Chapter 19

I held the cloak tight around me and looked around. Arius was sitting on a rock, a few of his brothers beside him. Victor had given him blood and his head wasn’t bleeding anymore, but he was still cold and looked shaky. I was still processing the fact that they could only replenish blood loss from ingesting royal blood, but that didn’t heal them, only feeding would. They were literally a whole species of their own. When Rafael had said he’d need blood, I thought needle and vein. I had so much to learn, and I wanted to learn it.

I watched the boat carrying the women get smaller as they moved further away. We’d done it. We’d gotten them off this island to safety.

“They’re done coddling him,” Alona motioned to Arius.

With a smile, I walked over and stopped in front of him. His eyes searched my face, then he wrapped his arms around me.

Michael came over and said something quietly to Troy.

Troy put his hands on his hips and stared at the sand for a moment, then lifted his head and looked over at Chase. He gave a brief shake of his head.

“What’s going on?” I asked Arius quietly.

“We can’t find one of the guards.” He said softly and looked toward the stairs. “The rest are searching the trees and growth.

“I can go help.” I started to drop the cloak.

His arms tightened around me. “I need you close.”

I looked back to him and touched his face. “You’re still pale.” I titled his head to check the cut, it still wasn’t completely healed up.

He gave his head a slight shake. “I’ll be fine. Just need some food and a hot shower.”

I kissed his forehead. “I almost lost you.”

“From Victor’s account, we almost lost you too.” He leaned back, “he said if he hadn’t grabbed you, you would have slid right off after me.”

“I didn’t have time lay down slowly.” I said quietly. “Remind me to hug Mitz when we go back though, her leather and ribbing saved my skin, literally.”

He pushed me back, his brow creased and opened the cloak. He paused and moved my sleeve to see the gouges on my arm. Seriously unhappy eyes flicked to mine briefly, then he unzipped my jacket. I pulled the cloak around his shoulders; I was only wearing a bra underneath. With a sound of pain, he touched my waist that hadn’t fared as well as my arms when I’d landed on the ragged edge of the rock at the cliff. He moved to undo his vest.

I stopped his hand. “Put your beast away.” He looked at me. “I’ll live until you’re stronger.”

The muscle in his jaw clenched a few times. “As soon as we get back.” He said in a tone that told me that was the most compromise I would receive.

I nodded, knowing the inner battle taking place inside him right now. I was injured and visibly so. “Okay. Now do up my clothes.” I whispered.

His lips twitched as he opened the jacket all the way and stared at me. With a sigh, his big fingers fumbled to get the zipper latched and then did it up. “Just my luck, we’re surrounded by dozens of people.”

Everyone walked by us, all were looking at the stairs. I turned to see several men carrying someone down. Quinton and Victor were at the front of the eight men with the body resting on their shoulders. I didn’t need to be part of the family connection to know it wasn’t good.

“Help me stay on my feet.” Arius said as he pushed me back slightly and stood up.

As he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, I wondered how I would do that if he stumbled. We’d both hit the ground.

We walked over to wait with the others.

“Who is it?” Arius asked Troy.

Troy shook his head. “Not sure yet, we just knew we were down one.” He motioned with his head to the man following them down the stairs. “Ira will know.”

I heard Alona sniffle and looked to see her shaking her head at something Chase said. Empath or not, she was not going to be whisked away at a moment like this.

When they reached the last step, Arius took a deep breath and straightened. He released my shoulder and walked over with the rest of his brothers. Victor knelt beside the guard and unzipped his jacket. I wasn’t sure what they were doing, I thought perhaps trying to find the injury that had killed him. There was blood everywhere, and a deep ugly cut over the man’s heart. It wasn’t until Victor pulled the shoulder of the jacket down to reveal part of a tattoo that I understood. He glanced up to Ira.

With a nod, he pulled out his phone. “I’ll call Mitz, so the women can get to her.”

My eyes teared up when I realized they were talking about the man’s mate. I took a shaky breath, Arius turned around and looked at me, then held out his hand. I rushed over to him and stood there.

I’d seen these people fight and laugh together and realized that this, right now, was also a part of their lives. It was their purpose to keep the balance from one realm to another. It was a heavy burden and it wasn’t fair that they had to bear it. Yet they did for long centuries without hesitation.

