I snarled, sitting up. Hands pushed me down. I growled, thrashing. My stomach stabbed in agony, but I didn’t care. Where wasmymate? My wings slid out and my tail slashed the air as I shoved the people surrounding me away.
“Where is he?” I demanded.
“Your pet is in your room,” Kalvoxrencol said as he and Zoltilvoxfyn pinned me. “Seth took it.”
Seth and Caleb hovered in the background, and Seth said, “It’s fine. I wasn’t terrified it was going to eat me or anything. It wasn’t like I was holding a creature from my nightmares at all.”
“It was scary as fuck. I refused to touch it,” Caleb remarked.
I didn’t pay any mind to them and kept searching. Bartholomew was nowhere to be seen.
“Where is he?” I roared.
“You were alone besides your pet,” Kalvoxrencol said, forcing me down. He was stronger than I, and I’d never hated that fact until this moment. “Whatever attacked you was gone, Serlotminden. You’re safe. Your pet is safe. Everything is fine.”
My soul shattered and a void opened up within me. My mate. The alien must have taken him after I fell. Tears gathered in my eyes, and I arched, pain ripping through me.
Machines beeped rapidly while my soul thrashed against my ribs. I screamed, grief so powerful it stole my breath and tore me asunder. My mate was gone. Bartholomew.
“Serlotminden,” voices called over and over again, but I couldn’t focus on them. I had failed to protect my mate. He was gone.
“Stand back. I’m going to sedate him.”
Something trickled through me, dimming my awareness. My brothers were all staring at me, but I looked at Seth. Perfectly human Seth.
“Where is he? Please. I need him.”
Seth’s mouth opened and his eyebrows drew together. “Mindy,” he said, pushing Kalvoxrencol and Zoltilvoxfyn aside. “Who?”
My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, and my eyes closed. I fought it, but I couldn’t resist the medication. Cool fingers touched me while someone asked, “Mindy, who? Who are you looking for?”
But I couldn’t answer.
Chapter 35
Team Human.
Things could be better. Serlotminden had been gone for a long time, though I had no idea how long exactly. I was freezing. I couldn’t warm up without Mindy. I was out of water and nutritional bars. I couldn’t leave the shuttle, because the winged alien refused to budge. I always heard their talons scraping on the door, trying to figure out how to get inside, and then screeching outside. I’d tried to shoot them more than once, but the alien was smart, moving out of the way, and I wasn’t skilled with a blaster.
I couldn’t build a fire to melt snow, and I couldn’t hunt. I was trapped.
I curled into a ball around the blanket that most smelled like Serlotminden. I was going to die. I knew it, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. He was safe. Whether he came back or not, Serlotminden was safe and alive. I knew it. I refused to believe otherwise. Him living was enough. I inhaled the light scent on the blanket and curled into a tighter ball, freezing.
I awoke with a growl. Physical pain throbbed through my body, but it was nothing to the grief drowning me. My mate. My perfect mate. Bartholomew was gone. A keening sound broke the silence, and it took me a moment to realize the noise came from me.
An arm wrapped around me and a tail coiled around mine, but I didn’t want the comfort. My mate was gone. I tried to push the person away; I was unsuccessful.
“Speedy, I have you.” Kalvoxrencol, my youngest brother.
The grief was unbearable. How had Zoltilvoxfyn lived through this when he thought Caleb was gone? An agonizing sob ripped from me. It was impossible.
“Where is he?” I demanded, even though I knew the answer. I couldn’t stop the words from spilling out. I needed Bartholomew.
“Who?” Kalvoxrencol asked. “You were alone.”
His response brought a new wave of grief. I’d been rescued, but they were too late for Bartholomew. My fault. It was my fault. If I hadn’t insisted on going to the river, he would be tucked against me right now. Screams came from deep within me as I writhed. Kalvoxrencol tried to hold me still, but I kept thrashing.
“I’m going to have to sedate him again, Prince,” the doctor said as she appeared. “He must be in shock from the attack.”