LOGINSerena planted a hand on her hip and cocked her head. “You done?” she asked almost impatiently, gesturing to the tray. “Because I made you soup, and I’d hate to deny giving it to you just because you’re being naughty.”“Fuck you and your soup,” Kade snarled. “Where’s Elena? Where’s Ivy? Where are th
Kade’s POV“Kade…”He couldn’t feel the mate bond anymore, and it terrified him. Like reaching into a familiar space where there was once warmth and life, only to find cold emptiness within.But he could hear her voice calling to him, soft and distant. She was there still, just further now, and all
Elena’s POV“She was supposed to heal you.”“I know. She didn’t.”“Why?”“I don’t know… She tended my wound, but she didn’t use her powers…”The voices faded in, slow at first, then all at once. I blinked my eyes open, adjusting to the darkness around me. The air smelled like damp earth and somethin
Whoever lived here was gone at the moment, but they could come back anytime. We decided to keep one person on the lookout, prepared to call out if anyone showed up. That person wound up being Lana.Tyler, Kade and I laid Nellie out on the table, propping a small, somewhat foul-smelling pillow from t
Elena’s POVKade crouched down, letting Nellie climb onto his back with Tyler’s help. He hooked his arms under her knees and stood, and we kept moving.Nobody talked much, other than Nellie, who quietly pointed Kade in the right direction. The forest was too thick and too dark for idle conversation,
Kade got to work without question.As I worked, carefully packing the white paste into the puncture wounds all around Nellie’s leg, Tyler looked at me. A moment later, his voice slipped into my mind.“Why don’t you just use your power to heal her?”My jaw tightened. “I can’t.”“What? Why?”I glanced
Elena’s POVMy heart lurched painfully at the healer’s words.“Illness?” I whispered.Ivy was ill? My daughter was sick? With what?Kade didn’t seem to hear me speak, and if he did, he ignored me outright. Lips pressed into a thin line, he quickly followed the healer into the hallway, leaving me mom
Elena’s POV“Wake up!”The sound of voices and a baby crying jolted me out of my stupor. The pounding in my head was incredible. I felt like I’d taken six shots of vodka before I passed out and eaten a mouthful of dirt from the cellar floor in my sleep. The last thing I recalled was… What happened?
Kade’s POVAt first, Kade had been terrified and furious. Someone had tried to hurt his child—and that someone had been the very woman who was supposed to be gone by now! But seeing Elena’s face, so hopeful, so terrified, streaked with dirt and tears… It made something crack inside of Kade’s chest b
…Serena’s POVSerena stared at Kade’s retreating form, feeling something ugly and hateful twist in her chest as she watched him go.Her wedding was ruined. The hem of the beautiful dress she had designed herself was covered in dirt from the bottom of this putrid cellar and her special day was being







