Page 90 of Baited

And calling for me.

Until everything goes dark.

BLAYN

Istare at her. My mate has not woken, she has not said anything, and our bond is lost, fragments, or nothing. She breathes. Her friends from the pleasure house come in periodically to check on her.

But there’s nothing.

I need her like I need my wings, my claws, my tattoos. I want her to wake up. I want to see her eyes and her smile.

But what I want isn’t helping anything. I attempted to throw myself in front of the pulsar bolt, When it hit her, I thought all was lost. Maxym, Klynn, and Rych immediately leapt onto the procurator and disarmed him…literally…he lost a limb, and he might have lost more if Maxym hadn’t held Rych and me back.

The dome has the best medics, and they did exactly what they were supposed to do.

They saved her life. They saved the life of our young.

But she won’t wake up.

“Izzy,” I whisper, because I’m always whispering to her. The medics say she can hear me, so I should talk to her. “Izzy, come back to me. Your friends want you back too. They miss you, I miss you. My cocks miss you.”

The whispering ceases, my voice coming to a halt because I want to tell her everything, everything, how Maxym and Rych marched the procurator out of the dome and straight to the council for his crimes, how Rych hasn’t left the nearest bar since gaining his freedom, how kind the Habosu madame has been, how many gifts have been brought for Izzy.

How I nested for her and I did my very, very best. Letting anyone in has been a struggle, but because she needs to get better, I’ve let them, even if my growling gets out of hand sometimes and I get told off.

How empty my head and my heart are without her. How I don’t know what to do if she doesn’t come back to me. How nothing tastes good, how I don’t want to bathe or preen while she’s not here.

“I can tell,” Izzy murmurs.

I lift my head.

Did I hear her speak?

“Eregri?”

“I hurt. My chest hurts,” she murmurs, her eyes still closed. “Why does it hurt?”

I don’t know what to do. I want to hug her, enclose her in my arms and never let her go, but as the bond sparks into life, I feel her pain, her confusion, and her fear.

“The procurator had a pulsar pistol. He shot you,” I tell her. “I wanted to kill him, but the others wouldn’t let me, and now he’s incarcerated until the games start again.”

Her eyes open and they’re dulled with pain.

“The baby…?” Water runs down the side of her face and into her hair. “What about the baby?”

“Our young is healthy and growing well.” I’m struggling to breathe because I need her close to me. “He is going to be a fine warrior.”

“He?” she chokes, attempting to sit up, wincing. “It’s too early to know what sex he is!”

“You carry a Gryn youngling, my sweet mate.” I gingerly put my arm around her, and the touch of her skin against mine sparks perfectly. “He will make his presence known sooner rather than later.”

With a gentle groan, Izzy clings to me as I help her sit up. She studies my face, then her eyes wander away from me.

“You’ve been busy,” she says, a smile pushing through the pain.

“I nested,” I state, my chest puffing up because I love nesting for my mate. “I nested for you.”

Her tiny hand curls around my bicep.

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