ChapterTwenty-Four
THORNE
Terror and dread jolted me from my uneasy sleep, leaving me shaking with adrenaline, a sick feeling twisting my gut.
“Sunday.” The room echoed with the sound of her name falling from my lips. Something was deadly wrong.
Phantom pain tore through me, but instead of fading away, the sensation intensified. It was like acid burning a path in my veins. I had to get out of here. To help her. I dropped my shield and linked with her mind, knowing the risk I was taking but unable to stop myself.
All I saw was blood and fire and death in her mind. It was reminiscent of the night she shared her dream with me, but worse. Far worse. Pounding hoofbeats filled my ears, so loud I feared my eardrums would burst. And on their heels, the wail of three furious battle cries.
I didn’t know what it meant, only that I was terrified for my mate. She was being hunted. Little did the predators know, I was the only one who could hunt her. But I didn’t mean to kill her. I meant to love her. Sunday was mine.
“Lucas!” I called, my voice booming. He’d hear me. He could hear everything I said and did in this house. I stalked to the silver-lined door and pounded my fists into it until they burned. “I know you can hear me, you bastard. Let me out of here.”
The small window in the center opened, revealing my uncle, clad in a disheveled tuxedo with lipstick on his collar and a bite mark on his neck. “You’d better have a bloody good reason for this. You startled Briar mid-feed, and now my shirt is ruined.”
“My mate is in pain. Something happened. I need to go to her.”
Conflict warred in his eyes. “Noah...”
“Please, Lucas. You know I would only ask if it was a matter of life and death.”
He hissed in a breath.
“You know what you would do if our situations were reversed. What you alreadyhavedone for Briar. Please. Do not deny me.”
He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the wall across from the door. “You’re putting me in a very difficult position, you little wankstain.”
“Call me what you like; just let me out of here. She is my everything, and she’s... I think she’s dying. Please, Uncle?”
Briar appeared next to him, her long blonde locks falling over one shoulder. A bite mark on her neck betrayed exactly what they’d been up to when I interrupted.
“Who is dying?”
Lucas shrugged. “His wolfy mate.”
“What happened?”
I gritted my teeth. “I don’t know. But I feel it. Let me free.”
Briar placed a palm on Lucas’s forearm. “If you don’t let him out and she dies, he’ll never forgive you.”
“I’ve been hated before.”
“I’ll never forgive you,” she said, her tone serious. “Remember when I died? Remember how it shattered you? You changed completely. Don’t make him go through that.”
Lucas rolled his eyes. “Fine. Call Silas and Natalie. We’ll need a witch if we’re going to get him to his mate before it’s too late.”
Relief made me sag against the door, alleviating some of the pressure in my chest, but not much. Until Sunday was in my arms, I didn’t think I’d breathe easy again.
“Thank you, Briar.”
She pressed her palm over the window. “No one should ever come between mates. Save her, Noah. And then bring her to meet your family once it’s safe.”
A swell of affection for her hit me in the chest. My uncle was an asshole on most days, but she made him better.
An hour later,I stood outside Ravenscroft’s church. It was bloody useful having one of Salem’s most powerful witches on speed dial. Thanks to Natalie’s portal creation skills, I’d made the trip across the pond in under five minutes. I just had to find Sunday.