The warrior’s hand lifted. It would have only taken a second more to reach her. But Chan struck her in even less, backhanding her across the face. Kelsey came flying through the air, and Malachi caught her, his body absorbing the impact of hers.
He lingered just long enough to stare at the darkening mark on her cheek, to study the bloodied mess of her arm. She smiled weakly at him. “It took you long enough,” she murmured, her voice husky and faint. Her lids drooped, hiding the pretty hazel gold of her eyes from him. “I knew you’d get here, though.”
Carefully, he knelt, lowering her to the floor. Cupping the back of her head, he held her close for a minute, breathing in the warm scent of her skin. The soft, gentle scent was nearly overpowered by the blood oozing from her arm. The flesh hadn’t even started to knit together, just one more sign of how weak she still was.
“Tell me, Chan, when did it become honorable for a Hunter to attack anyone who was in a clearly weakened state?” Malachi asked. He kept his tone casual, although it was little chance any sane, seeing person could overlook his rage.
“My honor lies in completing the duty that lies before me. She interfered.”
Still not looking at the other vampire, Malachi brushed his fingers down the soft skin of her cheek. “Indeed. Because her honor commanded it.” Rising, he turned and faced the shorter warrior, his hands curled into loose fists. His fangs bulged and throbbed within their sheaths. Keeping his rage under control was fast becoming a supreme test to his willpower. “Have you once asked yourself why a witch, a healer, would give aid to an enemy?”
“I care not for her reasons. Only to see that it never happens again.”
Malachi narrowed his eyes. “It never happened a first time, you bloody fool. The woman who committed the crimes we found her guilty of no longer exists.”
Arching a brow, Chan said, “Repentance at this late date. How convenient. And how ridiculous that a witch with Kelsey Cassidy’s experience would fall for such a pathetic attempt. That alone proves what a danger she is to us. That is why she must be dealt with.”
Those cool words finally pushed Malachi over the edge. He crossed the distance separating him from Chan in two long strides, reaching up to close one hand around the warrior’s throat. When Chan attempted to evade him, Malachi simply lowered his shields and snarled, “You will be still.”
Chan had seen nearly six centuries come and go. He was a powerful bastard, and the maddening fear that many vampires used as a weapon had little effect on him. It was one of the reasons that Malachi had chosen him to lead the Select nearly two hundred years ago.
But Chan hadn’t ever had to stand before Malachi when the older vamp had his shields lowered. A grim pleasure flooded the older vampire as Chan paled, terror flooding his dark eyes even as he tried to fight it down. “You hear my words, but you do not listen, Chan. That woman is dead. I speak not of repentance or any act of forgiveness that Kelsey might have granted. I have lived far longer than you, and I know my duty. Had you killed the woman that was being held in the dungeons, you would have murdered an innocent woman. More . . . you would have murdered one of your own comrades. And I speak not of Kelsey Cassidy. She saved your bloody soul and you will, by God, beg forgiveness. If I let you live.”
With that, he hurled Chan away from him, watching as the vampire went flying across the room, hitting the stone wall. Dust floated down from the ceiling as Chan picked himself back up, staring at Malachi.
Once more, Malachi let his shields slide back into place and waited until the terror left Chan’s eyes. “I tire of these riddles,” Chan spat, lisping a little around his fangs. “The bitch’s execution was ordered by the Council. She sat on that Council.” He flung a hand toward Kelsey. “And I will mete out that execution.”
“You will not. The order has been rescinded.” Smiling faintly, Malachi added, “It is temporary—for now. The Council awaits Kelsey. She has answers to some very important questions. If you had waited just a few hours before making an ass of yourself, you would have learned all.”
Chan inclined his head. “I know all I need to know. I shall not suffer a traitor among the Hunters.”
“And I will not suffer a fool.” Crossing over to Chan, he added in a menacing voice, “Nor will I allow anyone to lay a hand on my mate.”
