From the Shadows (A Shadow Chronicles Novel) by Christina Moore Page B

public, so Lochlan had decided to drop by and see how the meeting turned out. He’s the one who found me. He took me into the house and started to treat me—he’s a doctor—and he called Saphrona to tell her. She called my mom.”
    Th rough the emotional turmoil, I began to feel the power of the bond between Race and me, and it helped me relax enough to lean back into him. I took a shuddering breath, then forged ahead. “The drug Peter and Martin gave me is one that slows a shifter’s healing and even inhibits their ability to phase. Lochlan determined that in order to help me heal faster, he or Saphrona would have to feed on me long enough to draw it out. Because hybrids don’t produce draculin, it was decided the safest person to do it was Saphrona. And it worked. By the next morning I was practically fully recovered.
    “But by the time Saphrona and I got up, Mark had received a text message from my cell phone, which had been stolen by Peter and Martin. They led him into a trap, because Evangeline really wanted Saphrona. And we all walked right into it—Saphrona, Lochan, and I had gone in search of Mark, and we were ambushed. Like I said, Evangeline hated Saphrona. She wanted her dead. She wanted it so bad that she was willing to give up having an immortal human to feed on, because she stabbed Mark in the heart right in front of Saphrona and Lochlan. He died, but he recovered in three days’ time because his heart hadn’t been destroyed. Saphrona fought with Evangeline and killed her, even cut her head off with the same knife she’d stabbed Mark with.”
    I turned around in Race’s arms then and curled myself against his chest, closing my eyes as tight as I could against the horror of what I had to say next. Race held me by the shoulders with one arm while his other hand began to slowly stroke my back.
    “While all that was going on, Peter had tied me to a bed—I’d gotten a broken arm in the initial fight and was too weak to fight him off, to stop him. I didn’t have any clothes on either, because I’d lost them when I phased. Just fucking made it easier for him to rape me like he’d wanted to the night before, when Martin wouldn’t let him because Evangeline had told them just to beat the crap out of me. After a while Martin came into the room and took his turn.”
    Sniffling again, I finished the story of my Day of Hell, describing how Lochlan and Saphrona had burst into the room, how they’d fought Peter and Martin and Lochlan had torn both their heads off. I told him how I’d wished I had been able to kill them myself, and how I prayed they were both burning in hell right alongside Saphrona’s psychotic sister.
    “Oh, my sweet Juliette,” Race breathed, holding me tighter. “I am so, so sorry. I know it doesn’t help you now, but I am so very sorry you had to go through that. I wish I could have been there to save you.”
    I began to cry harder, wishing he had been there too. I had no doubt that had my mate been with us that day, neither Peter nor Martin would have had the chance to lay one finger on me. Race held me close as I sobbed, crying out all the pain and misery I’d held inside for the last three weeks. When my shaking finally subsided and my wailing had reduced to soft whimpers, he reached down and slid one arm across the back of my knees, lifting me and cradling me against his chest. I buried my face in his shoulder as he turned and carried me into his bedroom, laying me down on the bed gently and then climbing in next to me.
    Race lifted my head long enough to slip an arm beneath it, which he wrapped around my shoulders ag ain as he tucked my head under his chin with his other hand. I curled into him, sniffling, as he kissed the top of my head.
    “Sleep now, sweetheart,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”
    Taking a deep, shuddering breath, I did as I was told.
     
    ***
     
    Later that morning, I awoke facing the window. Sunlight was streaming between the blinds and warming my