"Martin!"

I wake with a jolt, gasping for air while Sky leans across me, his hair falling in a loose cascade over bare, muscled shoulders and his brows pinched with concern. He grips my upper arms so hard it hurts, but releases his hold when he sees I'm conscious.

"Are you alright? You'd stopped breathing."

Sitting up, I rub my hands over my face and catch my breath before answering. My shirt is soaked with sweat and my heart still races in high gear, sending tingles of adrenaline through my veins and making my hands shake.

Sky touches my shoulder. "Martin?"

"It was just a bad dream," I say at last. "I'm fine"

Pushing the covers aside, I move off the bed and stand, heading towards the bathroom on unsteady feet. I catch myself against the doorframe and hear the sheets rustle as Sky gets up as well.

"Martin? Are you sure—"

"I said I'm fine!" I snap more sharply than I intend. In the silence, I scrunch my eyes shut and take a breath before speaking again. "Sorry. I just need to rinse off and change my shirt. Go back to bed."

I enter the bathroom, shut the door, and briefly consider locking it. I leave it open and run the taps in the sink, splashing water over my face and studying myself in the mirror.

I look awful. It's been three days since our visit to the bookstore. Miguel remains the only one of us to have found anything of use — and even that was a reach.

Noah had promised to visit this coming afternoon to help him translate his strange book, and Julian offered to have a look as well, in case this 'Shadow World' had any connection to the Shadowlands he'd visited. Dane had delved into the Wolf lore in search of anything that might explain Miguel's 'missing' Wolf, and Noah had contacted Shanti by whatever strange method he used, though she'd yet to answer or appear.

In the meantime, I'd fallen into old, bad habits. I barely ate or slept, and nightmares plagued what little sleep I got. It felt like time was slipping through my fingers like sand, and panic edged every breath.

A small, unkind voice in my head had started to whisper things like 'You made another mistake,' and 'This is what you get for thinking you deserve something good.'

Elena's voice.

I shudder and shut my eyes, leaning heavily against the sink. The dream had seemed so real.

I'd been standing with Sky on the beach, in the little cove where we'd first made love, and I was happy. The children were there as well, playing on the rocks.

Then the waves grew larger, and I worried the kids would be swept away. I was trying to reach them when a wave took me and pulled under, deeper and deeper into the hopeless depths. I struggled — I had to help the kids and Sky — but it was no use. Something had me and wouldn't let me go, and when I finally looked, I saw that it was her in the form of a monstrous creature of the deep, dragging me to my death.

I shouldn't have let the kids watch The Little Mermaid before bed. Who knew Disney movies could cause nightmares?

The door opens and Sky comes to stand at my back, looping his arms around my waist.

"Talk to me," he murmurs, kissing my temple. "Don't shut me out. What's bothering you?"

Lifting my head, I meet his eyes in the mirror. "You have to ask?"

He frowns a little. "We've still got the better half a month to find answers. Things aren't so dire yet."

My heart constricts, its tempo rising again as a sense of frustration mingles with the panic pushing in from every side.

"Elena's presence... changes things," I say, forcing myself to speak slowly. "When she sent the letter, and even when she threatened Dr. Howard, it felt like she was still a distant threat. Seeing her person?" I shake my head. "I can't leave the kids knowing she's here. She's planning something, or she wants something. I can't even think about leaving now."

Sky's frown deepens slightly and his hold on me tightens. "Surely, your family can protect—"

With my pulse ratcheting in speed again, I squirm from his grasp and spin to face him.

"I'm their father," I rasp, barely containing a shout. "Keeping them safe is my job. You're my heart's true mate, Sky. There's no denying that. And I love you. But my kids..." I shake my head. "My heart belongs to them first. I'm sorry."

Pushing past him and out the door, I stalk across my bedroom and out into the hall, heading for the stairs. I don't know where I'm going, really; I just need to walk. Maybe the pressure in my chest, mounting heartbeat by heartbeat towards pain, is my Wolf wanting to come out, clawing at the cage of my ribs for release.

By the time I realize it's not — that there's something actually wrong with me — I'm halfway down the stairs. Then the pain hits me like a brick, my vision goes black, and I fall.

The last thing I remember before I'm pulled down into darkness, just like in my dream, is Sky's face, slightly out of focus, and the oddly muffled sound of him shouting my name.

∼∼∼

"A heart attack?"

"No, I don't think so. His heart's fine."

"What, then?"

"Damned if I know. You're the Wolf. You tell me."

"You're the doctor."

"My medical knowledge is nearly a century out of date. I've done my best to keep up, but... well, usually I rely on my gift, to be quite honest."

"Can you heal him, then?"

"No. As I explained last time, there's nothing to heal. If this is an illness, it is not of the body. Not of the human body, leastways."

"You're saying it's his Wolf?"

"I'm saying I don't know, Love. A wise man admits as much."

As consciousness gradually returns, I identify the speakers as Ambrose and Noah, and gather that they're talking about me.

Lifting crusty, leaded lids with a pure effort of will, I blink as the world spins and gradually comes into focus.

I'm in the spare room in Noah and Ambrose's house — the one with the blue, beachy theme. An intravenous line, probably one meant for veterinary applications, trails from my arm to a drip bag hanging from a stand.

"Ah! The patient awakens," Ambrose exclaims, and makes a quick examination with his stethoscope and flashlight that burns my retinas with its searing beam. "How do you feel?"

Summoning a breath, I whisper the first words that enter my brain.

"Kids... Sky..."

"The children are fine and safe," Ambrose says reassuringly. "They're downstairs with Julian and Dane. I'll call them in, if you're up for it."

I nod and speak even as my eyes fall shut again. "Please."

He turns and says something to Noah that I don't catch.

I hear the door open and shut, and then a slim, cool hand closes around mine.

"Martin? Can you hear me?" Noah asks, his voice barely above a whisper.

I draw a breath. "I'd hear you better if you spoke up," I say.

He makes a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

"You should know... there's someone else here," he says. "Someone in the same condition, apparently."

Driven by concern, I blink my eyes open and focus on his face with an effort. "Sky?"

He shakes his head.

"No. Elena."

And with that, I am wide awake.