I didn’t move, my frantic eyes scanning him. My heartbeats slowed as a realization washed over me.
I couldn’t feel him anymore.
I was distracted by a strange dot on his neck near his ear. I was just reaching over to touch the black mark when I was yanked backwards. I kicked and screamed but it was to no avail. The arms locked around me were strong and unforgiving.
I could see Brace still hadn’t moved. I tried to contact him mentally, but he was gone, and it was not like those moments where he had blocked me – even then I could still feel his mind, I just couldn’t access it. Now the space was empty.
Tears flowed unconsciously. My melded side believed that our mate was dead. Nothing else could explain this emptiness. A strange keening noise annoyed me, until I realized the sounds were emitting from my own throat.
“Baby girl.” Josian’s voice close to my ear let me know I was at least not in Que’s slimy arms. “We need to get out of here immediately. We have to get away from Brace.”
“No!” I shouted. “I can’t leave him.” The sobs burst free again.
I pulled my eyes from Brace long enough to notice that we’d made it across the field. Josian opened a doorway and ordered everyone through. I was passed to another set of arms.
“NOOO!” I screamed before kicking out at whoever held me.
Brace needed me; I had to get back to him.
With a groan, I was released.
I managed to duck around the group, before stopping mid-stride.
It seemed as if the moment I’d screamed, Brace had awakened. He stood in the same spot, but everything was different. His hair was longer, his skin darker, his marks no longer black but an iridescent purple and his eyes were a startling swirl of gold.
“You cannot leave.” His words were low, but I could feel the push from each one.
Behind me the rest of our group made it through the doorway. Josian grabbed me again, and this time I let him, because the man standing there – he scared me more than anything I had ever witnessed in my life.
I wondered if he would let us leave. Something told me he had the power to stop us if he chose to. But he didn’t. At the last moment, before Josian dragged me through the doorway, Brace raised his hands.
No, no, no, no, I chanted in my head, because I knew what was coming next.
The inky darkness started in slow swirls, before exploding from him in black clouds. This was his dream, and I knew that Brace, my heart-mate, my love, was gone, and I’d never told him. I’d never said those three little stupid, amazing, heartaching words. Maybe that was a crazy thought, considering everything that was happening, but there it was.
Even after the doorway closed, and I could no longer see the creature that was wearing Brace, I was trapped in golden swirls. They danced before my eyes until eventually the pain eclipsed all else and darkness engulfed my mind.
***