as I felt the coolness of someone's touch on the back of my neck. I turned to see Dr. Grey watching me with a pointed look as if he knew I was eavesdropping.

I let the door swing open and stepped back to give away for Dr. Grey to enter. I followed closely behind and ducked my head, trying my best to erase whatever expression on my face that could give away the fact that I had been listening to Adrian and Renata's conversation.

"Montgomery, is that you?"

I immediately looked up and smiled. "Yep. The one and only." I moved to the side of his bed and asked, "how are you feeling?"

Adrian turned to Renata and smiled. "Better now that she's here." She returned his smile with one of her own. Looking at the two of them being lovey-dovey, I missed my other half.

I miss you, I said through the bond.

I waited for ten seconds but didn't hear anything from him.

People thought that having a bond meant that all of our thoughts would be exposed twenty-four seven but it wasn't the case. Sometimes when I was too occupied with what I was doing, I paid no mind to the bond hence I didn't hear any of his thoughts.

Well, perhaps I could hear some but it wasn't as clear. It wasn't as if I turned off the radio but more like I turned down the volume. His thoughts were there but they were too soft to hear, close to mute.

Considering the fact that Vlad was on a trial (he was a lawyer after all), it was highly likely that he was too busy to listen and had turned down the volume.

I shook my head and focused on what was in front of me. "Where's Dr. Grey?" I looked about the room but I couldn't find that peculiar old man anywhere.

Adrian smirked. "He left. I think you were too busy with your lover that you didn't even realize." He glanced sideways at Renata and added, "can't blame you though, I know the feeling."

I rolled my eyes. I could bear with Kristen and Diego, they were in love and they shared the bond (the same one as Adrian and Renata or even Vladimir and I) because they kept their feelings and cheesy conversation inside their heads. From time to time, I would notice how Kris smiled at Diego or how Diego would give a certain look to his wife but still, they didn't say it out loud as Adrian did. He made me feel like I was the third wheel, and maybe I was.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay so I don't have to camp here any longer." I took my jacket off the back of the armchair and folded it in my arm. "I gotta go now. Flint and Klas would be piss if I get them in trouble," I added even though both men were probably too busy scanning their surroundings outside and only expected me to meet them at seven pm, three hours from now.

Adrian frowned. "Who's Flint and Klas?"

"Court guards they assigned to guard me."

"The new Brad and Joseph, huh?"

I knew he meant that as a joke or maybe those were just careless words that he often spoke, he was Adrian after all, yet those words stung. No matter what, no one could replace Brad and Joseph and it didn't matter that they'd died months ago, I just knew about it two weeks ago and was still grieving.

Adrian seemed to notice my silence as a bad sign since he winced when he said, "I'm sorry, Montgomery, I didn't mean it like that."

I gave him a flat smile and nodded. "No worries." As I walked towards the door, I heard Renata smacked Adrian and him groaning in return. I would've turned around and thrown snarky comments but I was in no mood after what he'd said.

I closed the door behind me and walked towards the front of the hospital where Flint and Klas were waiting. Unlike a few months ago when I'd been admitted here, the hospital was filled with more patients and crowded than usual.

A nurse accidentally bumped into me and I caught her arms to keep her steady. "Are you alright?"

She smiled. "Yes. Thank you."

"Wait," I hold her arm as she was about to leave, "what's going on here? Why are there so many people today?"

"You don't know?!" The nurse looked surprised that I asked. "There's another attack."

I could feel my heart beat faster and faster. "When?"

"About two hours ago," the nurse replied. "A C4 blew up at the Hyped." She looked past me before sliding her gaze back at me and said, "I have to go. We don't have enough people to attend these many patients."

I dropped my hand and she quickly moved towards the emergency room. Her words stuck with me even after she'd gone.

Another attack. A C4 blew up at the Hyped.

Was it the old faction? Or was it the new one? The ones who lived at the Hyped was mostly foreigners who didn't have a family unit here at the Court. Who was their target?

It seemed that today wasn't my lucky day as someone bumped into me, this time it was harder than before, nearly knocked me to the floor. I looked up to meet the pair of dark green eyes. "Vlad? What are you doing here?" He'd told me this morning that he would be in the court (the human court) until late at night.

"Haven't you noticed?" He looked at me with a sad, anxious expression on his face. "The bond. It's gone."

And only then I realized that my worst nightmare had finally come true.