There was a crack as Malachi plowed his fist into Chan’s nose, and it was almost as satisfying as the scent of the vampire’s blood. Chan staggered back but didn’t go down. He moved toward Mal, one leg sweeping out in a kick that was meant for Mal’s midsection. Mal blocked it, closing in on Chan with the intention of shedding more blood.
There was a ripple of magick in the air. It was subtle, this magick, far more subtle than he would have felt had it been Dawn working it. Even more subtle than Kelsey’s, and she had a rather refined touch, especially as young as she was, comparatively speaking.
He dodged another blow from Chan, catching the smaller man’s wrist and jerking it up. He moved behind the warrior as he did so, shoving the wrist high and kicking out at Chan’s knee at the same time. Bone cracked. As Chan crashed to the floor, Malachi went down on top of him.
“You see. I told you there was trouble,” a gentle voice said with a sigh.
“It looks like Malachi has it under control, woman. I don’t think we’re needed.”
Malachi looked up, meeting a pair of soft blue eyes. He glanced from the woman to Vax and said flatly, “This is not keeping her out of harm’s way, Vax.”
Vax just snorted. “Try telling that to her. I could either come along for the ride or let her go alone. I’ll be damned if I’m going to get my ass kicked for trying to stand in her way.”
“Do get off the lad, Malachi. There has been quite enough trouble over me,” Agnes Milcher said, scowling at Malachi. It was like looking back through time; she looked exactly as she had when they had first met.
“Love, there could never be enough trouble over you,” Malachi murmured. Then he looked down at Chan and smacked the man’s dark head with the flat of his hand. “And this isn’t entirely over you, Nessa. He dared to harm Kelsey.”
“So I see. I tire of seeing my work undone like this, Chan.”
Malachi stood up and watched as Chan rolled over. The bottom half of his left leg, from the knee down, stuck out at an awkward angle. Unable to bear his weight, Chan remained on the ground, his eyes bright with pain and anger. But there was also confusion. “Do not speak to me as if you know me, witch. Whatever magick you have done will not fool me.”
“Now why should I ever hope to fool you?” Nessa asked. “You and your bloody pride and honor do a far better job of making you to look the ass than I ever could. You were like that when I helped to train you four hundred years ago, and you will likely be like that in another five hundred. If you live that long.”
“Dear God.”
The soft, shaken whisper came from the corner opposite of where Kelsey was still sitting. Dawn Meyers sat there, surrounded by the rubble of a busted chair, staring at Nessa with disbelief in her eyes.
“How is this possible?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
That was, indeed, the question.
But it was not one that concerned Malachi.
He stood at the edge of the bed, watching as Regina once more laid her gentle, capable hands on Kelsey. As Regina probed the wound in Kelsey’s arm, Malachi edged a little closer.
He was not hovering. Just watching. After all, it was his damned fault she lay there, so still, her skin so pale. Blood staining her clothes. Once more, his fangs threatened to emerge, and he had to force his body not to react to the rage he still felt.
“It is not healing at all,” he said. Unnecessarily, he knew. Regina was a fine Healer and knew exactly what was wrong. Still, he wasn’t hovering.
“She’s just a bit too drained for self-healing, Malachi.” She glanced at him, her normally mild brown eyes dark and angry. “She had no reason to be moving around at all, much less fighting.”
Thus far, none knew exactly how Kelsey had been injured. Until the Council had made public the odd events that had happened of late, they were not speaking of it.
Chan was temporarily out of commission. Placed in one of the remaining prison cells in the lower levels of Brendain, he waited. Malachi would have been content to just gut him, but neither Kelsey nor Nessa would tolerate it. Still, just imagining it brought a pleased smile to his lips.
“You look absolutely evil, Mal.”
Looking at Kelsey, he shrugged absently. “Thinking about something that would have been fun.”
Regina still sat by Kelsey, now gripping Kelsey’s hand instead of her arm. The cut flesh there was knitting itself together, and it took only seconds to for there to be nothing more than a fading red line.
Moving around to the other side of the bed, he sat down and took her free hand. “How do you feel?”