“Arius.” Michael said abruptly.

I looked up to see Arius’ eyes glowing red.

“Go back and recover.” Quinton told him.

“Troy?” Arius growled.

“Brother?” Troy stepped closer.

“You look and find who did this.” Arius said in a low tone. “I will make his mind torment him for a thousand years.”

A shiver went down my spine. Anyone would be frightened by his words. I leaned closer to him and reached up and touched his face. His red eyes looked down at me. “Take me home.” I whispered.

“I’ll go with.” Rafael said and came over and stood on the other side of Arius, his hand on his shoulder.

“Go, brother, we’ll be there shortly.” Victor said getting up and motioning for Crissy to come to him.

~

I sat wrapped up in Arius’ robe. He wouldn’t even remove his jacket until I was out of my wet clothes and dry.

Rafael came out of Arius’ bathroom and threw his hands up. “It’s like talking to a deaf man in there. I think that blow to his head scrambled his brains.”

I got up off the chair, I had to bunch it up the robe to be able to move easily. “What’s wrong?”

He waved his hand at the door. “I can’t even get the stubborn ass— who’s shivering so hard it’s like he’s being electrocuted, to soak in the tub until he’s healed your injuries.” He put his hands on his hips and looked me up and down. “Are you injured?”

I wasn’t about to flash him my stomach, so I shoved at the sleeve of the robe and held up my arm.

He winced.

“Both arms and my stomach.” I said softly.

“Well, fuck. Why didn’t he just tell me that?” He motioned to the bathroom. “He shouldn’t be bleeding for anything right now, but the mate instinct overrides everything, including common sense apparently. He’s really shaky and needs more blood to replenish, to warm up, to feed—” He held up his hand as I reached the door. “I’ll be right outside the door.” He glanced at it. “He’s walking a fine line right now with healing and—” he waved his hand, “everything.”

I nodded. “He won’t hurt me.”

“I don’t think so either, but I’ve never seen him like this before.” He huffed out a breath and then leaned in front of me to open the door. “Look after your mate, then get your ass in the tub.” Rafael barked.

Arius growled at him.

“Don’t make me call, Mitz.” Rafael said then closed the door behind me.

I stood inside the door and looked at the leather strewn around on the floor. Arius stood by the counter, in just his leather pants. His whole body was vibrating. His eyes were red, and they were locked on me. “You should give him a break.” I said quietly walking toward him. “You weren’t breathing when we got you on the boat.” I stopped in front of him. His eyes watched me, but he didn’t speak. “Internal war with the beast?” I asked quietly.

His chest expanded slowly, his eyes assessing me from the bottom of his robe then back up to my face. He dropped to his knees and pulled me by the robe to stand closer.

I put my hand on his cool shoulders, I could feel how much he was shaking.

He pulled open the robe.

When his cool touch grasped my hips, I gasped. Before I could say a word, he bent his head down and ran his tongue softly over the scrapes along my waist. I clutched his head. It stung but was so intimate and tender I wasn’t going to complain.

When he finished licking over each mark, he pushed the sleeve up and looked at my arm. With a soft growl, he reached behind him and pulled the knife out of the back of his pants. I grasped his hand and he looked at me.

“You’re shaking so much, let me do it.”

He released the knife and pulled me down to straddle his legs.

I swallowed and looked at his bare chest. My hand was shaking as I raised the blade. I didn’t know if I could cut him. Reaching, he put his hand lightly over mine and guided it. The knife left a trail of red in its wake. I flicked it to the floor and leaned forward, catching the dripping blood with my tongue. His large hand covered the entire back of my head holding me close as I sucked on the wound.

When it healed, he pulled my head back and attacked my mouth in a savage kiss.

Someone banged on the bathroom door. “Arius.” It was Victor.

Lifting his head, his breathing frantic, he turned and looked at the door.

“They’re just worried.” I said touching his face. “Let them in while I go get dressed.”

He turned, his red eyes noting my lack of dress. He nodded and grasped my waist and lifted me to my feet. Standing up, he stepped back, his jaw clenched and motioned to the door with his head.

I gave him a soft smile, clutched the robe closed and went to the door and opened it.

