Donovan. Shit is going down. It’d be good if you could come. Now. The bond was still quiet, but I could feel it.

So I took what I needed.

Yanking as much of Donovan’s power as possible, I let his Alpha energy fill the room until it was thick in the air. “Back. Off.” I poured more power into the words.

The men dropped to their knees and their gazes fell to the ground in submission.

“No. She’s not strong enough for that,” Vivian said, her voice a high-pitched whine. “She can’t. How can she do that?”

I turned back to them. Screw it. I didn’t have much time left. Whatever Donovan was doing had thinned our bond. I had enough power to hold them, but only for a few more seconds. “Donovan and I are true mates. What’s mine is his. What’s his is mine.” I shoved more power at them until everyone hit the ground. Saoirse writhed as she fought the compulsion to submit. “Hands on the floor.” I pushed the command at her as I closed the distance.

I reached for the brooch just as Donovan’s power slipped from my grasp.

Saoirse touched it first.

“Bhrunyz. To me.”

The air shimmered and then all nine feet of black mass and horns was standing in front of me. He growled, showing his teeth. I couldn’t breathe.

Shit.

Shit.

No.

My blood turned to ice, and my hands shook. His scent filled the room. I nearly threw up.

He swung his arm at me, and I was suddenly Bhrunyz’s rag doll.

My whole body slammed into the floor. I screamed.

Bhrunyz grabbed me, and I scratched at him. Hit him. I wasn’t dying without a fight. I wouldn’t give up.

I tried to shake myself free as bright dots filled my vision. “No!”

I crashed into the stone again. I heard a crack and pain rocketed through my body. Before I had time to breathe, I was airborne and falling to the floor, too disoriented to even try to spot the floor. A split second later I hit something rough and sharp.

The world went black.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Everything hurt. I tried to reach Donovan along our bond, but it was like grasping at air. Bhrunyz had taken me to some deep, dark pit and I couldn’t reach my mate. I was stuck without a way to call for help.

The cave smelled like dirt and mold and death.

I was in Bhrunyz’s lair. Lucas said Bhrunyz tortures his victims until fear floods their blood, and then he kills them. That was my fate. And it was probably too much to hope that I’d find some way out of here.