She grimaced. “Exhausted. I want to go back to my normal, boring life of teaching.” A hopeful look entered her eyes, and she asked, “Maybe the Council will let me resign?”
Dryly, he said, “I wouldn’t bet on it. I’ve been trying to do just that for the past two centuries.”
Lifting a shoulder in a shrug, Kelsey said, “I’d be easier to replace than you.”
Staring at her out from under his lashes, he murmured, “I wouldn’t bet on that either.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw movement, and he turned, watching as Regina sat back and released Kelsey’s hand. “Now will you really rest this time?” she asked.
“I will make certain of it, Regina,” Malachi murmured before Kelsey could even answer.
The Healer laughed. “I’ll hold you to that, Malachi. I will go and speak with Tobias. Kelsey needs at least a day of uninterrupted rest. That means not leaving this bed for anything but the bathroom,” Regina said flatly, reaching out and tapping Kelsey square in the chest. “I’ll have your meals brought to you for now. And I’ll be back in the morning to check you out. Until then . . . stay in bed.”
A weak smile appeared on Kelsey’s lips. “Honestly, Regina, I don’t even have the energy to go pee, much less anything else.”
“Good.”
Regina was gone seconds later, closing the door quietly behind her. Malachi was silent for a little while. He stared down at her hand, clasped in his. Her fingers were long and tapered, matching the narrow palm and the slender wrist. She looked delicate. He knew otherwise. He’d seen the strength in her long, willowy body. So soft, but still so strong.
She had more of a warrior inside her than she thought; it took a warrior to face Chan as she had done.
Warriors—they all ended up battle scarred at some point. Yet that knowledge did nothing to ease the fury he felt every time he remembered seeing Chan clip Kelsey across the face.
She’d flown through the air like she weighed nothing.
“I’ve known Chan for nearly five hundred years,” Malachi said slowly. “Agnes and I were together when we found him. Did you know that we spent several years together, Nessa and I? She was one of the few I agreed to take on as partner.”
“No. I didn’t know,” Kelsey murmured. She rolled toward him, lying on her side. He was staring at their joined hands. Following his gaze with her own, she felt a warmth start to spread deep inside as he began to stroke the back of her palm with his thumb. “I know you two were . . . are close.”
“Aye. We were. We will be again. It will take a bit of time, adjusting to what has happened,” he mused, that hard, sexy line of his mouth frowning thoughtfully. “We were together when we found Chan. He was damn near broken. Had spent close to a century serving as a blood slave to a vampire and his mistress, a witch who practiced on the blood paths. They had nearly driven him mad.”
Kelsey reached up, combing her fingers through the long strands of his deep red hair. “I know he’s a good man, Malachi.”
A bitter smile curved his lips. “That good man was ready to kill you. Blinded by his own sense of honor.” His lids drooped lower, shielding his eyes as they began to glow. “If he had seriously harmed you, nothing on earth could have saved his life.”
“I knew you would come,” Kelsey whispered. Her cheeks heated as she glanced up at him. “I don’t know how I was so certain, but I knew you’d come.”
She wanted to move closer to him, but her body was too damned drained. Instead, she tugged on his hand until he stretched out next to her. As Kelsey cuddled against his side, his big, strong arms came around her and pulled her close.
Weariness weighed down on her, and her lashes drifted closed. “I’m so tired,” she whispered softly.
“Then rest.” His lips brushed against her forehead.
“Will you stay?”
One big hand started to stroke up and down her back. “Aye. I’ll stay.” His hand moved to the back of her head, fisted there. Malachi drew her head back and she stared into the deep blue of his eyes. “When you wake, we have to talk, you and I.”
The hand in her hair loosened, and she cuddled back against him, resting her cheek in the curve where shoulder met arm. “Just be here when I wake up.”
IT WAS THAT DREAM ALL OVER AGAIN.
His hands hard and demanding as he mounted her, pushed inside, driving her to climax with quick, hard strokes.
And she woke to find herself hovering on the edge of climax all over again.
