‘I am so tired.’
‘Rest then, but you will not let go.’
‘I hear them talking. They do not think they can save my baby.’ There was sorrow in her mind, in her heart. A terrible weariness as if she had given up along with the doctors, as if she could no longer continue to struggle against the tremendous odds.
‘Do not leave me alone!’ he cried out. It was a plea. An order. No one needs you as I do. Do not leave me alone ever again.’
‘Dayan. You are strong. So very strong. There will be another for you.’
Even in her darkest hour she was thinking of him. Of Cullen and Lisa. She was piecing it together in her mind. Their future. Their happiness. She arranged it the way she thought would work best.
Dayan surrounded her waning spirit, locked her firmly to him. ‘There will never be another for me. Never. Should I survive your loss and continue for all eternity, I would no longer be me, but something hideous, an abomination. An evil monster. I will not become such a creature. I would choose to follow you into the next life. We are one, Corinne. One. There is no Dayan without Corinne. You have no choice but to live. For the daughter you carry inside you. For me. For our unborn children. For Lisa. I will not release you. Not now. Not ever.’
He was much closer now, moving swiftly as the sun sank below the horizon. Colors splashed the sky blood red, and the wind was beginning to pick up, an ominous sign. Dayan was no longer the easygoing poet, the gentle man Corinne knew. He was a male Carpathian at full strength, and something was threatening his lifemate.
He strode unseen past the doctors and nurses, leaving a freezing cold in his wake. Past Lisa, huddled in the room where Cullen lay pale and bandaged and still unconscious. Dayan spared his friend a quick glance, attempting to assess the damage as he hurried to Corinne. Without her, he couldn’t help Cullen or anyone else. His first thought, his first duty, was to Corinne.
She lay on the bed, hooked up to lines and bottles. She was very pale, almost transparent. Despite the oxygen, there was a blue tint around her mouth. Corinne looked small and thin beneath the single cover. She looked a mere child, a waxen doll. She was laboring hard for each breath. Leads ran from her heart to a machine and from her abdomen to another machine. Dayan stood looking down at her, his heart in his throat. She looked so fragile, he was afraid to touch her.
There was a familiar stirring in his mind. Warmth. Reassurance. Total confidence. ‘Dayan? We are much closer. Bring her to the healers. We are gathering.’ It was Darius. His friend. His family. Darius could always be counted on.
Dayan allowed himself to breathe. ‘Cullen is in need. I cannot take the time to attend him. I will hold Corinne to me as long as I am able, but should I lose her, I will choose her path at once. I did not bind her and there has been no blood exchange, so I do not have the control needed for such a fight.’
‘You do have it, Dayan. You will not allow her to slip away from you.’ As always, Darius was completely confident. ‘I will send help to Cullen. Barack and Syndil will go to him. He knows them and he will not be distressed. Come to us now. Bring your lifemate that together we may save her life.’
Dayan knelt beside the bed and took Corinne’s hand. For a moment it lay there in his larger palm limply, but then slowly her fingers curled around his. He watched her long lashes flutter before she managed to open her eyes. “Dayan.” There was a smile in her voice. “I think I was dreaming about you, or were we just talking?” Her voice was so low, such a faint thread of sound, he would never have heard her if he didn’t have such acute hearing.
“I do not suppose you are aware that I love you.” He said the words against her temple, his lips brushing her pulse tenderly. “Did they talk to you? The doctors?”