I should have known it was too good to be true, too soon for me to feel relief.

My mate started convulsing.

“No, no, no,” Zadok muttered, more terrified than I had seen him.

It was all happening so fast, my senses overwhelmed with panic. I hadn’t even a chance to process before the seizing abruptly stopped.

As did his breath.

“What is going on? He’s not breathing. Why is he not…” I reached out to touch Luca’s hand, to hold him, to comfort him, but Zadok blocked my way. I was distantly aware that he called for Flick, his lover barging through the doorway behind me. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Luca, from his stillness.

“Hold him back,” Zadok commanded. “Don’t let go.”

Without hesitation, muscled arms circled my waist, trapping me in place.

I jerked in alarm.

“What are you⁠—”

Zadok’s fingers lit up with the crackle of electricity, making my skin prickle with goose bumps, before he slammed them against my mate’s chest.

Excruciating pain tore through our bond, and I saw red.

“Get off him,” I barked, lunging forward, prepared to rip the bastard limb from limb, but no matter how loud I howled or how hard I fought, the grip on me wouldn’t budge. I felt useless. Weak. “Let go of me!”

“Calm yourself,” the voice behind me growled, strained through gritted teeth. His hold on me grew tighter. I couldn’t breathe. “He’s trying to save him.”

No. He was hurting him. I could feel it, the agony ricocheting into me as if my body were a conductor. There was a smell of burning as my mate’s back arched off the bed with each shocking pulse of magic. A storm of emotions seethed within me—fear, desperation, an overwhelming urge to kill. I had to protect him. I’d already failed once, but I couldn’t fail again.

Not this time.

I was losing strength, my consciousness waning. I wanted to peel out of my skin, to escape the debilitating sensation, but I couldn’t. I had to break free, I had to unglamor my wings and carry him to safety. I had to… I had to…

It stopped.

The static. The dread. The torment.

Everything fell into an unnerving stillness.

I wilted, a shivering shell of the male I had been just moments ago. The raucous world had faded to a dull hum, the only sound a relentless rush of blood echoing in my ears. Zadok turned, his eyes wet and red-rimmed, and I couldn’t hear his voice, only the motion of his lips as they mouthed, “He’s gone.”

Gone?

I replayed the word in my head, again and again, but each time it sounded more and more nonsensical. Those strong arms that had confined me suddenly loosened. I stumbled forward.