The Beast And The Blessed

Eighty-One: Killian

Killian's P.O.V.

Natalie was looking down the hallway. Her green eyes, which I adored, had turned light blue. Her skin washed of its usual pink hue, leaving her the color of snow. The blue and purple shade of her lips made me want to pull her into my arms and hold her until she was warm again.

She was fighting. I could see the struggle as her arms tightened around her torso, but our mate bond was empty.

I had woken up with it empty, and none of the guards had seen her leave. She had just disappeared, and the entire castle and city had searched for her for hours. It was early afternoon when I felt a flicker of her presence in our bond.

As it disappeared again, the maid yelling for a healer caught my attention. Several guards immediately alerted me that my mate had appeared in the hallway outside the infirmary.

Only she wasn't entirely there. Her image was solid but would periodically flicker like a poor-quality hologram.

Her ghostly complexion ripped at my heart. I wanted to save her, protect her. But I didn't know how to save someone from something I couldn't see. Was it possible?

"No!" She cried out, throwing her hands up as her figure solidified, sending everyone flying back against the wall. I growled, the drywall crumbling as I pulled myself out of the hole.

Something was attacking my mate, and I couldn't do anything about it. I turned to her mother, my body morphing and shifting as I transformed into my Lycan. "She shares your magic! You save her! Bring her back!”

"If I could, I would have." Her calm statement was met with my fury as I grabbed her arm and spun her around to face me.

her in my arms and protect her from the world around us. I would take on every enemy and every threat I could to keep her safe. She would never have to

to burn as my grip tightened on her arm until I had no choice but to release

as breath after breath resulted in a foggy puff of air leaving her lips in the warm corridor. "And if we

She is going in and out too fast.” Aurora shouted as I walked around her and crouched before my mate. "You have

ignored her, staring at Natalie, watching her form jump back and forth between solid and transparent. Her breath went from thick to misty

soon as her form solidified, I reached out, wrapping my arms around her frozen body, pulling

much distance between us as possible, but I wasn't going to let go. Not now,

okay! Come back to me!" The louder I spoke, the more

body went still, and I held on tighter as she shivered aggressively and began to cry, releasing loud, racking

forward. Natalie gripped me tighter to her, whimpering and shoving her body as close

but staying close enough that he could help if

a few minutes more as we waited, worried for her mental and physical well-being after what we had just seen of her. I couldn't imagine what she had just gone through. As she calmed, I held her tight

waited until her breathing had begun to normalize, and her body felt warmer to the touch before I spoke.

look as silent tears ran down her cheeks. "The

I was in the shower. I had sensed no one near us, and no new or dark magic had been in the air. It was only hers. But someone had been there, so close to her while she was sleeping, vulnerable. She had let her guard down as she slept in my arms, and I had

find the son of a bitch who took my mate, and

"What voice?" Charlie asked.

to see which guard she turned to, but they moved aside, and her gaze held steady, locked on my mother's