Page 75 of Aryn

The thought of losing him here claws through my insides like ice and fire at once, feeling as if my heart is being carved right out of my chest. In that moment, I know with absolute certainty that if he goes, I go with him.

“Please don’t… don’t let go,” he begs, and the fear in his voice breaks me further. “Don’t l-leave me.”

“I won’t,” I whisper. “I won't. I’ve got you.”

Just as we slide another few inches, hands grip my ankles and legs. The others pull me up as I yank with every ounce of strength left in my body. Cato’s chest slams against the broken ledge, scraping across sharp rock as I haul him the rest of the way onto solid ground.

He collapses onto his back beside me, chest heaving. Blood trickles down his forehead from a gash along his hairline, and his entire body trembles as he wheezes for breath.

Taryn crawls over, face white with shock. “Cato, you’re bleeding, let me see—” As her hand moves toward him, something primal snaps inside me.

He’s mine.

Mine to comfort, mine to take care of.

Mine, and only fucking mine.

I bare my teeth and growl, positioning myself protectively over him. My tail flicks behind me in warning, the mark on it flaring bright where everyone can see. Taryn freezes mid-reach while Lillith’s eyes go wide. Ronan’s eyebrows fly up and Cameron just stares, stunned.

I don’t care about any of it.

“Stay back,” I warn, crouching lower. “He’s mine. Don’t fucking touch him.”

Cato lets out a breathless, pained chuckle beneath me. “Easy, killer… she’s just trying to help.”

I glance down at him, whining softly at the trail of blood streaking his temple. Some of the color is returning to his cheeks as he hauls himself up to sit, wincing with the movement. I crouch by his side, looking over every inch of his body.

“Are you hurt?” I ask.

He rolls his shoulders, flinching a little with the arm I was holding onto, then twists his torso and stretches his legs. “There’s some bruising, but I don’t think anything’s broken. If you hadn’t…” His eyes are glassy as he stares out over the edge, and his throat bobs in a thick swallow.

I swipe the blood from his temple and wait for his eyes to meet mine again. “I told you I had your back.”

“Fuck,” he chokes, leaning his head against my chest. Instinctively, I know he doesn’t want the others to see him upset. I position myself between him and the rest of them as I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him there.

“When did this happen?” Ronan demands from behind us.

I heave a long sigh, but there’s no point in lying. “The day of the khraelyx attack.”

“That’s been days, Aryn! You didn’t think to mention it?”

I whirl and bare my teeth at him. “This does not concern you!”

“The hell it doesn’t,” he fires back, flashing his own fangs. “Everything that happens on this trip, every single fucking thing that affects what we do here, concerns me. It concerns all of us. I would expect this sort of reckless behavior from him”—he gestures at Cato in my arms—“but not you.”

“You will watch what you say,” I threaten, each word spoken with intention, as I move in his direction. A hand on my wrist stops me, and I turn to find Cato shaking his head.

“If we’re going to fight, can we do it somewhere that’s not here?” he asks, nodding toward the crumbled edge.

My anger instantly fades. “Can you walk?” I ask.

He huffs a laugh, then groans and clutches his ribcage. “If the alternative is to sit here and wait for the mountain to collapse around us, I think I can figure it out.”

Taryn approaches cautiously from my left. “Can I look at his forehead? It won’t do us any favors for him to be bleeding right now.”

“There isn’t room for proper care,” I grit. “Not without shuffling everyone else too close to the edge.”

“I’m fine,” Cato stresses, tugging his t-shirt up from under his layers of clothing to wipe the blood away. It pools on the cut again almost immediately, but only leaks into a trickle instead of a gush. A few rocks tumble past us, bouncing off the ledge and into the open air where he was just hanging.