Page 51 of Eternally Yours

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

My body went rigid. Her words cut through me like a jagged knife. Her love was all I ever wanted, but now that I had it, I couldn't keep it. “I love you, too, Loren.” It was the only truth I could offer.

Closing my eyes, I clung to her and the lie that everything would be okay.

* * *

The sound of scraping metal pricked my ears as I slowly opened my eyes, my vision blurry and spinning. Everything felt sluggish, from my breaths to the movement of my limbs. I could barely push myself up to my elbows.

“Lo...ren?” Even her name spilled out of my lips in a drugged tone.

What the fuck?

As I continued to struggle to get my senses back online, the sound of Loren’s deep growl shot adrenaline through my chest. That sound was unmistakable. She was under duress.

“Lo...ren,” I tried again, but the word came out slurred.

“Toxin is taking too long to kill him,” a male voice said, the words reaching my ears in muffled tones.

“Give it time,” a different man added. “His healing capabilities have been compromised.”

“I can just hack off his head,” said another.

“Nah. Leave him. I want this fucking leech-prince to suffer an agonizing death. Let it be a message to the covens that we’re about to rain fucking hell on every last one of their kind.”

Loren growled again, this time louder.

“Get that wretched beast under control,” the man who’d called me a leech hollered.

“Sedative isn’t working. She’s too strong. We need to go or she’ll break free from the chains!”

Loren’s rage and panic screamed through our bond, calling for my help, and my inability to respond burned a hole through my chest.

Loren. Baby. I’m so sorry.

My mind fumbled through thoughts. How had these fuckers found us and managed to drug me in my sleep? Then it dawned on me. Of course. How could I have been so fucking stupid?

The lull after a bloodmating union. My jaw clenched. I couldn’t stop fucking up.

Able to move my legs, I felt the throbbing sting on my thigh. With a languid hand, I found the sharp needle embedded in my flesh and yanked it out, swallowing the pain.

I knew we’d be exhausted, but I’d hoped they wouldn’t get passed my heightened hearing. And now they’d taken Loren. Big. Fucking. Mistake. Snarling, I summoned strength from the deepest recesses of my being and launched to my feet, grabbing at anyone I could get my hands on. The world spun around me, my mind still feeling the effects of the poison, but I didn’t relent.

My hand brushed against flesh and I instantly grabbed the poor sap standing next to me. Even in my drugged state, snapping human bones was like snapping twigs. His screams echoed through the cave as I thrust him against a wall, crushing his spine and silencing his cries.

The commotion sent the rest of his team into a panic frenzy, and in the blur of running bodies, my gaze froze as I caught sight of Loren.

No…

Lying face down on the ground, four men worked to shackle her in chains. She was transformed, but clearly also fighting the effects of a drug. One had his black boot on the back of her neck. Another pressed his knee into her spine while his comrade muzzled her like she was a rabid dog.

My vision cleared and for a second I wished it hadn’t. The agony etched on her face was worse than the suffering she transmitted through our connection. Rage burned through my skin and without a second thought, I rushed toward them, muscles primed to tear them to shreds, but before I could reach her, my body was pelted with more poisoned darts.

I collapsed at her side, the paralyzing heat of the toxins as they invaded my body knocking me unconscious, but not before I mouthedI’m sorryone last time.

Chapter Sixteen

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