and the moon combined. The rest of the world is shaded in black and gray, but not my face. It’s the only bright spot, disrupting the monotony of darkness.

Is that…?

Is that really how he sees me?

My throat clogs with the enormity of my emotions for this man, and I reach a mental finger forward to caress him.

He stills, the image flickering, and then his voice reverberates through my head, bone-weary and tired.

Buttercup?

I practically sob as my legs threaten to give out on me.

It’s me, my love. Are you okay? What happened?

This isn’t the first time I’ve been on fire, Buttercup.Am I mistaken, or does he sound almost cocky? As if that’s something worth bragging about?

Still, my knees are weak with relief, and I want nothing more than to hold him in my arms and kiss him senseless.

But you’re okay?

I’m okay,he assures me, his mental voice almost jovial. Maybe I’ll get a lollipop for being a good patient. I once got a lollipop stuck in my hair, so then my momma took a chainsaw and?—

What happened?I interrupt his ramblings before he can finish his tirade. I know my mate. Once he starts talking, he’ll never stop.

I swear I feel the temperature in his head drop one hundred degrees. I don’t know how else to describe it. One second, his warmth caresses me like a spring breeze, and the next, it feels like I’m in a tundra. The coldness seeps through my very skin and embeds itself in my bones. I imagine that goosebumps will be pebbling on my body, causing every hair to stand on end.

Someone left you a present, he hisses, and in his mind, I can see the tiny bomb placed on my pillow. If you’d been alone…

So that means he or she was nearby,I muse.

What do you mean? His tone is quiet, but it could never be construed as soft. There’s a darkness to it, a menace, that both terrifies and arouses me.

I suppose that’s what I get for falling in love with the monsters I should’ve feared.

The bomb wasn’t on a timer, because no one knew what time one of us would enter the room. My guess is that someone was nearby and waiting. Though if I was truly the person’s target…

It’s not like he or she could’ve waited for you to show up,Rion laments bitterly. I saw the bomb. Besides, he or she still would’ve been able to claim a million dollars for killing me.

I’ll relay this to the others. Maybe there’s a lingering scent, I tell Rion, my heart lodging in my throat. Because someone tried to kill Rion. If he would’ve been one step closer to the bomb, I have no doubt we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Maybe fate is on my side for once and chose to save one of the men I love. After all, haven’t I been through enough crap? I deserve to have a happily ever after.

Silence descends, his mind for once peaceful and serene. Rion?

Yes, Buttercup?

I love you.

Warmth suffuses me as I hear a distinct purr-like rumble.

I’ll be back before you know it. Don’t miss me too hard.

The connection snaps, and I find myself in my body once more, still in Bronson’s arms.

“Angel?” Damien asks worriedly, and for Damien to be worried, it means I was extremely out of it.

I place a hand to my forehead, feeling flushed and overheated, as Bronson scoops me up bridal style.

“Are you okay, Goddess?” His voice teeters the precarious edge between a growl and a question, his wolf making an appearance.

“I’m fine,” I assure him. “But, Bron?” I tap his shoulder gently, waiting until he stops. I slowly reach my hand up and trace the contours of his handsome face. “Do you think you could sense if anyone was in this hall besides one of us?”

“Why—”

“Because I don’t believe the bomb was on a timer. It’s too much of a coincidence. And through Rion’s eyes, I didn’t see any wires that led back to the bomb for it to be tripped when he entered the room.”

“You’re so fucking sexy when you talk about tripping wires and bombs,” Abel purrs from somewhere behind me.

“You think someone went into our home?” Damien demands sharply, ignoring the trickster demon. I reach blindly in his direction, only feeling comfort when his fingers interlock with my own and squeeze softly. I feel the barest graze of his lips against my knuckles before he drops my hand.

“It makes sense,” Kai murmurs tiredly, and I wonder when he arrived. Probably at the same time I did with Bronson, though my mind was too consumed with pain and panic to notice.

“Rest assured,” Damien begins curtly, “I will find the intruder and interrogate them myself. Whoever dared to hurt my family will fucking pay.”