The woman made a choked sound.
I squeezed a little more.
Not enough.
Never enough.
“Seems fair if we take samples from her too,” Marcellus said.
His darkness rose between us, elegant and horrible, shaping itself into a knife so black it looked less like a blade and more like someone had cut a piece out of the world and decided to hold it by the handle. More tendrils wrapped around her arms, her waist, her ankles, pinning her against the wall after I let go.
I heard them around me.
Aiden saying my name again, rougher this time. Thane’s aura pressing into my spine like a warning hand. Eden scraping at the edge of my mind with gold and fury and something that was not quite a command but could have become one if she pushed hard enough.
My queen.
My mate.
Mine.
For half a second, I a
