Page 109 of Bound By Roses

I almost consider suggesting it when a sudden flash through eyes that aren’t mine briefly overtakes my vision. It was too quick for me to get a clear image, but I know instantly that it was Ty. He shouldn’t be shifting in the day, so my heart sinks like a stone.

Quinn must have felt something through the bond because he’s at my side in moments. “Is it him?”

“Yes,” I gasp, and for some reason, it’s hard to breathe.

Quinn helps me kneel in the sand and rubs warm circles around my lower back with his hand. “Try to focus. The distance might be hard, but you’re connected to him. You can do it.”

I force myself to breathe and focus on my link to Ty. It’s not as clear as it should be, so Quinn is probably right about the distance. I can almost make out the image, almost hear his voice, but I need help. “Lara. The siren who projects thoughts. I need her to—”

Quinn doesn’t argue or question me. He’s on his feet before I can even finish telling him what I need, and back at my side not thirty seconds later with the influencer at his side. She kneels beside me, seemingly understanding exactly what I need from her.

An image appears in front of us, and it’s the same image in my head, only much clearer now that I can see it physically in front of me. Wherever Ty is, it’s dark. His thoughts are chaotic and the words he sends through the connection I share with all wolves are jumbled.

‘Ty, I need you to slow down. Show me where you are.’

The image moves as if he’s doing just that, so at least he can hear me. He turns his gaze to the left and I immediately recognize this place. He’s not just in the dungeon hidden within Lunae’s tunnels, I’m pretty sure he’s in the exact same cell where Imelda kept Kaylee. Quinn stiffens beside me, and I know he’s thinking the same thing.

‘I know where you are. Are you hurt? Think the words slowly and clearly. I can’t understand if you’re panicking.’

Even with him slowing down, it’s still nearly impossible to work out what he’s saying. Maybe if we’d had more time to strengthen our connection it would be easier, but for now, it seems we’re going to have to rely mainly on pictures.

‘I need you to show me. You can show me thoughts just as much as what’s right in front of you. Just think about what it is that you need me to see.’

There’s a tense moment where nothing happens, but then the image shifts. It’s not as defined, as if we’re looking through a reflection on water or a distorted piece of glass, but the image is clear enough.

A Guardian stands in front of me—no, in front ofTy. We’re seeing this memory through his eyes, but I still flinch when his fist connects where my face would be. And then again, this time to the ribs.

“That’s enough,” a familiar female voice says, and Imelda steps into view. Her long, red hair swirls like blood around her shoulders and I’m not entirely convinced there’s not a splotch of blood on her cheek as if Ty’s blood splattered and she tried to wipe it away. “Tell me again what happened.”

I hear Ty’s voice, but it’s muffled. Either he’s speaking through a gag or that first punch did a lot more damage than it seemed. If that even was the first punch. He’s likely not showing us the start of this. “A wolf. It came out of the trees. By the time we saw it, Will was already gone. It tore him to pieces right in front of us.” He pauses, as if the trauma of the incident I know never happened is too much for him. “It came for me next, but Jax… He tried to fight it off. It turned on him and I ran.”

Imelda purses her lips and I know she’s trying to decide if she believes him. She knows of the wolves and what they can do and she already knows we’ve been around the borders. Those sirensthat Erwyn sent to the western mountains are proof enough of that. “We’ll see if your story lines up.”

The memory fades and the image of the dank cell returns, but his fear lingers. I feel it as if it were my own, and perhaps on some level it is. I’m terrified for this man because his blood is on my hands. It may not be my fists breaking his body, but I allowed this.

Quinn kneels at my side. “Let me speak to him through you.”

“Can we do that?”

He shrugs. “Only one way to find out.”

I open my connection to Quinn wide and do the same with Ty. A moment later, Quinn’s voice fills my head.

‘Ty, if you can hear me, nod.’

The image moves.

‘Good. Now listen to me. Your story will line up. I’ve made sure of that. Imelda will have no reason to hold you once her Guardians return. Just try to stay calm until then and keep your head down. Don’t shift again until you have to.’

He nods again.

‘I can feel through Abby that at least one of your ribs is broken.’I flinch at his words and suddenly the trouble I’m having breathing makes sense.‘Bones have a way of reforging with the shift. It will heal when you shift again, but that damage was intentional. You’ll have to put on a show. Imelda isn’t stupid. Don’t give her any reason to test you again.’

The image changes into a memory. Once again, seeing through Ty’s eyes, I find myself looking directly at Quinn. But not the Quinn I have in front of me. It’s Quinn in his wolf form, deep in the forest. A single word flickers through my mind, but I know Quinn isn’t saying it now. This has to have been when he took Ty back to the place where Jade found him.

‘Survive.’

‘That’s right,’Quinn says, this time speaking for real.‘Whatever it takes.’

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