I swallow a scream and wrap shaking fingers around the hilt. “Sorry,” I breathe. “Sorry, sorry, sorry?—”
And I pull.
It comes free with a slick, awful sound, and the blood—fuck, the blue blood bubbles out thick and fast, too fast, too much. He doesn’t flinch.
“Stop smiling,” I whisper, pressing my hands to the wound again. “You don’t get to look like that. Like you’re ready. You’re not ready. I’m not ready.”
His eyes flicker open—barely. His voice is a rasp. “I love you.”
“No,” I whisper, tears sliding down my cheeks. “Don’t say goodbye.”
“It’s okay,” he says. “You’ll be okay.”
“The fuck I will!” My voice rises. “If you die, I die, remember? We’re fated, bonded—tied together in this twisted, beautiful thing, and we’ve only fucked once, Kael. Once. I’ve only had your cock in my mouth once. Do you really think I’m done?”
His face twists—not in pain but in something closer to horror. The peace vanishes. “No. No, I?—”
“Exactly.” I shake him, voice cracking. “So stay. Don’t you dare leave me, Kael.”
He gasps, barely audible. “Heal me.”
“I don’t know how!” I scream.
But my hands are already glowing. Not like before. Not a flicker. Not a pulse.
It’s like my soul has been pulled from my chest, turned inside out, and pushed into my palms. Gold-and-blue light floods from my skin, straight into his. I pour everything I have into him. Every drop of love. Every ounce of rage. Every breath, thought, memory?—
But his heart… it’s slowing. Mine isn’t.
“What the fuck?” My voice shakes. “Why isn’t mine stopping too?”
Why am I still here if he’s leaving?
Tears pour down my cheeks. My arms tremble with the force of energy burning through them. His wound isn’t sealing. The bleeding slows, but he’s still fading.
Kael’s voice brushes against my mind—weak, frayed.“You were always stronger than me.”
“No,” I growl. “We are strong. Together.”
The bond pulses. Hard. Then again. I scream as I push harder, as the energy inside me threatens to tear me apart. I feel my own strength draining, my limbs going cold, but I keep going.
I have to.
He’s mine.
And I refuse to let the universe take him from me.
The bleeding doesn’t stop. My hands are slick with his blood—his fucking blue blood—and I keep pressing, keep begging, but his eyes keep sliding shut. The glow in his markings is fading, and his grip on me loosens by the second.
“No. No, no, no—Kael.” My voice breaks, ragged and thin. I’m losing him. And I can’t.
I can’t.
Tears blur my vision. My body shakes as I lean over him, fingers slipping in blood and panic. I’m supposed to be his mate. Fated. We’re supposed to be stronger together. That’s what everyone keeps saying. That we’re rare. Precious. Some fucking miracle.
But what kind of miracle lets this happen?
“Come back,” I whisper. “Please, Kael. Please.”
