Page 36 of Bound
My jaw works. “The kidnappers have already sent word.”
The bravado in her frame seems to run out her feet, leaving her sagging. “What?” That one word is a soft rasp.
I ball my hands into fists to keep from reaching for her. “Liam was found several hours ago. The kidnapper’s message is clear.”
“Found?” A thread of lilac light spills across her cheekbones, like a fissure under her skin.
My feet move before I slam them into place. “Dead, my lady.”
Her mouth quivers and her inhale is sharp. Whatever has been keeping her upright disappears, and she drops toward the floor.
I leap across the space, my arm sliding around her lean back as I pull her into my front. “Amoret?”
Her eyes flutter. “Not Bran?”
For a beat, I am unsure she spoke. Then one small hand fists into the borrowed tunic covering my chest. “Please, Gage. What about Bran?”
I slip my other hand into the lush hair at her nape, cradling her so I can see her face. Tears track her cheeks, and the color of her eyes is arresting. The full line of her bottom lip continues to tremble.
“No news. We don’t—”
Her tears run harder and she pulls from my grasp to bury her face into my chest. Those little hands of hers dig into my skin, and my heart thumps wildly. But her breath is hot as she whispers over and over into my body.
I lean my head down, curving around her as my arms band her back.
“Thank goddess. It wasn’t Bran,” she breathes. “It wasn’t Bran.”
