Page 106 of Craved

“Answer me,” he demanded.

“It’s me. Zoe.” I sheathed the blades in my boots and went to Rafe.

“Zoe?” I felt him reach for me, then hiss. The scent of raw, silver-bitten flesh filled the cell.

The lights came back on.

Thirty seconds down. How much time did we have now?

“Zoe.” He closed his eyes. “Crap. I’m dreaming, aren’t I?”

I sucked in a breath at the angry wounds the cuffs had burned into his wrists.

“No dream.” I touched his face. “It’s really me.”

His mouth contorted in a heart-breaking imitation of his lopsided smile. “Yeah?”

I wanted—no, needed—to press my body to his, to give him a hard, I-love-you kiss. But the clock was ticking. Now that the power was back on, security would be here any minute to investigate the broken cameras.

Rafe was still staring at me like I was a ghost.

“Hey.” I brushed a kiss over his mouth. “I’m really here.”

His lips clung to mine. “You’re really here,” he repeated.

“Yeah.” I was growing worried. What had they done to him?

He looked past me at Blaise’s disintegrating body. “Nice work, badass.”

“Somebody had to save your butt.” I wasn’t in a joking mood, but it was that or give in to my horror at how bad he looked.

“You’re my hero. Tell me you can open these cuffs.”

“There’s a trick to it.” Which I prayed I remembered.

I felt along the silver band on his right wrist, barely registering the burn on my fingertips. Philippe hadn’t made it easy for even his own people to release a prisoner. I located the two almost-imperceptible buttons and held them down at the same time.

“There.” A metallic click and the cuff released.

Rafe hissed and brought his arm down. I released him from the other cuff and stepped back. He tried to move his arms, winced. He set his mouth and shook them out, then took a stumbling step forward.

I caught him by the shoulders and steadied him.

“Oops.” Another crooked grin. Beneath my hands, he was trembling.

I managed to smile back. “Take it easy, hotshot.”

He was too weak. He needed fresh blood.

But that wouldn’t protect him if we were caught on the way out. The only thing that might save him was for us to mate. Even Victorine would think twice before staking my mate. If Rafe was my true mate—and I was counting on the fact that he was, because I wouldn’t know for sure until we swore the blood oath—the bond between us would be unbreakable.

The only way she could break it would be to kill Rafe, and the mate bondwas too rare and special for even a prima to reject without a huge blowback. The entire Tremblay Syndicate would rebel if she tried.

To vampires, the oath sworn between true mates was sacred.

Plus, those “strong men” whom she’d lined up as possible mates would probably refuse to take a woman whose mate had been ripped from her that way. For one thing, there was a good chance that if I lost Rafe after we’d bonded, I’d never have spawn.

I rubbed Rafe’s shoulders, conscious of the huge step I was about to take.

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