Panic is whipping through me as I scoop Raven up in my arms and hurry out of the room. While blood has stopped spewing from her mouth, she’s unconscious and her skin is ice cold. Again, like with the cracking, I’m unsure what’s going on with her.

I seriously can’t take this anymore. It’s as if the moment things get slightly calm between us, another obstacle is thrown our way and every damn one affects Raven.

“Kingsley!” I call out as I rush outside the room.

When we were transported into the shimmer blob, we had each been assigned a tree room, but I’ve spent most of my time sleeping in the hallway just outside of Raven’s room. I nearly trip over the makeshift bed I set up there, but catch my balance and rush down the hollowed out hallway. I’m usually not clumsy at all, but I’m distracted and panicking. I need to calm the fuck down because losing my shit isn’t going to help anyone. But every time my gaze drops to Raven, slack in my arms, my anxiety soars through the roof.

“Kingsley.” When I reach his shut door, I storm into his room, the door hitting the wall so hard the bark cracks.

He’s lying in his bed , staring up at the ceiling, which seems odd—usually he’s always doing something. What’s even more fucking weird is that his eyes are red, as if he’s been crying.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him cry before.

“What the hell?” Kingsley grumbles, bolting upright, his bloodshot eyes narrow on me. But then he takes one look at Raven, limp in my arms, blood staining her face and shirt, and he springs to his feet. “What the fuck happened?”

“I’m not sure.” I kick the door shut, then gently set Raven down on the bed. “One minute we were talking and the next, she started spitting out blood.” I trace my finger across her cheek. “She’s so cold and still and I can’t wake her up.”

Kingsley nudges me out of the way, then leans in to examine Raven, his fingers tracing a path along the healing cut on her forearm, the spot I drank her blood from. “What’s the cut from?”

Part of me doesn’t want to tell him, not because I’m ashamed—no, I’m not even close—but because he’ll get distracted.

“If you don’t tell me everything, I might not be able to figure out what’s going on.” He doesn’t look at me, his gaze fixed on her.

He’s right and I know it.

“Fine. It’s from where I fed from her.”

His head snaps in my direction, jealousy simmering in his eyes. For a demon of a moment, I want him to feel it, so he’ll know what it felt like that night I saw him kiss Raven. But Raven was right. Our distrust, backstabbing, and hurting each other is what gave the queen an opening to curse us. If we want to win against her, we need to ban together and get over the petty shit that keeps pushing us apart, even though I do question if Kingsley knew about the vial of euphoric dust that night. But that’s not important right now. Raven is—she always is.

“Not from her vein,” I clarify.

He gazes skims across my torn shirt and the fresh bite marks on my chest and neck. “And then she fed off of you?”

I shake my head. “She did that first, then let me drink some blood from her.” I kneel down on the floor beside the bed and brush my fingers across her forehead. “She seemed a little tired after she let me do it, but coherent. Then one minute we were talking and the next…” I swallow hard. “She was spitting out blood and couldn’t talk. Then she passed out and I can’t get her to wake up.” I glance at him. “What do you think is wrong with her?”

Kingsley shrugs, his brows pulling together. “The only thing that matches her symptoms is that she might’ve had a bad reaction to you drinking her blood. Or it could just be from the cracking.”

“How can it be a ad reaction? We’re king and queen. That’s what we’re supposed to do.”

“Are you? Because in reality, you—she—wasn’t supposed to be.”

I grind my teeth. “We don’t know that for sure. We’ve always known that perhaps Fate choosing Nadine was a mistake.”

“But that doesn’t mean that Raven was supposed to take her place. It only ever happened because of the curse. And she’s never made it to the part where she actually gets crowned as the queen.” He studies Raven with his brows furrowed. “Maybe there’s a reason for that.”

“That still wouldn’t explain why she had a bad reaction to me drinking her blood,” I bite out. “I’ve drank it before, in our first life. From the vein.”

“I know.” He casts me a sidelong glance. “I ran into her right after you did it—right after you left her with the fey queen to go dance with Nadine.”

“Don’t say it like that—like I did it on purpose. I didn’t know the fey queen was there. And I had to dance with Nadine or else everyone would’ve grown suspicious.” I push to my feet, rage burning underneath my skin. “And why are you even bringing this up? We’ve had this stupid conversation a hundred times and it never gets us anywhere.” I start pacing the room. “Right now we should be focusing on her.” I give a pressing look at Raven.

“I am.” Kingsley returns his gaze to Raven. “I always am. Because it’s my job as her Blood Protector.”

“Is that the only reason?” I accuse.

“Of course.” He won’t meet my gaze.

I swallow down my anger the best that I can and focus on Raven. “You remember in the tent when I said that perhaps this curse wasn’t supposed to end with me and her.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think you’re right.”

“Even when this happened right after I drank from her?” I give an insinuating look in Raven’s direction.

He drags his teeth across his lip. “It could have nothing to do with you feeding from her. I already saidit might be the same thing as what caused her to crack apart.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” I sketch my finger along Raven’s temple. Only moments ago, things had been perfect. Well, as perfect as things can be when you’re hiding in a shimmer blob from an army of Created. Now everything feels broken and painful and confusing. I want to go back, want to taste her blood, want to feel her fangs in my skin. But deep down, I know Kingsley might be right. That Raven’s current condition might be because of a bad reaction from me drinking her blood. “How do we find out for sure what’s going on with her?”

“We wait until—”

Knocking at the door cuts him off.

Confused, he crosses the room and throws the door open, his fingers hovering near his holster. When he sees it’s just Harper, he visibly unstiffens.

“What’s up?” he asks her.

“I have some good news.” Her gaze glides to Raven and she frowns. “And it might be just in time.” She grows quiet, mulling over something.

Kingsley motions for her to spit it out. “So what is it?”

“Oh.” She blinks back at him. “The witch doctor is ready to examine Raven.”

“Thank the fucking vampires.” Kingsley moves back to the bed and scoops Raven up in his arms.

I start to protest, but then hesitate. If my feeding from her hurt her, then I need to back off.

Even though it nearly re-kills me, I let him carry her out of the room, hoping to all the vampire Gods that the witch doctor can help her.

That whatever happened to her won’t be permitted. Because even if I can’t feed off her blood, I can never lose her.

Kingsley slips out the door and I start to follow him when an eerie rumble in my chest suddenly rises.

My chest tautens. “What the hell is that?”

The most potent rage starts to burn in my veins and for a brief instant, I see red.

After a few breaths, though, I get the rumble under control. But the feel of it has me unsettled. What if the queen is doing something else to me? Something terrible?

It’s hard to say for sure, but with everything else happening, I’m worried that yet another obstacle might be coming our way.