Luca had slept fitfully through the night, stirring and whimpering as if reliving the fight in the dark. My heart had wrenched for him, the guilt in my stomach an unpleasant companion as I’d whispered soft encouragements into his ear. I’d stroked his curls, reminding him that I was there, they were gone, and he didn’t need to be afraid, all while resenting my own carelessness. I’d watched over him even once he’d settled, mapping out each line and contour of his face and body, matching them to what was already in my memory, proving to myself that this was not just a figment of my imagination.

He’d woken with exhaustion hanging over him, his eyes shadowed with the type of weariness that followed a night of wrestling through bad dreams, and for that reason, I’d urged him to stay in bed most of the day. He was stubborn, but he’d relented, making it clear that he only did so because he was eager to dive into the book on carnivorous plants he’d picked up at the market.

And apparently, the jet bathtub was “pretty neat.”

Whatever his reasoning, I was just glad he remained inside, where I could keep him in my sights and attend to his wound. It was a mere scratch, logically I knew that, but all I could envision was how much worse it might have been. How close they’d come to taking him from me.

I’d scrubbed him raw, but I could still smell their blood on his skin, could still see the fear in his eyes as it had pinned him to the forest floor. That look would haunt me, as would the defeat I’d felt through our bond, and the way he’d accepted death as he saw no other way. The creature had warped his mind, had reached into his soul and filled it with darkness, all because I’d been too late to save him from it.

Despite my mate’s reassurance that he was unscathed and it had been an unpredictable situation, the fact remained that I’d failed him. I could not have foreseen the future, there was no way I could have known their plan, but there could have been more preparation. I was a prince with unlimited resources, for Creators’ sake, I should have shielded him better, been more alert, hired more guards. There was no reason for him to ever feel fear or be in danger, not with me, not with our people. Safety and comfort were what I had promised him, and knowing I’d broken that trust would be a burden I’d carry with me always.

And I would do everything in my power to ensure it never happened again.