Page 99 of Mate of a Monster

Then with a breath, everything comes back at once.

Her hand on my jaw.

The scream.

The tearing.

The way something inside my chest snapped loose and recoiled like it had never belonged there in the first place. Because it fucking didn’t!

I suck in another shuddering breath.

Gods. Fuck.

My hand flies to my sternum instinctively, fingers digging into fabric in search of some kind of wound—some physical proof of the violence that just moved through me. Instead there is only heat, raw and pulsing, and beneath it— her.

The bond is there, tight and undeniable, curled through my ribs like it’s been waiting for me to stop fighting. The awareness of her slams into me so hard my vision whites out at the edges. I feel her proximity and absence at the same time, like she just walked out of reach and left the door open on purpose.

The thread between us pinches, then flares.

Magic swells without being called, but it’s so fucking welcome. The force of it drives me to my feet before I make the decision to stand. I barely feel the motion. It’s instinct, dragging my body upright with a snap of energy that ripples through the chamber.

The air shifts with it.

The bond pulls again. My magic flares hotter and brighter. For a fraction of a second, I am weightless, power lifting through me in a column so fierce it almost feels like I could tear the walls down with a thought.

My foot hits the floor with purpose, every muscle in my body aligned toward a single direction. I don’t need to wonder, I know exactly where she is. Not physically, but I know without a doubt when I move, my feet will carry me right to her.

A clearing throat breaks the silence. I was so singularly focused, the sound slices through my roaring pulse like a lightening bolt.

I spin on instinct, magic still surging, ready to strike at whatever dares to stand in my way. When I find the source, my magic loosens the slightest bit.

Knight stands a few paces behind me, arms at his sides but shoulders tight and posture coiled.

“Easy,” he says, raising his hands as if soothing a wild animal.

There is nothing easy about the way my magic is clawing to move forward. The bond burns under my skin, alive and furious and demanding. I realize with a cold clarity that I have never felt it this loud before.

Behind him, Sinner leans against the frame with his arms crossed, his usual smirk absent.

They’ve been waiting.

“How long?” My throat burns. “How long was I out?”

Knight doesn’t blink. “Six earth hours.”

Six hours is fucking days here.

Heat spikes through the bond, sharper now, and I wince as it drives through me like a nail between my ribs. My hand flies to my chest before I can stop it, fingers pressing hard against the ache as if pressure alone could keep me from splitting apart.

It doesn’t work.

Nothing works. Every inch of the bond is alive, urging me toward her with a force I can barely think around. Why isn’t she here?

Fire tears through my chest.

This time, it’s her that’s left on my tongue. Her scent and specific brand of sorcery that has jack shit to do with magic. Intensity hits so hard I stagger, catching myself against a post as my vision swims.

“What the fuck is happening to me?”