Page 69 of City of the Lost
Joy was a real, potent, living thing doing backflips in my chest. “You do?”
“Behind the box of waffles.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead and then swung his legs off the bed. “I will feed you.”
“Okay, caveman.”
He paused at the door to look back at me, his lips twisted in an emotion I failed to catch before the door closed softly behind him.
This was real. Him and me and this connection I’d had no control over. I’d run from this very thing for so long, and yet now that it had happened unwittingly, there was no fear, no anxiety, it was what it was and it felt right. Was this what Tay would feel like when he mated? Thorns buried themselves in my chest.
What was that? Jealousy? Should that even be there now that I’d found my Kindred? Azren was right, we needed to find the rogue Shedim and get some answers, and as soon as I was healed, we’d start scouting the undercity for them. Not for Elora, but for ourselves, because, fuck that bitch.
A loud crash and then a series of growls had me leaping from the bed and then falling to the floor as daggers pierced my belly.
Fuck, fuck, what was that?
I made it to the door, vision clearing.
“Azren?”
Another crash. I sucked in a breath as a sharp pain slashed my side.
Shit. Blocking out the pain and riding the adrenaline, I broke into a run.
* * *
The kitchen was carnage.Hound was on the table, his teeth bared, ready to pounce. Azren was on the ground nursing a wound to his side, and two Shedim I’d never seen hovered by the fridge.
“Azren!” I made to step into the room.
“No! Wila, get back.”
Gilbert materialized inside the room and a kettle flew across the kitchen, hitting one of the Shedim in the shoulder.
“What the hell is going on?” Trevor yelled from the foyer.
Hound leapt in front of the door, blocking my entrance.
“No! Get out of the way, dammit.” I shoved at his bulk as further crashes and thuds emanated from inside. My chest burned with fiery impotence. “Move or I swear I’ll never forgive you.”
“Wila, no.” Gilbert’s presence wrapped around me, holding me back.
“I swear, Gil, if you don’t let go of me ...”
Hound’s body tensed and then he shifted out of the way. Gilbert held on for a moment longer before letting me go. Heart in my mouth, rage churning in my chest, I rushed into the room in time to see one of the Shedim grab Azren in a headlock and slip a silver robe over his head. Azren went completely still, his eyes wide with shock. Our gazes locked and there was no mistaking the sorrow in his eyes.
This was goodbye.
This was defeat.
“No!” I made a grab for Azren.
I never made it. The second Shedim knocked me to the ground. My shoulder jarred, sending electrical shocks through my arm. I flipped onto my back to see a dagger glinting in an arc headed for my heart. No time to scream, no time to block, but Hound’s jaws clamped around the arm wielding the weapon. He yanked and then propelled the Shedim across the room. The demon slammed into the cooker, shook his head to clear it, and then flew over our heads toward Azren and his captor. The Shedim linked hands, Azren held immobile between them, and then the one that had attacked held up a flat blue disc. His lips stretched in a smug smile.
No. “No!” I pushed off the ground, biting back the agony. “Hound, stop them.” My voice came out as a strained rasp.
Hound leapt over me and barreled toward the Shedim but met thin air.
Azren was gone.
