I didn’t look at him, crossing toward her instead. I heard the click of a gun, but ignored it. Carrion was enthralled by our performance and he wouldn’t shut it down now, not unless he could see the threat.
And he wouldn’t.
Not as I cupped Thistle’s neck.
“You will let him bite you,” I told her.
She swallowed, violet galaxies blown wide with a mix of fear and reverence. As if she were taking a step, believing I would catch her before she fell.
“Yes, Alpha.”
The gems Knox had given me rolled in my grip. I could see the faintest flicker of colours caught among her raven hair, and I found the right one. Blue was long used at Bella’s party. Pink, Knox had just injected himself with.
It was the red one I pressed against her skin, turning her blood to poison.
FORTY-EIGHT
ROGUE
It had happened too fast. Knox was still, body limp, chest not moving.
I shook him.
There was no way he was dead. The thought refused to land.
Fuck…
Ace had never trusted us.
There was a moment after Bella’s party when he stitched Bambi’s wounds and I believed he was on our side. But now I knew he was here for Thistle—no one else.
There was movement around me. Ace was saying something. “You will let him bite you.” The words formed in the air, a command from Ace, but I couldn’t process them.
There was no rise and fall of Knox’s chest.
He was… dead?
I almost let out a laugh.
Impossible.
An hour ago he’d agreed to join the bond and I’d sent him to fucking find her. He had to join. She needed him. I was onlyhalf a person, the rest of me still lost somewhere in the years I’d spent wasting away, keeping him chained up with no one to think of but myself.
There was no way I could do this without him.
Not this pack. Not… anything.
My fist was at his shoulder, my knees pressed against the marble. I shook him again, but he was limp.
Dark bruises coloured his neck.
I touched it, but couldn’t find a pulse.
I rubbed my fingers and thumb together. Bad circulation. I couldn’t feel pain, so maybe my nerves were all misfiring. I pressed against his neck again, feeling nothing.
“Knox.”
He didn’t move—didn’t open his eyes or even flinch.