“Baby.” He knew the sound of his voice was demented, he saw the shock that filled the Breeds around him.
He had never told even his brother Tanner of the gifts he shared with such a very few other Breeds. The claws, the markings, the heightened senses. The ability to run and track as no other could. He was a primal Breed. He had hidden it, knowing that even other Breeds feared the primals.
His claws retracted, the strong human nails sliding back into place as he touched her, his hands racing over her chilled flesh until he found the wound at her side.
“Cabal.” Tanner was there.
He stared up at his brother for a brief second before his shaking hands touched the blood at her side.
“Get her ready to fly!” Jonas was there. Breeds were pouring through the woods. Some were securing Douglas despite his screams as he fought to find sensation in his legs.
The impulse regulator in his spine had been dissolved. The temporary fix to his legs had been deactivated by Jonas. It had melted through flesh and bone, leaving him now with no hope of finding sensation there again.
“Cabal.” Her sweet voice was weak, her fingers latched onto his arm. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Sorry?”
Pain was like a burning brand in his chest now as he stared into her white face.
“Your family,” she whispered tearfully. “He used me to kill them. I trusted him. Oh God.” She lowered her head as sobs tore from her. “I’m sorry.”
“No.” Gripping her chin, he lifted her face, his eyes locking on hers. “So many lived because you fought for them,” he swore to her, revealing something he had revealed to no one else. “You saved four, Cassa. They thrive. They fight to survive. You saved us.”
She stared back at him, confusion filling her face before it cleared. The tears still fell as she lifted a shaking hand to his face. “I love you. I loved you for so long.”
“Cassa, stop.” Fear raked hard and deep inside his soul. “Tell me later. I’ll hold you close. I’ll keep you warm, baby, and give you the words I’ve feared for so long.”
She shook her head. “I just love you, Cabal.” Her voice was weaker, more distant.
“Cassa. Stay awake.” Terror gripped him now, a terror unlike anything he had known, even in the labs. “Stay with me, Cassa.”
Her fingers, stained with her own blood, touched his face.
“Hold me now,” she whispered, her lashes drifting closed. “Just hold me now.”
CHAPTER 27
Cabal had never known such a hellish experience in his life. Even watching his family die hadn’t impacted him, hadn’t destroyed him, the way watching Cassa drift away from him had.
The heli-jet ride across the mountains to Sanctuary, the nearest facility with the equipment and doctors to save her, had been a waking nightmare.
Now, standing outside the operating rooms, his gaze locked on the doors that Dr. Morrey would use to enter the room following the surgery, he felt the rage and pain burning inside his soul.
He had waited too long. He had held himself back from her for too many years. He had fought what he felt for her, what he needed, and now he was paying the price.
“Cabal.” Jonas stepped back into the waiting area, his face heavily lined and somber as his secretary moved in behind him.
Rachel wasn’t timid, but she was quiet. Her gaze was filled with compassion, her composed expression saddened.
She was Jonas’s mate. Cabal had known it the moment he met her, and he was sure Jonas knew it as well.
“Ely’s certain she’s going to be okay,” Cabal stated, though he didn’t really believe it. He’d always feared that fate would steal her from him. Now he was terrified he had been right.
“Ely knows what she’s doing,” Jonas said quietly. “Watts has been transferred back to the Middle East. We’ll be questioning him next week in regards to the remaining members of the Deadly Dozen, as well as Azrael’s child. If we can find the child, then we’ll find the father.”
Cabal growled at the thought of the Lion Breed that he blamed for Cassa’s injuries. If Azrael hadn’t kidnapped her, hadn’t decided that she could be traded for the information he wanted, then she wouldn’t be in surgery now.
“I’ll kill him for this, Jonas. He had no right to involve her this way.”