Page 393 of Primal Bonds

“So how long?”

She groaned. “You’re like a pit bull sometimes, you know that?”

“Rosana.”

“Okay, okay. I need to immerse myself in fresh water, and even if I shifted to otter, I’d still be too large for that little trickle to do any good.”

His stomach knotted. “How long?” he gritted. “One day? Two?”

“I honestly don’t know.” She gave a half laugh. “It’s not like I’ve ever been locked up before. But I’m not going to shrivel up overnight. I have at least a few days, maybe longer, although I’ll start to feel it in a day or two.” She opened her mouth, shut it.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“I have a feeling we’ve been in here longer than we realize—maybe even a day already. You know how time runs differently in a fae court.”

He swore. “So you’re already feeling it?”

Another jerk of her shoulder.

“Just hang on, okay?” He gathered her to him. “Your brothers will come for you.”

Dion and Tiago would tear apart heaven and earth to save Rosana.

Like Adric would have for his sister—if he’d known those bastards had kidnapped her. But they’d smashed her quartz so she couldn’t call for help. By the time Adric had found out, it was too late. They’d had a whole night with her.

He swallowed.

Let it go. Jani’s okay, getting better all the time.

A silence. Then Rosana said, “About that…”

An icy finger traced down his spine. “What did you do?”

She lifted her chin. “I told the prince I wanted to stay with you.”

“You did what?” He winced as pain squeezed his head. “Why the hell would you do that?”

“Because. I wasn’t sure how hurt you were, and—” She swallowed audibly. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You should’ve demanded to leave. This is between him and me. Having you here just fucks things up.”

“Maybe. And maybe not. In my vision, you came to the court alone—and you died, damn it.” Her voice broke. She took a jagged breath. “You need me, Adric Savonett. Why won’t you believe me?” Tears glimmered on her face.

Hell, now he’d made her cry. “Rosana…” He touched her wet cheek, but she growled and buried her head in her knees.

“Hey.” He set a tentative hand on her back. “I’m sorry, okay? Just…don’t cry.”

“For your information,” she said to her legs, “I did demand to leave—more than once. The prince wouldn’t give me a straight answer. He was playing with me. Then you got here and you got hurt—bad. You were out cold, for Deus’s sake. And you think I should’ve just left you with them?”

He heaved a breath. “C’mere.”

She scowled but allowed him to guide her back to his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, love.” He kissed her temple. “I just hate like hell that you got dragged into this.”

She gave a tight nod. “There is something,” she said, low-voiced. “On the way here, I called on Cleia for help, and I’m pretty sure she heard me. We were still in southern Maryland, so they may not realize Luc was bringing me here. But at least they’ll know I’m not in Baltimore.”

“That’s good. But why would they think you’re in Baltimore?”

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