Heart of the Warrior

by Donya Lynne

  Severin groaned and gasped a few feet away.

  "Hang on, Sev. Don’t you die on me."

  Shit, the injury looked bad. Trace needed to hurry.

  He half-released the female from compulsion so he could gruffly bind her wrists and ankles. Her squeak of pain made him grin. He hauled her to the SUV and shoved her in then rushed back for Sev. Fuck the drecks. These two just got a free pass. Sev needed medical attention STAT.

  "I’ve got you, buddy. Come on." Trace picked Sev up. Damn, but he was losing a lot of blood. "Don't you die, Sev. Ari is waiting for you."

  Sev groaned and dropped his head back as he passed out.

  "Fuck!"

  Trace got Sev in the passenger seat then rushed around to the driver’s side and jumped behind the wheel.

  Keys! Keys! Where were the keys?

  Fuck it.

  He started the damn thing with a touch of his finger. Presto-start-o! Without hesitation, he stomped on the gas and rocket launched out of the alley before hitting the transmitter. "Dispatch, this is Trace!" He didn't wait for them to acknowledge and started rattling off the details. "Get medical ready. Now! Sev's been hit. I repeat, Severin is down."

  "What happened?" Adam's voice shot back.

  "Took two bullets to the chest."

  "Shit. Condition?"

  Trace glanced at Sev. "Bad. Losing a lot of blood and unconscious."

  "Hurry him home. Medical’s been alerted."

  "Get security to meet me at the back door. I've got his would-be assassin, too." Trace shot a glance at the female in his rearview mirror.

  She glared back.

  "Copy."

  Trace remembered his third passenger. "And I've got an overdose, too. Female."

  "Fuck, Trace. What don't you have?" Adam said.

  "The kitchen sink."

  Trace ended the transmission and looked in the rearview mirror at the dark-haired female as he flew through an intersection. "You’d better hope Sev doesn’t die, bitch." He shot the words at the female like bullets of his own.

  "Fuck you."

  "No, you’ll be the one who’s fucked." He barely slowed down at a red light then gunned it.

  "He’s a sympathizer!" She sneered at Sev. "He’s half dreck. He’s one of them. I've done you all a favor. You should be thanking me instead of hauling me in like a criminal."

  "Bullshit! Just shut the fuck up." Trace scowled at her, but he quickly darted a questioning glance toward Severin. Was she saying Severin was half a goddamn dreck? No way.

  She chuffed. "You'll see soon enough." She looked and sounded self-assured. "He helped killed my brother and ten other enforcers in Atlanta."

  The Suburban practically went airborne as he shot through another intersection.

  Trace glanced quickly at Sev again. Sev had come to them from Atlanta, but Trace couldn't see him being capable of the shit this bitch was accusing him of.

  "I’m not buying it, sweetheart." Trace lurched the Suburban around a corner and gunned it again.

  "Don't believe me? Look inside his mind. Go ahead. See for yourself."

  Damn, but Trace wanted to wipe that smug look off her face. With his fist.

  Undaunted by his scowls in the mirror, she continued. "He claimed to work for the VDA, but they said they never heard of him. He was working with a band of cobalt dealers the night my brother raided the factory. Sev was there. He helped kill –"

  Trace held up his hand and growled at her. "Just shut up. I'm done with your goddamn voice."

  She sat back and glowered at him

  Trace didn’t buy her line of shit for a second, but he poked inside Sev’s unconscious mind, anyway. If he died, Sev’s memories would be lost forever and Trace would be the only one to provide witness to the truth so they could convict this female and sentence her to death by beheading. Which he would happily see to personally.

  As he dug through Sev's thoughts, he pushed past a lot of things he didn’t need to see – personal things about Ari and a male named Gabriel – Gabe as Sev called him. A quick shuffle through the memories of Gabe showed he was this bitch's brother. Her name was Gina.

  Okay, so Trace got that.

  Next he saw Sev’s mother. Well, fuck him sideways. Bitch Gina was right. Sev’s mother was a dreck. That didn’t mean he was a sympathizer, though.

  Trace kept sorting and sifting then found the memory he was looking for. Sev in the middle of a firefight in a factory. Drecks and enforcers were unloading a lot of hard ammo on each other, bullets bouncing off Sev's skin – iron skin, huh? Nice mixed-blood power there – as he raced for Gabe. Sev's panic in the memory took Trace's breath away as he watched bullets tear through Gabe's body armor and his blood splatter the air.

  Fast-forward. Sev returned to the factory. Gina was there. Gabe had just died and Trace could feel Sev's pain even through the mind link.

