Page 64 of Guarded By a Monster

I tried again, and this time managed, “Wanted to make sure you’re okay,” before hanging up.

I clenched the phone, staring at the screen like it might magically light up with Jade’s name. The bond told me she was safe, but her not answering left a gnawing feeling in my gut. Behind me, there was a clatter—Nanna dropped her tea mug in the sink with a sharp thud.

“I’m sure she’s just busy,” Kendal ventured, her voice soft but not entirely convincing. “It’s only been a few minutes.”

“Busy?” I scraped my claws across the back of my neck. “Yes, maybe. Or maybe… Maybe I’m just being paranoid,” I added, a little too loud, hoping to convince myself.

Drym pushed off the couch and came into the kitchen, arms crossed over his broad chest. “You don’t need to explain anything to us. But this pacing in circles is getting on everyone’s nerves—including yours.”

I couldn’t argue with that. My pulse throbbed in my ears, the same refrain beating like a drum: Jade is fine. Jade is fine. Except… the last time I assumed she was fine, she ended up hurt. I growled in frustration. I couldn’t follow her. It was still daylight. I was trapped in the compound until dark.

I stared at the red motes of light that bobbed around me, willing myself to calm down.

A small hand tapped my forearm, and I looked down to find River standing in front of me.

“I know where they are. I’ll go.”

I shook my head. It still wouldn’t be me.

She held up her phone and then grabbed mine, dialing herself. “I’ll leave it on speaker. You’ll be able to hear everything.”

I nodded. “Yes. Please.”

As she stepped through the door I called after her. “Thank you.”

She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “We take care of our own, Thurl.”

In that moment, I finally felt like a creature that others cared about and would help. My entire life it had been just me and my brothers. It was hard to rely on someone else. Hard to trust. She still scared me, but I trusted Zeus. He trusted River.

I hoped she would find nothing, and my brothers could laugh at how silly I’d been. I hoped to hear her voice chiding me for sending River after her on the other end of the line.

I would let them tease as much as they wanted if it were true. I couldn’t lose Jade. Without her sugar and sunshine, I would be a dark shell. To have the depth of the mate bond ripped away—it would be too much to bear.

I sank into a crouch, the phone still cradled in my hands as I listened to the sounds of River getting into her vehicle and driving.

Please, please let her be okay.

thirty-five

I had the worstheadache I’d ever had. I needed to take some medicine and find a dark room to curl up in. I wondered if Thurl had aspirin. Probably not. I can’t imagine the wyrfangs got headaches. He said they couldn’t get sick. I was thinking about the flu but that probably meant headaches, too.

I rolled over to ask him if he had a first aid kit and my arm scraped along the floor.

Wait. Why was I on the floor? Why was the floor rough like badly poured concrete?

I pushed myself up and cracked open an eye.

The floorwasbadly poured, rough concrete and I was not in Thurl’s house. I wasn’t in the joint task force warehouse, either. I had no idea where I was.

A thick layer of dust didn’t help cushion the floor, but it let me see a few sets of footprints leading to a door on the far wall. Mold covered the ceiling and had made it about halfway down one wall. There was a dirty window with a pane missing over a cracked sink, but I could see the bars on the outside from where I sat.

“Luna?” My brain punished me with a sharp stab when I turned to look for her. I was alone.

I closed my eyes and took a few calming breaths. Panicking would do me no good and just make my head hurt worse.

The arm propping me up sported a line of blood running from my inner elbow to my wrist. The hole looked like the kind you got from an IV. Despite my best efforts, anxiety surged.

Someone had injected me with something?

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