Page 86 of Chaos Tempted

If I am going to escape and find out what happened to Wyn and my people, I need to regain my strength. Opening the bag of food, I eat greedily. Once I have my fill, I close my eyes and allow myself to rest—if only to ease the pain of my loss for a moment.

An hour later, Corwin knocks on the door. “Your Highness?”

“Corwin?”

“Yes, it’s me. There are three guards with me out here. I have to stay with them, but I will make sure you are safe.”

“Thank you.” With Corwin’s announcement, I know that there are three guards to incapacitate during my escape. Will Corwin be up to the task? “Any word on Jaden or Oakes?”

“Nosignof them.”

The emphasis suggests that Corwin hasn’t confirmed they are dead. A surge of hope fills me. What if they survived? That at least would ease my suffering just a bit. My friends can commiserate on equal footing because we all lost the same enchanting woman. We can assist each other in seeking revenge.

39

KEEPERS

WYNSTELLE

I’m in the woods when I regain consciousness, it’s dark out, and I squint to focus on the thick foliage surrounding me. Caging me in.

Curled into a ball, a searing agony pulses throughout my body. The pain begins at my changeling mark and encompasses my heart. In a panic, I remember crashing to the ground with Oakes. How long have I been unconscious? Why can’t I sense Oakes? It registers that I can’t feelanyof my mates.

“Oakes?” I call quietly with a tremble in my voice. I can’t risk alerting an enemy to my location by moving or making too much noise.

“Wyn?” he answers, just above a whisper.

I slowly turn over and realize he’s right behind me on the ground. My voice cracks with fear. “Why can’t I feel our bond?”

“I can’t feel our bond either. I only can sense what I do from my empathetic magic.” Oakes props himself up on an elbow andquickly glances around to assess our situation before returning his attention to me. “The pain I feel is nothing compared to what I sense in you.”

“I can’t feel Eldrin or Jaden,” I admit, my breathing ragged.

Oakes sits up and pulls me into his enormous arms.

I curl up in his lap while he rocks me. Snuggling into his chest, I grab at his shirt as if I can fix our broken link with the desperate action.

“Somehow, our mate bond has been severed.” Oakes rubs the heel of his hand over his heart.

“How can our bonds be broken?” I ask, shaking with anxiety. “Don’t we have to die for that to happen?”

“Magic is strange.” Oakes sighs and says hesitantly, “Perhaps Eldrin or Jaden have?—”

I stop him. “Don’t you dare say it!”

Oakes frowns and caresses my cheek with his healing energy until I calm my erratic breathing.

I gasp in gratitude that I can still feel that from him. But it’s still too small a consolation.

“Then maybe Twyla broke our connection?” Oakes suggests. “It’s the changeling mark that linked us during our mating ceremony.”

Even without our bond, I know he doesn’t want to say the rest. That Twyla might be dead.

“She was going after the ghouls last we saw her…” I can’t finish the thought.

He finally says what we both dread out loud. “If she died, perhaps it broke our link.”

“Oh, stars, but I don’t want her to be dead.” I pull Oakes tighter to me.

---