Chapter 27 · The Bond Becomes a Target

"Stay with me, damn it! Sia, look at me!"

Kane's hands locked around her shoulders as her body slid deeper into the furs. His grip was hard enough to hurt, but his voice wasn't a command this time.

It was a plea.

Sia blinked at him. His face kept slipping in and out of focus. The damp stone walls twisted behind him, black and silver in the torchlight.

"I can't..." Her breath caught. "It hurts. Everything hurts."

"I know." Kane pressed his forehead to hers. Heat poured off him, sharp against the cold sweat on her skin. "I've got you. Stay with me."

The blood mark on her wrist had gone gray.

Not dim. Not weak.

Dead.

Sia forced her eyes down. The bond that had once pulsed beneath her skin looked like an old scar.

"Kane." Her voice shook. "The mark's gone."

His jaw tightened.

"It's damaged," he said.

"That's your comforting answer?"

"It's the only answer I've got."

His thumb brushed the edge of the mark. His hand was warm. Too warm. Beneath his calm, something wild dragged against the leash of his control.

Sia saw it in his eyes—