Page 141 of Owned

My brothers were on edge. I could feel it radiating off them.

Anxiety and anger in equal measure.

We followed a long corridor made of stones that echoed with old magic.

Atrocities had been done in this place.

Long before we were born.

When the Sages wielded their power like the Necromi.

But they were afraid of that power now.

The worst thing about all of this?

I had no idea if Avril was alive or dead.

I couldn’t feel her.

Since she’d placed the blood bond on us, I’d been aware of her every heartbeat—even her moods.

But since she’d been taken… there was nothing.

I hadn’t known I could experience that kind of loss—or that it was possible.

But Avril had made it possible.

No.

It wasn’t real.

It was the bond.

Magic.

Nothing more.

“Can you feel her?” Valen asked.

Irritation slithered up my spine at the neediness in his voice.

“No,” Bastian answered for me.

Valen’s boots were loud on the stone. “That’s what I was worried about.”

I spun around and slammed my forearm into Valen’s chest as I pushed him back against the wall.

His dark blue eyes were wide with surprise and his jaw clenched as his back hit the wall. “Hey!”

“You don’tgetto be worried,” I growled. “It’s your fault she was taken.Your.Fault.”

Bastian grabbed at my shoulder to pull me back, but I didn’t move. “Titus, calm the fuck—”

“Don’t you fuckingdaretell me to calm down,” I snapped, but I kept my eyes on Valen. “If you hadn’t gone behind my back—”

“That’s not what happened,” Valen protested. “She begged me—”

“Shut the fuck up.”

---