Chapter 49 Blade of Grass
❀ Maeve ❀
Silvery moonlight bled into the orange glow of the hearth in the large room.
I stepped in something thick and sticky. I looked down. Pooled blood.
A vicious snarl sounded.
My gaze tracked from the blood beneath my feet to the two biggest figures in the space.
The scene almost looked unreal. Dread pooled in my gut.
Alpha Mordane held in his grip the throat of a wriggling wolf. The wolf snarled and clawed its forepaws along the alpha’s side in a desperate bid to escape.
Alpha Mordane wasn’t even flinching.
My eyes widened at the state of him.
It was my first time seeing him in his beast form. Like a shifting, shivering ghost, the image of his lycan wolf covered his large, muscular body. A body built to kill.
The glowing red eyes that had been locked on an equally bloody and beastly Bastian across the room, swung to me.
My stomach dropped.
The dagger in my hand felt like a useless blade of grass. My heartbeat assaulted my ears.
Bastian turned to see what had caught the alpha’s attention.
The alpha breathed in deeply, dragging my scent in like a bloodhound.
His red eyes shot wider.
He flung his captive and lunged…
A voice exploded in my head.
Bastian. “Maeve! Run!”
My lungs seized as I turned to bolt.
I didn’t get far.
The weight of a planet slammed into my back, a vicious mix of snarls exploding behind me.
The impact threw me headfirst into the stone wall. Pain exploded as the world spun. It felt like I was falling.
Falling.
Into a bottomless abyss of darkness.
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I came to with a low groan that rattled my brain.
My left side ignited into starbursts of tingling prickles from numbness. When I forced my lids open, the light burned my eyes.
“You’re awake,” a gruff voice noted.
“Barely.” Even my throat hurt to speak.
An answering grunt.
I turned my head to the side despite the pain. “What happened?”
Bastian was laid beside me, thick swathes of bandages covering his body from head to toe. The edges of the fabric were tinged red. Only his face was visible.
I winced at his condition.
“You charged toward death with a wee little dagger and zero self-preservation.” His eyes flashed with anger. “What the hell were you thinking?”
I rolled my eyes and winced again. Gods, everything hurt.
“That’s the thanks I get for coming to save your life?”
“To save…?” He sputtered, then trailed off, groaning.
Silence.
Now that I was awake, I registered every ache, twinge, and pain in my body.
If I’d gotten this damage just colliding with the wall, how would I have survived Alpha Mordane?
To think I’d planned to stab him with my ‘wee little dagger’ as Bastian had aptly called it.
Shame tasted bitter in my mouth.
“Bastian, this cannot continue.” My voice was soft. “We can’t face threats from both outside and within. Why won’t he just take it off?”
I looked sideways when he didn’t answer, my mind running circles around the issue.
Alpha Mordane was so strong that no one could pry that thing off him. The only hope was talking him into it or… poison.
I didn’t even have the strength to be outraged at the thought.
“It won’t continue. Once I recover, I’ll handle it.”
“Please be careful. I–I don’t want to lose you…” My voice broke. Not just with fear, but with guilt.
He’d jumped between me and the feral alpha without a second thought, saving my life. Yet I was betraying him horribly. Even now I planned to hand information to Nikolai.
But Bastian already had a lot on his hands handling Mordane. And if Nikolai succeeded in killing Graves, then Bastian wouldn’t have to risk himself in that fight.
“Don’t ever do that again. You don’t know what it did to me. Seeing him charge at you like that.” He swallowed, voice thick.
I shrank into myself. “Trust me, I will never be that stupid again.”
Having seen Mordane in action one-on-one, no, I wouldn’t dare.
“I know you’re worried about your mother. I swear to you, she’s safe. No casualties have been recorded in District One where I scented her. The soldiers are doing a good job holding off the feral vampires at the borders.”
“Okay. I trust you.”
His hand covered mine on the bed, and he squeezed softly. My heart swelled, beating hard for him. I’d jumped into danger to help my mate, and he’d done the same without hesitation.
Both of us lay on our backs, facing the ceiling.
My heart ached for us. Didn’t we deserve peace?
Maybe I should come clean. Tell him about the situation with Nikolai and my findings on Graves through Tammy.
“Bastian…” I murmured.
He answered with a soft snore.
I sighed.
The decision to tell him disappeared as fast as it had come. Not yet.
When I had a little more control over it, I’d tell him.
I settled into a floating state. In and out of consciousness. Soon, sleep took me.
❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀
I woke up for the third time today. The hearth burned low but would carry until morning.
Bastian still slumbered beside me, my hand cradled in his large fist.
My heart melted.
Even in sleep, he held on to me like I was his whole world. And I was planning to hand that world to someone else.
I carefully drew my hand out with a sinking feeling in my chest.
“I don’t mean to betray you, my love. I hope you understand,” I murmured.
Grazing his cheek with my knuckles, I gave one last loving glance, then left the bed.
I stretched on my feet. I’d completely healed, not even a twinge remained.
Bastian would completely regenerate by morning, I noted with hope.
After pulling on a simple day dress and flats, I roped my hair into a bun and slipped out of the room.
The corridors were scant with people, but the few acknowledged me with silent nods. I returned them with my heart in my throat.
If any of them caught me summoning and talking to a vampire in IronWolf, I feared I’d have to kill them.
I hurried through the hallways and adjoining corridors until I burst out into the ancient greenhouse on the side of the fortress.
It was beautiful even with the lack of management. Wildflowers snuck around the exotic ones, making up a chaotic burst of scents and colors.
I made a mental note to revive the structure for my personal enjoyment.
Once in the center, I tucked a silvery strand of hair behind my ear and began.
I’d never summoned Nikolai before. At least not on purpose.
I wasn’t exactly experiencing strong emotions like fear or lust at the moment, but yearning should work.
Closing my eyes, I focused on the memory of his eucalyptus scent. The silky curls of his dark hair. His alabaster skin and hot breaths on my skin.
Heat flared in my chest.
Keeping my eyes closed, I placed my palm on the bloodgem, cupping the familiar heat.
A soft wind blew against me, and my eyes snapped open.
Disappointment dampened excitement.
He wasn’t there.
I kept the gem burning until it began to hurt.
Moonlight streamed through the broken glass of the greenhouse’s dome until I felt soaked with it.
And still, he wasn’t here.
Had he meant it when he’d said goodbye?