Page 35 of Shadow Bonds

“What was the dream about?” Knox asks.

“Nothing,” I reply.

Knox clenches his jaw. “You were screaming in pain. Like you were fucking terrified.”

“It was just a dream. I’m fine.” I move to get up and hiss when a sharp fiery burn slides down my thigh.

Cyrus is beside me before I move another inch, whipping the blanket off me to reveal three long claw marks down my thigh and a pool of blood around it.

“What the fuck?” Knox says while my eyes find Cyrus’.

“How is that possible? It was just a dream.” Wasn’t it?

“If you hadn’t blocked us out, we would’ve known you were badly injured,” Theon grits out.

“That wasn’t from earlier,” Cyrus says, and they all look at him with a questioning look.

“In her dream, something attacked her.” His eyes find my thigh. “And it had claws.”

Malakai frowns. “Maybe the bond allowed her to be dragged into your dream?”

“No,” Cyrus replies. “That was definitely hers. But maybe something else got in.”

I blanch, not even thinking that could be a thing. “What if it happens again?”

Malakai drags a hand down his face with a sigh. “Someone needs to stay with her.”

I open my mouth to cut that asinine idea off when Cyrus replies to him.

“I will,” he says, and I turn to look at him. There’s a look in his eyes that I don’t understand. But the worry in them is unmistakable.

“I’ll be able to watch her dreams too,” he says, but doesn’t look away from me.

I drag my gaze away from him to look at the others. “I don’t think?—”

“It’s not up for discussion,” Malakai says, cutting me off.

Knox groans. “Someone just get her to the healing center so I can go back to bed.”

I stop myself from making my way to him and slapping him upside his head and instead get to my feet, hiding my wince. “I didn’t ask any of you to come in here. I don’t need any one of you to bring me anywhere. And I also don’t need a damn watchdog. Get out!”

Knox’s eyes narrow on me. He opens his mouth to say something, but his gaze drops to something on my side, and he pales.

“What the fuck are they?” he asks as his eyes grow wider by the second.

The others move around the bed and all quickly freeze with the same look of shock and horror on their faces just like Knox.

Haven’t they seen a little cut before? I glance down at my thigh but freeze when I realize it’s not the cut they’re looking at. It’s the long black tattoo on my upper thigh.

I pull up my top and gasp when I find it runs right up to my side. But it’s not the only one.

There’s another long swirling tattoo on the other side, but this one starts at my rib and stops at my hip.

“Someone want to explain to me why I now suddenly have two huge tattoos on my sides?” I ask. They’re stunning but also something I never asked for.

“Four,” Theon grits out, and I glance over at him, finding his hands clenched at his sides and his entire demeanor hostile.

“What?” I ask.

---