Victor stepped in and gave me a quick once over then inclined his head. “We’ll meet you at the dining room shortly.” He stepped further away from me.

I looked to Arius, he gave a quick nod, but still didn’t speak. I walked out of the room and the door closed.

Rafael stood there.

A loud bang sounded through the door, I startled and spun around.

Rafael stopped me before I could open it. “He’ll be fine.” He looked at the door. “In a weakened state, the emotional upset of losing one of our guards and being—” he looked at me for a second, “close to his mate, but not,” he shrugged, “it’s riding him hard right now.” He motioned to the door after a second loud sound. “I better go help.” He gave me a soft look. “He’ll be fine. We’ll see you at the dining room.” He quickly went into the bathroom.

I stood there hugging the robe to me, staring at the door, listening to the sounds and hushed voices on the other side. Taking a ragged breath, I turned to go back to my room.

I was hoping I was taking the right halls when I saw Daxx and Troy come around a corner. She looked at me, concern on her face.

“What’s going on?” Troy asked immediately.

I motioned down the hall I’d just come down. “Arius isn’t doing well. Victor and Rafael are with him.”

Troy looked down the hall. “He’s mostly healed.” He glanced back to me. “More blood and feeding and he’ll…”

I shook my head, “he’s not being very cooperative.”

His expression went blank. “I see.” He cleared his throat and looked down at Daxx. “I’ll go see if I can help.”

She nodded, then watched as he walked quickly down the hall. Turning to me, she looked at me in the large robe. “Damn giants.” She motioned with her head, “come on I’ll keep you company while you rinse off and get dressed.”

I nodded. “Thanks.” I waited for her to start walking so I was sure of the direction. “He’s so full of rage right now.”

She tucked her hands in her pockets and nodded. “I know. Troy as well. It’s not often they lose a man in battle—” she stopped and opened the door to my room, “add that to the fact that we didn’t get a single one of Hubert’s top lunatics, and Arius almost dying, along with you…” She closed the door after I went through it. “They handle emotion worse than I do.”

I sighed. “Rafael hinted that some of it is being close to me but because we’re…”

“Not fully mated.” She nodded. “Yeah they’re more animal then man then.” She snorted, “Trust me, Troy was out of control. Arius has been doing great compared to that.”

Going over to the closet, I flipped on the light and walked in. “I just feel like I’m to blame, well, part of the reason he’s like this right now is because of me.”

She leaned against the door and watched me grab clothes off hangers. “Don’t let him hear you speak like that—” she waved her hand, “it will prompt his protectiveness to come out and it turns into a vicious cycle. Trust me.” She grinned.

I checked to make sure the jeans had a pocket then stopped. “I drowned my phone.”

She chuckled, “phone killing is a favorite pastime around here. Honestly if they don’t own stock in a cell phone company, they should.” She shrugged, “Troy killed his too.”

“We need life-proof cases. Aren’t they supposed to be waterproof?” I walked out of the closet.

“Maybe, but are they sword and battle axe proof? Because that is part of life here.” She came out and sat on the bed.

I paused in the bathroom door, “not that I’m complaining, but why—” I motioned to the air around me, “do they fight like that when they have all this technology?”

Daxx bobbed her head, “I’ve asked Troy the same. I mean, I’m glad we’re not dodging bullets—and I’ve done my fair share of that hunting down bounties, but his answer is consistent with the whole thread that holds this realm together.”

“Which is?”

“No honor. Only a coward would stand a hundred feet away and fire a bullet into someone. It takes courage and honor to be close enough to your opponent to see the color of his eyes and fight.” She shrugged.

“Wow.” I reached in and turned on the light in the bathroom. “It makes sense when you think of it that way.”

She sighed, “It does.” She grinned, “Not to mention they look hot when they’re all decked out to do battle.”

I smirked, “I had noticed that.”

She motioned to the bathroom. “You better hurry. I figure you have about fifteen minutes before Arius comes looking for you.”

~

Daxx hadn’t been wrong. When we opened the door of my room, Troy and Arius stood there. She smiled at Troy. “Did you have to block the door?”

Troy gave her a half shrug. “He managed to hang on to it and just stand here,” he looked at his brother, “mostly.” He put his arm around her. “We’ll see you in the dining room.”

