Page 108 of Protect Me

“The only thing I ever actually needed from you,” he says. “Your magic.”

“You can’t...” I shake my head, trying to think through the panic. But the proof is right there in his mind. It’s the strongest desire he holds. “That’s not possible.”

“It is when you’re a warlock who finally uncovered a lost book of dark magic. And it just so happens one of the spells is a perfect fit for what I intend to take from you.”

“Why are you doing this?” I ask, my voice wobbling. The pain in my elbow is getting worse, and I’m pretty sure I broke something, but I can’t afford to let that distract me right now.

“You’re nothing but a fucking headache,” he snarls. “I don’t need your ungrateful bullshit. Nothing about you makes you worth the time I’ve spent hunting you down. Or the trouble I went through, planning how to get to you without interruption. This finishes it once and for all. Tonight. And I’ll have everything I need to win the favor of my House and take my rightful place of power.”

“You’ll never get away with this,” I whisper, but the longer we sit here without anyone coming to find me, the less I believe it. My magic writhes in pain at the thought. Whatever attachment it felt to them only makes their absence hurt worse.

Maybe the guys really are throwing a party without me. Serves me right for turning down what they offered me. Not just safety and protection but love. And I was too much of a coward to take it while it lasted.

Now, I’ll die alone and forgotten.

I refuse to do it willingly, though.

The next time Robert turns his back on me, I make my move. Jumping up is awkward and painful, but I manage to get to my feet. The moment I do, I race toward the door, hoping I can at least get into the stairwell before he catches me. Maybe at least one of the supernaturals partying on the floor below this one will hear me scream.

Robert catches me before I make it halfway.

Hands grab at my hair then my arms, yanking me painfully to a stop. Pain shoots up my arm, but I ignore it and contort my body around, bringing my knee up into Robert’s groin. He groans, his hold on me loosening.

I take off again, but this time, instead of grabbing me, something sharp slices through my hip. I don’t stop, but the pain makes me stumble. I go down hard, rolling to lessen the impact. Lying on my back, I look up as Robert stands over me, his eyes blazing with a crazy violence that leaves me no doubt he intends to make me pay for what I just tried.

“You’re done, you little bitch,” he says, spit flying from his mouth. He reaches down and picks up whatever sliced into me. The knife. Its rough blade gleams in the moonlight, a dark and twisted promise of more pain before he’ll make sure I escape it all forever.

“And now you fucking pay,” he says, looming over me with the blade clutched in his hand.

I suck in a breath, squeezing my eyes shut.

“I love you, Duncan, Bracken, and Killian,” I whisper as I brace for what comes next.

Chapter28

Killian

Fear hits me like a bullet train, and I stop in my tracks. It churns in my gut, eating away at my nerves, and I scan the room for my brothers, noting that they’re also frozen in place. Around us, the surprise party for Sway carries on without her, but deep inside, I’m stone-cold.

Terrified.

Only, it’s not coming from me.

And it’s not my brothers.

“She should have been here by now,”Duncan sends through the bond.

Just then, the door opens, and Brad walks in. Alone.

“The fuck,” Duncan growls at him. “You were supposed to bring her up. Where is she?”

“She didn’t want to wait for me to change.” Brad blinks. “She’s not here?”

“What the hell,”Bracken growls through the bond. “Where is she, and why do I feel like I might vomit?”

And then I know exactly what this feeling inside me is trying to say.

“Sway,”I send through our bond as I drop the cake in my hand and sprint for the door. It splatters, but the heavy thud barely registers compared to the heavy thundering of my heart.