I grabbed my chest, but what I felt was deeper under my skin and within my bones. There was a thrumming there, faster than my own pulse. It vibrated like a live wire that was strung too tight. It tugged on me, my heart, my soul, pulling me toward Byrd somehow, but it gavenothingback to me. There was no warmth on the other side, no flicker of her energy or presence. There was no bright light of her, no love, no perky optimism, no adoration. Just static.
Worse, and I fucking hoped I was just imagining it, the other end of it felt like it was… dimming.
The mating bond…
It was unraveling. Thinning. Hollowing. Fading like what was once solid was becoming a ghost.
The pain was seeping from there, but it wasn’t Byrd’s, as if we were connected again. No, her absence was causing me to rot, the edges of me fraying without her. Sharp. Sickening. Spreading. My soul was trying to scream for healing or a cure before it got too close. But, there was none.
Byrd…
Byrd was dying.
Mi vidawas dying, and I was stuck here, useless, pacing like a prisoner while my soul was being torn apart, one thread at a time.Mi tesorowas dying, waiting for me, and I had nothing to show for her patience. My Sweet Byrd was dying, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was fucking powerless. Byrd was dying without anyone there who loved her, and the world wouldn’t even care. The wind would still blow. The sky would darken and then brighten again. People would laugh, somewhere out there. The world would keep turning as if nothing were wrong. As if the best thing that ever happened to it wasn’t gone forever.
I want to destroy this world for daring to go on without her and leave it with nothing, just like it did when it took her from me.
“Quinn?” Natassa called from the counter where everyone was. Her voice was careful, like she was trying not to spook a wild, feral creature. She might not be too far off. “Why don’t you come, sit down, and eat?”
“I’mfine,” I growled, continuing my pacing. I felt the others watching me, quiet, cautious, and nervous. I fucking hated it.Instead of fucking worrying about me, why aren’t we worried about Byrd? Leave me the fuck alone.
“Quinny,” Nat started again gently. Her voice was so calm, steady, andnormal. As if any of this was that. “You need to eat something. You haven’t?—”
“I fucking can’t!” The words shot out of me like a bullet. Porcelain shattered in front of me. I hadn’t even realized that I’d unsheathed Tina until I looked down to see that the dagger had split the plate with my dinner into shards. The tip had gone straight through to the marble, cracking it, too. The sauce from theentomatadasleaked out, making it look like the plate and counter both were bleeding.
“Q, what thefuck?” Cole asked, his hands up in surrender as if I was going to turn Tina on him next.
My hand shook in time with my hammering heart where it gripped the dagger’s hilt. Energy still crackled under my skin, refusing to settle or be assuaged. It had nowhere to go.
Just like me.
Especially withouther.
“I knew we shouldn’t have let these hunters in,” Everett sneered while shaking his head from the far end of the counter. “They are nothing but violent monsters looking for their next kill.”
I rounded on him with a snarl in my throat and Tina already in hand. I had no idea what I was going to do or say to him. It meant nothing to me anymore that he was Byrd’s uncle. I couldn’t have cared less. He was just a fucking asshole that seemed like he wanted to taste my blade or fist.
Before I could get to him, Cole and Cody were on their feet, holding me back. I roared. If I couldn’t have Byrd, I would make sure no one could have anything. I didn’t give two shits anymore. I knew I should, but any regard for that was slipping awayfast.The rage was fueling me, adding to the bonfire within. I wanted it to consume me. I wanted it to make me forget myself.
Maybe then it wouldn’t hurt anymore.
“Quinn! Dude, calm down!” Cole yelled as I tried to resist him even more. He and Cody held as fiercely as they could, but I could feel them losing ground.
It was cute of them to think they were strong enough to hold me back.
My skin prickled as I felt the grip of magic around my arms. I looked down to see that it was neon purple. A snake of water wrapped around my waist, too. Still, I roared as I tried to pull against them.
Nat appeared in front of me. Her already wide blue eyes somehow grew even wider. “Quinn! What is—? Wait… Your eyes are… glowing? What is going on with you?”
Talli came up beside her. She sucked in a breath through her teeth. “Fuck, it’s the bond. We’re losing her.”
“Losing her as in Quinn or her as Byrd?” Nat asked.
“Unfortunately, the answer is yes.”
“Wait, so does that mean that Byrd is?—?”
Before I could hear the rest of Teddy’s question, the bond’s buzzing stilled. All of my anger collapsed inward like a star about to go supernova. In its place was surprise and confusion. But then, I was overwhelmed with feelings that weren’t my own.