We both watched them walk away. I looked up at him, relief filled me to see his grey eyes hesitantly watching me. “Beast on lockdown?”

He nodded. “Yes.” Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

I shook my head and went over and rested my head on his chest. “Don’t be. It’s been quite the day, night.” I looked up at him. “I have no idea what time it is. I drowned my phone.”

He grinned. “Troy and I did too, Michael’s got smashed and Quinton thinks his got transported with a prisoner, and they’re probably ordering pizza with it right now.”

“Wow, do we buy them in bulk?” I put my head against his chest again and listened to his heartbeat.

He hugged me to him. “I think we have stock in a few companies, so it evens out.”

Tilting my head back I smirked, “you guys really have been around forever, haven’t you?”

“That’s what I’m told.” Leaning down he kissed my mouth softly. “I want to scold you for putting yourself at risk and coming into that bathroom with me like that, but at the same time I needed you at that point.”

“I don’t understand it completely, but I knew I had to be with you.”

His gaze moved gently over my face, “you realize all that this mating is lacking is the marks on our arms, right?”

I nodded slowly, “I’m starting to.”

He kissed me again, his lips lingering over mine. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Mmm, don’t make me do it again.” I smiled.

“Get a room. We have several dozen down here somewhere.” Rafael walked by.

“Maybe they’re trying to keep it fresh and try new places.” Quinton said looking over his shoulder as he walked by.

Arius rested his forehead on mine. “Sometimes having so many brothers is…”

“The best thing in the world because they save your ass.” Michael said.

We turned to see him leaning against the wall a few feet away.

“Sorry to interrupt this hallway interlude, but I thought I’d give you a quick update before we reach the food.”

Arius straightened up and put his arm around me instead. “With what?”

Michael shrugged and started walking, “Oh, those cells that you’re in charge of.” He grinned.

Arius snorted, “Yeah, because I forgot that I’ve been in charge of them for the last two hundred years.”

“Just checking. You were pretty out of it. I had to pop a vein for Raf’s face.”

We walked slowly.

Arius glanced at him over my head. “Maybe I knew what I was doing at that point and decided he needed a good punch in the face.”

Michael paused and then nodded and started walking. “I can see that.” He cleared his throat. “Forty-five new residents await your menacing stare, brother.”

“That many?” He motioned in the air, “I was so occupied fighting that god-damned bulldozer I didn’t get to see any of the action.”

Michael’s eyes went wide. “I popped down to check him out, seriously where the hell is he from? You’re lucky you have a head left.”

I stopped and looked at Michael.

His expression sobered. “Sorry.”

Arius smirked. “I can still feel the vibration in my bones from blocking his swings. It was like it was my first hit blocking a sword all over again.”

“No doubt.”

We stopped outside the dining room. Michael patted him on the shoulder. “You took on a tank today and won.” He went in.

I looked up at Arius, then hugged him tight.

“I’m okay, it’s over with.” He glanced in the door, then to me and whispered. “I need you to sit beside me, please.” He exhaled slowly, “it’s just too fresh right now.”

I nodded, “for me too.”

He kissed my forehead and we walked in.

Chase started clapping. “Seen your bulldozer, brother. Thank the gods it was you and not me taking that on.”

I remembered Felix. “Is Felix all right?” I hadn’t seen him on the beach.

Arius shook his head. “Wow, short lived concern for your mate. He’s fine.” He gave me a playful glare.

I smacked him on the chest lightly. “I had to check. Everything got a little crazy for me after you decided to chase him down.” I sat down in the chair he pulled out. “You do realize that if you’d just let him run, he would have hit the rocks below, where you fell.” I looked around the table. “I, at least jumped off where there was water below me.”

He sat down and looked at me for a second, then glanced to Victor. “What fun would it be to see him broken on the rocks, he’s like a trophy in that cell. I plan on selling tickets to show people what I fought.”

Victor grinned. “Leaving off the fact I came to your aid at the end, of course.”

Arius gave him a quick glance as he heaped food on his plate. “Of course, or I wouldn’t sell any tickets.”

“Arius?” I said softly.

He looked at me.

“You should just put that food in your mouth now.” I smiled.

He grinned. “Yeah, babe, shutting up now.”

Chase wasn’t the only one to chuckle.