Page 80 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha
At that, I lost it. Body sagging, she held me up as I sobbed. As I let out my fear that I’d just got him and might lose him. That I might never see him again. She manoeuvred me to the couch and sat down beside me, one hand gently stroking my hair. “It will be okay. We’ll figure it out.”
When the tears finally dried up, I sat up straight, wiping my face with the back of one hand. Gods. How embarrassing.
“We saw how he looked at you.” This was from Simon, who put a glass of water into my hand.
“Pardon?” Maybe the pain in my head was making me slow, but I didn’t know what he meant.
“Bastien.” I frowned, still not getting it. Simon smiled. “It’s how I’ve looked at Marguerite from the moment I met her. She is my universe. My reason for being.”
I took a sip of the water he’d handed me, fresh tears stinging my eyes. “You saw that in him?”
Marguerite patted my hair. “We’re his parents. We see everything. We didn’t say anything, but we’ve been waiting and hoping.”
Swivelling to Luc, I opened my mouth to ask, but he beat me to it. “I didn’t pick it, but I knew something had happened between the two of you. He was off around you. And it wasn’t like him to be cruel.”
“He apologised,” I said, defending him automatically. My hand waved vaguely. Drunkenly. “And it’s in the past.”
“But it hurt you.” I nodded. “I should have kicked his ass, got him to get his head on straight. You two could have been mated for years already.”
Later, I’d tell him that it was as much my fault as Bastien’s. I was the one who’d refused his initial advances. But not right now. The pings in my head were suddenly loud and the chimes were coming so close together that the sound was almost constant.
“He’s in danger. Right now.” The glass fell to the floor and I lurched for the door, barely able to see straight.
“I’ll go,” said Luc. “Matteo’s been checking in. Bastien was called into the Council Chamber a while ago. The lawyers arrived, but they haven’t been allowed in to see him.”
He turned, striding past Caly, dropping a quick kiss on her lips before opening the door, and disappearing down the corridor faster than a human could move.
“Sit down,” urged Caly. She held me on one side. Simon on the other.
“No, I have to go.” He was my mate. I needed to be there. I needed to do something. Waiting, knowing he was in danger, was agony.
“He needs to know you’re here and safe. And you can barely walk.”
They deposited my on the couch, my limbs awkward, not properly responding to my brain’s commands. My heart galloped in my chest. My breaths shallow, sweat at my temples, dripping down my back.
PINGPINGPINGPINGPINGPING
“Something’s very wrong,” I whispered. “He said earlier that Maximilian set him up.”
“That snake,” Marguerite spat. Vaguely I noticed she was on her knees, wiping up the water I’d spilled. “Things would have been so much easier if I could have ripped his head off.”
What? A hysterical laugh forced its way out of my chest, momentarily distracting me.
“But I never had enough evidence against him. And he’s patient. Has Bastien given you anything else to go on?”
“Not yet.” Fuck, my head hurt, but I had to get it together. If all I could do right now was to be the person he could talk to, then that was what I would do.
But when I reached out, he wasn’t there.The bond was still there, but it was like he’d walked out of a room we’d shared. There wasn’t a trace of his presence.
PINGPINGPINGPINGPINGPING
My head pounded and nausea twisted in my stomach. Gods, maybe I was going to be sick. I’d never experienced a sustained session of pre-cog as severe as this. This was even worse than when Caly was kidnapped and ended up almost dead after using too much magic. I’d been helpless then too, angry that I couldn’t help. Bastien and I weren’t even in the countryand the constant firing of my pre-cog, while I couldn’t do anything to help, had been the worst experience of my life.
I hadn’t thought it could get worse.
I’d been so wrong.
Staggering to my feet, I waved my hands, indicating I needed space. I was beyond words. I made it to the toilet, barely, before I puked. There was nothing in my stomach, so all that came up was bile. Luc had intended to feed me, but he’d likely forgotten when he ran out, and even if food had been delivered, I wouldn’t have been able to eat it.
