Page 132 of A Trial By Blood

“He was injured, and taken.”

I searched her for injuries. “Who did this? Who brought you here?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t see his face. His scent was weird. I couldn’t place it. Then he knocked me out, and I woke up in that box in the ground. If they wanted me dead, why not just kill me?”

Relic planted his hands on his hips. “It makes no sense.”

Rose looked into the hole in the ground. “It doesn’t, but I’d rather not repeat the experience if I can help it.”

I moved up beside her and looked into the coffin-sized box someone had buried my female in, and fear spiked through me.

Whoever did this would pay with their life.

CHAPTER 38

Ronan

Rose lay against me, sleeping.

We were at her mother’s house. Someone had buried Rose, and we didn’t know why. Vesa had been hurt and was still missing, and after what happened, I wanted to make sure Rose’s family stayed safe behind their wards, because whoever was behind this could try to use one of Rose’s family members to get to her.

I’d also called Draven and Warrick to let them know and to stay on high alert.

Rose made a breathy sound, and I studied my mate in the moonlight. Her skin glowed, her hair impossibly glossy. She was an angel, my angel, and I’d do whatever it took to keep her safe, but I also realized tonight that Rose wasn’t only strong, she was immensely powerful.

She’d transformed before my eyes, taken down three demons while her glittery wings kept her above the ground. I looked at her shoulder, to the markings there, markings made by the mother’s venom. The vines twisted around her upper arm, and one of the vines had traveled higher, curling over her shoulder, reaching out for the vines on her shoulder, crawling up her neck, so close to touching now.

She was almost out of time. Her family, her coven, were on the verge of losing their magic—magic Rose was only now getting the chance to use.

I released a harsh breath. I couldn’t let her suffer that loss. She’d never recover from it, and she’d blame herself, convince herself that she’d let down the people she loved.

A knot formed in my gut. As terrified as I was, I had to relinquish some of the control I was clinging to. I realized that now. I would protect her at all costs, yes, but I had to trust her.

And I had to stop smothering her, because that’s what I was doing. If I didn’t, one day, I’d lose her.

This was all so new and fucking hard.

Shoving off the sheet, I got out of bed. Then, tucking the covers around Rose, I pulled on my trousers and slipped out of the room.

Sleep wasn’t going to happen tonight, and, yes, I was going to try to stop smothering my female, but that didn’t mean the urge to protect her went away. Far from it. I headed downstairs and checked windows and doors. No one was getting through the wards surrounding this house. I knew that for a fact. Especially not some twisted fucking shifter assholes.

I wanted this over with. An uneasy feeling settled in my gut. Rose wanted to do this, all of it, and I understood that now more than ever. But I couldn’t just stand around and wait. Until we knew who targeted her and what they wanted, they were a threat.

Rose said the bats, possibly Vesa, had something to do with her task, but there was a missing piece, and I believed that missing piece was Oliver Kelley.

I’d keep my promise. I’d make sure she was there to question him. She was right, this was her task, and she needed to be there, but first, we had to find the male. And so far, getting to him, getting past his security, had been impossible. I knew her phone was on silent, so I quickly sent her a text, telling her what I was doing so she’d find it when she woke.

Then I walked out.

I was getting to Kelley tonight, whatever it took. I was ending this.

* * *

Rose

I checked my phone again.

Nothing.