I reached out, but I couldn’t stand, let alone hold on to him and my fingers scrabbled uselessly against his coat as they snatched him away from me. One of the guards scooped me up, and Darren stepped into my field of view, blocking my sight of Tair as they dragged him for the door. I could hear them scuffling, but Tair couldn’t win 50 to 1.

“Take him to the interrogation suite,” Darren called. “And her…” He loomed over me and grabbed my wrist as he pressed a patch to my arm. My skin tingled and burned. Two breaths later, I could feel the drugs working. I was already exhausted, but I fought to keep my lids open.

It couldn’t end like this. I couldn’t give up now. I wouldn’t give in.

“Take her to my lab. I want her in—” The roaring in my ears blocked out the rest of Darren’s words.

I’d already lost the fight against my body, but I could still see a few solidifying futures so awful they mad my throat choke closed.

Tair was about to be tortured and I was about to relive every one of my nightmares.

Even if I survived, I wouldn’t come out the same person.

I would’ve sobbed, but the drugs worked too fast.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

ALTAIR

I mowed through three guards before a tranq to the neck brought me down.

My last sight was Darren carrying Quanta away. Eyes closed. Body limp.

Being dragged from me by a madman.

I’d never felt so utterly helpless.

When I finally snapped awake, righteous anger seared through my veins. That feeling didn’t go away—it wouldn’t until I’d saved her—but reality tempered my reaction.

I’d been tied to an examination chair, which was bolted to the ground in the center of a white, fluorescent room. The walls were all two-way glass, and I could guess what kind of people were watching on the other side. Torqueing my muscles, I tried to pull free, but the binds at my wrists and ankles were made of a plastic composite that wouldn’t break.

Still, I fought.

I’d asked Quanta to do that much, so I couldn’t give up yet. Regardless of what was between us, she didn’t deserve this life. And the kiss…

I’d never planned to act myself, but Quanta had made the first move, craving a little comfort in the midst of this epic disaster.

I almost laughed. Maybe I hadn’t initiated the kiss, but I had finished it, along with any chance I had of separating myself from her.