Fear the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #9)(86)

A slow, determined smile curved her lips. “I’m sorry, but nothing is going to stop me.”

“Cassandra.” He grasped her shorts as she stepped past him. “Cassie, wait.” His claws scraped against the cement as she forged a path to the door, dragging him along. Two steps from the door he lost his grip and she heard him muttering in frustration as he headed in the opposite direction. “Sacrebleu, where is that mangy dog when I have need of him?”

Cassie ignored the retreating demon, reaching out to turn the handle of the door. Stark relief blazed through her as it swung inward, although she didn’t doubt that once it slammed shut behind her it wouldn’t be nearly so easy to open.

Not that she cared. She knew once she entered the room there was only one way she was getting out.

Taking a cautious step forward, Cassie allowed her gaze to inspect the barren cell, which was lined in lead. Heavy silver shackles hung from the low ceiling and there was a drain in the center of the floor that she assumed was to get rid of the blood.

Salvatore’s words whispered in the back of her mind....

Messier.

She swallowed her urge to cry. She couldn’t think about what Caine had been forced to endure. What she had allowed him to endure in the hopes of saving him, she reminded herself with a stab of self-disgust.

The future was all that mattered. Their future together.

Gathering her courage, she turned her gaze to the large, twisted body that lay in a corner, the fur caked with dried blood and his ankles seared by the silver manacles around them.

Her heart twisted, but with a fierce resolve she moved to crouch at his side. Reaching out, she laid her hand on his neck, reassured by the steady beat of his heart even as a frown touched her brow.

She knew what she wanted—no needed—to do. But she didn’t have a damned clue how to go about it. And for once, she couldn’t blame her years of isolation for her lack of knowledge.

True matings between pureblooded Weres had become nothing more than a distant legend until Salvatore had driven the demon lord back to his hell.

Now she could only hope that the primitive instincts that had been buried deep inside her would take over and complete the mating ceremony that had begun the moment Caine had rescued her.

Or at least it had begun for her, she was forced to concede.

She had no actual proof that Caine felt the same connection.

In fact, it was just the opposite.

What little she read of the ancient matings said that they usually drained the power of the males. The theory was that the female would always have the last say on whether or not to complete the mating. But Caine’s strength had been steadily increasing.

Of course, he wasn’t a traditional pureblood and his powers had been fluctuating since he’d been transformed from a cur to a Were, she hastily reassured herself.

Oh, and he hadn’t yet marked her with his musk. Wasn’t that a part of the whole mating thing?

Damn.

Refusing to consider failure, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her connection to Caine. Or at least on the painful void in the center of her heart where she’d come to depend on feeling his presence.

It was still there, she grimly assured herself. Just . . . muted. As if his current transformation was suppressing the signal.

For long, stressful minutes she focused everything she had on the tenuous bond. He was there, she could feel him, but every time she tried to hold on to his presence he would slither away.

Slippery as an eel. The stupid cliché teased at her mind even as she clenched her teeth and dug her fingers into his patchy fur.

No. He wasn’t going to elude her.

Ignoring the simmering fear, she again concentrated on the thin connection, releasing her power until the entire cell was flooded with the thick heat of her desperation. And still she couldn’t reach him. Couldn’t force . . .

Her eyes abruptly flew open.

Of course she couldn’t force him. Any more than he could force her into the mating.

All she could do was try and offer her heart and hope that he could battle through his madness to accept it.

Yeah, one hell of a plan.

Sucking in a deep breath, she thrust aside her rising panic and released her fragile connection with Caine. Then, returning her focus inward, she concentrated not on the void in her heart, but the warm, boundless love that spilled through her like a rich, intoxicating nectar.

She didn’t know when it had started.

Perhaps when Caine had stepped in front of her to protect her from the demon lord. Or when he’d taken her to his lair and badgered her to eat because she’d forgotten.

Or when she opened her eyes after yet another vision to find him patiently waiting at her side.

Or maybe she’d been fated to love this man before she’d ever been born.

The when didn’t matter.

Only the fact that it filled every particle of her being.

Not allowing herself time to marvel at the strength of her emotion, which had become so familiar she took it for granted, Cassie regained command of her connection to Caine. This time, however, she didn’t attempt to bludgeon him with her power.

He didn’t need more strength to battle back from the edge of madness. He needed a reason.

Releasing the tidal wave of love, she stroked her hand softly over his head, her wolf impatiently prowling beneath her skin. Her beast had been oddly passive since Caine’s transformation, as if patiently waiting for his return. Now it was anxiously straining to reach something just out of touch.