Page 85 of Virgin Lust

That was the nicest thing Dirk ever said to me, and I had a feeling it would be the only time he ever did.

He pulled away. “What are you waiting around for? We need to save your sister.”

My stomach tensed.

“Take Dirk to get looked at by my mom.” I pushed him into Shepherd’s arms. “I need to find Joy.”

“I’m fine,” Dirk said stubbornly. He hopped down as Shepherd snatched my wrist.

His eyes narrow as his jaw tightened. “I’m not leaving your side anymore, Prudence. I will fight you on this. You can hate me, but never again will I leave.”

Oh, Hades. If I were made from snow, I would have melted at his feet. My heart bounced within my chest.

“Shepherd,” I whispered.

“Your immortality is disappearing randomly. I won’t leave you in danger like that again! Do you know what it was like to be stuck somewhere knowing you were—” His voice cracked, and he covered his face, taking a deep breath. When I pulled his arm down, I saw tears falling down his cheeks. “I felt your pain, Princess, the second you realized you almost died, and I could do nothing.Nothing.When your powers vanished, I was fading and got trapped in that dark void you call the space in-between. Never again will I feel that hopeless again. I’ll be there for you when it happens next time.”

“Sire…” Wallis voice shook. “The dead things are getting closer.”

Wallis reminded me my sister’s abduction wasn’t the only problem. Deadthingsstaggered around the human world. They weren’t very strong, but together they could kill.

A loud whirring interrupted my thoughts. As the buzzing neared, it deafened the roar from the raging flames. A bright light shone down from above. Shielding my eyes, I looked up at the helicopters.

The human cavalry was there.It was probably for the best.

As if he knew my thoughts, Dirk sighed. “Let the humans deal with the walking corpses. With their weapons, they can manage.”

Dirk was right. The humans had to do it on their own. We could no longer hide our world from them because ours was falling apart as well.

“All right,” I said. “We stick together.”

Because it was no longerifmy powers faded again, it waswhen.

Twenty-Nine

Prudence

Before we faded, the family arrived. August appeared first with his shirt torn open. Blood covered his chest and one side of his face. He looked like he’d been through hell and back. I doubted he’d failed our sister like I did.

I let my shoulders sag as he came to me. He gripped one tightly and lowered his head to mine for a moment before turning away. My chest ached. I didn’t know what to think of his gentleness. I knew my brother loved all of us, but he so rarely showed it.Like me. I never realized how much I took my family for granted until Derrick took Joy. It was worse than Kitty’s kidnapping ten years ago. At least, we had been able to sense her. With Joy, my power blindly reached out for her and came back empty. It was like she didn’t exist.

“The proxy could have taken you both, but he only took Joy?” August asked, brows furrowing. “If she’s been with the proxy the entire time, it means Joy was his target from the beginning.” August paced back and forth.

“Do you sense Joy?” I asked.

“No,” August clipped out. Roaring, he picked up a huge chunk of a burning wall and threw it.

The helicopters shining a light down on us didn’t faze him one bit as he continued to throw debris.

“This is where I felt Joy last,” Barron said as he arrived with Gwendolyn. He tucked her against his side as he watched. August stopped his rage when he spotted Barron. One brother gritted his teeth while the other breathed heavily. No words were needed. Their sagging shoulders spoke volumes.

Failure.

We lost Joy. We’d been unable to find Harvest, so how would we locate Joy? My throat tightened, and I sucked in a breath.I can’t.With shaking fingers, I covered my face and bawled.Ilet down Joy.

Shepherd planted a soft kiss on my forehead and wrapped his arms around me.

“Prudence,” said Sebastian as he faded in. He wiped my tears. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

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