Embarrassment stained her cheeks red as she opened her eyes and found Malachi propped on one elbow, staring down at her. His hand rested on her belly, but as their eyes met, he stroked down, cupping her in his hand. “Dreaming?” he murmured as he pushed one finger inside her.
She clenched around him, a broken moan escaping her lips. “About you.”
The smile that curved his lips was hot and male. “Good.”
As he began to pump in and out of her sheath, his mouth came down on hers. Kelsey opened for him, and his tongue pushed inside her mouth. She moaned into his mouth and reached up, clutching at his shoulders.
The rhythm of his fingers slowed to a teasing, gentle pace, and he started to circle his thumb around her clit. She reached for him, trying to draw him closer, but he wouldn’t budge. Tearing her mouth away from him, Kelsey demanded, “Don’t tease.”
He laughed, the sound husky and strained. “I am not teasing,” he whispered, biting her lip gently. The slight pain sent shivers racing down her spine. His mouth cruised down her jawline, and she moaned as he pressed a hot, openmouthed kiss to the crook of her neck. “I was trying to let you rest, and then you wake me up with those soft, sexy little moans. You’re so hot—so wet. I’d give my right arm just to bury my cock inside you, but I can’t. But I can do this . . .”
He emphasized his words by circling his finger gently around the opening to her sheath. Slowly, he penetrated her, lifting his head up and staring into her eyes.
“Malachi . . .” she hissed out his name, trying once more to draw him to her. When he wouldn’t come, she ran her hand down his belly, stroking him through the thick denim. “Please.”
“I’ll please,” he whispered. “As often as you wish.” He rubbed his thumb against her clit. As she cried out, he lowered his head, muffling her moans with his mouth.
He kissed her softly, keeping his strokes easy and light. The climax pulsed through her, slow and gentle. When it passed, he wrapped her in his arms and rolled onto his back, taking her with him so that she lay cuddled on his chest.
She could feel him pulsing against her belly. “What about you?” she murmured.
Malachi laughed. “Any time I think of you, I get like this. I can handle it.”
Blood rushed to her cheeks, but before she could say anything, there was a knock at the door. Lifting her head, she glanced at the clock across the room. “Time for the feeding trough again,” she muttered. “Maybe there’s some chocolate cake.”
There was. There was also a spinach soufflé that tasted pretty good. “Nice subtle way of getting me to eat my veggies,” Kelsey dra
wled as she scooped up another forkful.
“Well, you bitched about the vitamins they sent up last night.”
Loftily, she said, “I didn’t bitch. I merely commented that there were horse pills smaller than that.”
Malachi just smiled at her. After a few minutes, he reached up and trailed his fingers down her cheek. “You’re not so pale.”
Kelsey shrugged. “I feel better. Just getting some rest helped.” She’d eaten half the soufflé and cut into the cake. But after two or three bites, her belly was full.
“Eat more.”
Glancing up, Kelsey wrinkled her nose. “Can’t. I’m full.” She went to stand up so she could put the tray away, but Malachi took it from her and carried it to the door. He set it on the floor outside in the hall. One of the students would come around to pick it up later.
Closing the door behind him, he leaned against it and hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans. Kelsey curled up against the headboard and drew her knees to her chest. “We were supposed to talk.”
His lips crooked up in a half smile. “Yes. Where to start . . .”
“Why don’t you start by sitting down here with me?”
She held his gaze. Her pretty eyes looked about as nervous as he felt. Shoving away from the door, he crossed over and dropped down on the bed, stretching out next to her. “You make me nervous, you know that?” he murmured.
Kelsey snorted as she shifted around on the bed. “If you say so.”
As she stretched her legs out in front of her, he rested his head on her thigh and looked up into her face. “It is not something I would say if I did not mean it,” he murmured. “You’ve been making me nervous for ten years now.”
“Uh-huh.”
Malachi grinned at her. “I try to bare my soul, and you give me skepticism.”
She smirked down at him. “Malachi baring his soul to anybody is worth a little bit of skepticism.”
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