Page 122 of Saving the Last Heir
There was the strange sensation of falling… or maybe floating? Regardless, along with that sense of weightlessness was the constant burn and sharp agony. When the dark swirling gloom swallowed me whole, it was with blessed relief that I sank in and fell unconscious.
Darkness, complete and impenetrable. I could sense I was in a large room, but I couldn’t see anything. My eyes were shut, and even though I wanted to open them, I was afraid. It made no sense.
“Son? Are you okay?”
“Huh?” I grunted, my eyes still closed, unable to open. The threads of unconsciousness wrapped tight around me, keeping my eyes shut against my wishes. That voice was familiar. Where did I know it from?
“Are you okay? I’m worried about you.”
No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to open my eyes. The fear was too great. That voice was masculine and familiar.
A strong, warm hand pressed into my chest. “You’ll be all right. You have to be,” the voice said. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you soon.”
Sadness and love overwhelmed me.
“Dad?” I opened my eyes?—
—and tried to sit up, but couldn’t move. Everything hurt. I couldn’t remember ever feeling this awful. My body felt like it had been used as a punching bag as well as a sharpening stone. I had to look down to make sure I hadn’t been skinned alive.
My body was whole, and the cuts and lacerations were already mostly healed, but that didn’t help the fact that I felt as if I’d been dragged behind a train for a few hundred miles.
Slowly, trickling back into my mind as if from a dream, memories returned. Kidnapping Bryn, the bomb, the fight in the mansion, the final battle with Joseph… and?—
My eyes snapped wide, and a heavy lump formed in my throat. My sister! We’d done it. We’d saved her. I could remember it allnow. Her hatching, the warmth of her body against my chest. My eyes burned as tears of happiness and relief burned my eyes.
The door opened. Light streamed in from outside, and I realized I was in my bedroom. The confusion I felt at finding myself in a place familiar yet unexpected caught me off guard. Shyanne peeked in from the hallway, an anxious look on her face that gave way to relief when she saw I was awake.
“Oh, God,” she said, hurrying toward me. “Jackson? How do you feel? Are you okay?”
She took my hand. Her warmth radiated through me and helped push back the agony I was in.
Nodding and swallowing back my tears, I said, “Yeah.” My throat felt raw. “I’m… I’ve never fought another alpha before. That was… Fuck, it wasrough.”
“I thought you died at one point,” Shyanne said, her voice shaking, eyes watery with unshed tears. “I couldn’t wake you up, and you weren’t healing as fast as I thought you should.”
I tried to sit up, but pain lanced through me, and I grimaced.
“We heal fast, but fighting another shifter is always worse.” I swallowed hard, my throat raw and dry. “Water?”
Shyanne grabbed a cup and glass pitcher from the nightstand and poured me a drink. When the water hit my tongue, I moaned in relief. Nothing had ever tasted so good or refreshing in my entire life. Draining the glass, I handed it back to her.
“Thanks.”
“Are you going to be all right?” Shyanne put her hand on my leg, her face tight with worry. “Some of us were worried you might not make it. Even when I got you home.”
“I think so. I nearlydiddie fighting that bastard. Nothing I did hurt him,” I said. “He was like a mindless monster.”
Memories of the fight came flooding back. I’d been stronger and faster than Joseph, but nothing I’d done had slowed him down. Feints and dodges that would have thrown most opponents off had done nothing. He’d come on like a freight train with no fear for his own safety. It was almost like a human trying to fight off a semi-truck. I’d held him at bay, but at great physical expense.
Shaking my head, I looked at her with renewed interest.
“Wait,” I said, another memory flashing through my mind—my heels dragging on stone.
I frowned. “Did you carry me out of there?”
The worry on Shyanne’s face melted away, and she gave me a wry smile. “You know, you are heavy asshit.I had to drag your six-and-a-half-foot tall ass over half a mile through those stupid tunnels. Took me almost three hours to find another exit. My freaking backstillhurts.”
I put my hand on top of hers. “Thank you. You should have just left me, though. Should have gone for help and come back.”
