Page 101

Kai sat next to Mera, and the room fell silent. The only sounds in the small space were Lukas’s anguished cries and the occasional sniffle from Riley as she calmed down.

“I’m going to lose her… I’m losing her. I can’t lose her,” Lukas chanted as he clung to Aiden in a desperate bid to soothe his agony, barely hanging onto himself, Aiden his only anchor.

Riley shut her eyes, no longer able to look at Lukas and keep her own self together.

“That’s not going to happen,” Aiden gritted out through a clenched jaw. “The transfusion is going to make everything alright again, okay?”

Lukas looked up at Aiden, his face streaked from the tears running through Blaire’s smeared blood on his cheeks. He swallowed hard.

“It hurts… It fucking hurts,” he croaked. He had to force himself to speak, and it felt like swallowing razors. His throat ached so badly.

He took in another large swallow of air, giving his best effort to push away the panic attack. “I feel physical pain, and I don’t know if it’s hers or mine.”

Mera sighed softly and looked at Lukas.

“I’m not surprised you would be hurting physically from this level of distress, but it is highly probable you also feel the pain Blaire is currently experiencing, since nothing happened to you physically tonight.”

“I’m going to kill whoever did this when I find them,” Lukas growled out, his voice strained, hoarse from his crying.

Riley wrapped her arms around her middle and shook her head.

Aiden said, “I understand how you feel, but you need to stay calm and strong for Blaire. Going after whoever did this right now isn’t wise.”

Lukas sat back from Aiden’s hold.

“Who fucking cares! I want them dead!” He held his head in his hands, resting his elbows on his knees.

“Who would have done something like this?” Kai asked.

Mera shrugged lightly. “I don’t know, but I have to agree with the professor’s assessment that a student would have just bitten Blaire.”

“Perhaps they wanted to save some for later? If so, they could easily have done that by using a needle, but that still doesn’t explain the missing flesh.”

Lukas jumped up from the floor, no longer able to listen, and paced around the room. He couldn’t stand how casually they talked about it. In a sudden fit, he threw a punch in frustration and knocked a hole in the closet door. “Fuck!”

“Hey!” Aiden got to his feet. “Take a shower, Lukas. The smell of Blaire’s blood isn’t helping you to maintain your composure.”

Lukas ran both hands through his hair, fingers catching on the dried blood that had matted the strands together, and grimaced.

Aiden gripped Lukas’ shoulder. “Besides… it’s difficult for me to smell it and I’ve drank recently, not to mention she’s not my Korrena, so I’m damn sure you’re suffering.”

Lukas wandered toward the bathroom door. He wasn’t thirsty anymore, just agitated. The blood kept him agitated, but he wouldn’t be able to rest until Blaire was safe again in his arms. Blood, or no blood.

He stepped into the ensuite bathroom and slid down the closed door, closing his eyes as he tried to calm himself, listening to the others talking through the thin door. He wrestled with the idea of washing away the blood, the only thing that kept him connected to Blaire in this moment of hell.

Riley’s voice came muffled through the bathroom door. “I’ve never seen him this upset before. It’s like he’s a different person.”

“I’ve never seen him cry.” Aiden sighed heavily. “Even when we were children.”

Mera’s gentle calm came next. “It’s the bond. Whenever something happens to your Korrena, it can cause a wide range of things to take place. The partner experiences extreme panic and can sometimes feel physical pain if they are highly in tune with their pair’s emotions.”

That explained a lot about why he couldn’t get control of his emotions tonight. Sure, he hadn’t been in control much at all since Blaire arrived, but tonight broke him. He had no control over his body, and it terrified him. He sighed as he hung his head forward.

Kai added, “Sometimes the partner even dies from the effects of what they go through when their Korrena pair finally dies, depending on how closely bonded they are.”

Lukas stiffened as Riley shouted.

“No, no, no!” She began to sob hard. “Blaire is not going to die. Please don’t talk like that. She’s going to be okay! She’s going to be okay, right? Right?”