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“No, that makes no sense. His parents would’ve found you by psychic signature alone,” Zeke replied, solemn. “No amount of cloth could’ve hidden you.”
“Remmus saw me there, but he didn’t say anything to his parents.” Her eyebrows pulled together, the hurt spilling over. “I always wondered why he didn’t say anything.”
Conversation hit pause momentarily before Kaien’s gaze snapped to hers. “Remmus is a Shield. It must’ve manifested that day, when you needed it. He must’ve unknowingly shielded your presence from his parents.”
A sob escaped her, wretched from her very soul. Remmus hadn’t only held his tongue about her whereabouts, he’d saved her life. He had done the only thing he could: remain silent. He hadn’t betrayed her; he’d tried to protect her.
Everything came together in her mind only moments later. Remmus had admitted to murdering his parents. At the time, she’d thought it justified because of their abuse—and still did. But that wasn’t the only reason. Remmus had murdered his parents because they’d taken hers.
She’d done nothing but loathe him ever since. Her mate wasn’t the villain in her tale after all; he was the hero.
Somber, Zeke asked, “Who were his parents?”
“Trax and Mithelda.”
The other Raeth cursed at Kaien’s answer, Remmus’ lineage apparently speaking for itself. Zeke dragged a hand down his face and locked mournful eyes with Nina.
Kaien strode forward and placed a hand on Ava’s shoulder. “I’ll take you to him.”
“What do you mean, take me to him?”
A jolt of fear spread through her like wildfire, but her feet were already moving. The predator at her core writhed beneath her skin, loathing the fact that she was off balance.
Zeke followed behind them, bringing with him an impending sense of doom. Arguably more worrisome was the startling absence of emotion that resonated in the mating bond between her and Remmus. It’d been far too quiet in the last half hour.
She and Riaz shadowed Kaien quietly until they arrived outside a door on the first floor of the home they’d arrived in. And then the door opened.
A wave of dizziness nearly overcame Ava as her mind rejected what her eyes were seeing. Her mate lay unconscious on a bed, his arm hooked up to an IV saline drip. Blood had dried all over his white sweater, the same one he’d worn earlier when he’d confronted her.
His face was too pale, and his breathing too shallow. Everything about him was eerily still.
Ava closed the distance between them on quivering legs, walking stiltedly to his side. A fine sheen of sweat beaded on his skin. Clasping her hands together to avoid touching him, she dragged her gaze away from him to the Raeth males who stood opposite her.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“His body is attempting to repair the damage to his mind.” Bitter, Kaien’s voice held a note of longing and remorse that was tangible.
“From the silver?”
Kaien frowned. “What silver?”
“The silver from the gunshot wound he sustained when we first encountered the Citizens Raeth.” Narrowing her gaze accusatorily at Kaien, she added, "He came here several times for help. Apparently, he never received any."
Guilt hit Kaien’s features like a shotgun. “He came here for help?”
Ava let her silence answer him, and the healer dragged a hand across his face.
Swallowing harshly, Kaien explained, “There was no silver in his system. Remmus was psychically poisoned, most likely by the Raeth you encountered on the Citizens’ lands.”
Ava wrapped her arms around herself. Her entire world had shifted in the course of ten minutes, and she had to brace her legs to keep from falling. Overcome with emotion, a deep, keening hurt fisted a hand around her throat and choked her.
“Tell me what psychic poisoning means, Kaien.”
“Psychic poisoning feeds on negative emotion, on destructive habits. Every time Remmus thought ill of himself, self-harmed, or criminalized his own actions, the poison grew. It never should have gotten this far or taken such hold of his mind.
“But that is who he is: he never believes himself good enough because his parents convinced him that he was worthless. The vile woman who gave birth to him had the gift of coercion, and she used it to warp his mind when he was psychically defenseless. He still fights those compulsions on a daily basis.”
Trying to digest the information, Ava reached for Remmus’ hand, gasping at the clammy nature of his skin when she made contact. It made her heart ache even more. A jolt of energy riffled through her, and with it, the need to provide for and protect her mate.