  Damn. Shit. That brought back memories of his own that he didn't want to think about.

  He refocused on Sev's memories. Sev used to be a deep cover op. No one knew of his assignment, not even Gabe. Then Trace saw confusion and anger. Sev's boss at VDA had disavowed him. Why? Oooohhh, jealousy. Sev's boss had been jealous. Trace raced through all the memories. He saw Jonas, how Gabe and Jonas used to be lovers, and how Jonas blamed Sev for their breakup even though Sev had nothing to do with it. Shit, Sev had been royally fucked over, and this bitch in the back seat had performed a leap before she'd looked.

  Tears bloomed in Trace’s eyes. Sev had endured so much pain and suffering over Gabe’s death. The agony was overwhelming and Trace forced himself to disconnect from Sev's mind before the sorrow overtook him and tilted his power balance, especially when Sev's pain reminded him of his own past.

  "Are all Atlanta enforcers as careless as you are?" Trace glared at Gina in the rearview mirror.

  "Fuck you. I'm not careless." She lanced him with an icy glare.

  "Like fuck. You’ve got it all wrong about Sev. Gina." He emphasized her name to ensure she got the clue that he had taken a trip through Sev's mind.

  "Like hell I do." She frowned as doubt crept over her face.

  "You didn’t bother looking at the whole memory, did you? You only saw a piece of what really happened."

  "Gabe died before I saw it all, but I saw enough. Sev killed him." She didn't sound as confident as she had a few minutes ago, though.

  "Look again. This time, look inside Sev's memories." Trace felt his impatience and anger coiling like a deadly python.

  "I don’t need to. I know what I know." But her voice wavered.

  "LOOK AGAIN!" Trace's power nearly broke free to crush her skull, but he deflected it in time to crack the windshield. He was unbelievably angry. He needed to be careful.

  Gina cowered and trembled, obviously feeling the waves of darkness emanating from his body, but her eyes darted to Sev.

  "That's right," he said. "Look. Again. Take a good long look, sweetheart. You just shot an innocent male who's already endured enough pain over Gabe's death. And so help me God, if he dies, I will enjoy hurting you."

  He would break every bone in her body, crushing them one-by-one, starting with her fingers, then her toes. Then her hands and feet. He would work his way from her extremities and save her skull for last so she felt every painful blow. The thought made his hand twitch eagerly.

  Oh yeah, he really needed to be careful. His power was eating its way into his body. If he unleashed himself now, he could very well find himself tipping the scale into full-blown transformation to the land of the mutants.

  Chill, Trace. Just a bit longer and you can have your release.

  He glanced into the rearview mirror and saw Gina staring at Sev. She was looking inside his mind. He knew she would. Curiosity had a way of pushing people to do things even when they wanted to resist. Horror stretched over her face and tears welled in her eyes as she clapped her bound hands over her mouth. And then she broke down.

  Trace felt nothing of compassion for her. "Now you see
. And now you have to live with what you’ve done." Fucking reckless bitch. "What kind of an assassin are you that you go into a job without all the facts. Do us all a favor and find a new line of work if Sev makes it through this."

  And that was a very big if at the moment. Sev’s breathing had grown shallow and his face had lost all color. Vampires may be immortal, but they could die just as easily as humans under the right circumstances. And these were the right ones.

  He reached AKM and sped around to the back entrance. The medics rushed out and unloaded Sev onto a gurney then grabbed the overdose victim from the back. A sextet of enforcers yanked out Gina, whose face was locked in numb shock. She didn't even attempt to resist as they shoved her through the doors.

  Yeah, you fucked up, bitch. Trace glared after her as he followed everyone in, his stride long, purposeful, and measured.

  The mass of bodies pushed hurriedly down the hall toward the medical wing then disappeared through a set of swinging doors. The overdosed girl was swept into another room, and personnel ran back and forth in what looked like chaos. But Trace knew they were like bees in a hive. To his eye, the buzz of activity looked haphazard, but to the doctors and nurses rushing around, they knew exactly what needed to be done and where to go.

  A herd of footsteps charged up behind him and Trace turned in time to catch Ari before he ran into the fray of doctors attempting to save Severin’s life.

  "No, Ari! Stop!"

  "Let me go. I need to see him."

  The entire team was there, including some tall fucker Trace didn’t know but who looked a lot like Sev. The guy looked as anxious as Ari to push his way through, and Micah and Tristan were trying to wrangle him back.

  "What happened? What happened to him?" Ari twisted and tried to get out of Trace’s grip.

  "He was shot."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  For a split second, Ari thought he had heard wrong. No! Not Sev! No! He had iron skin. He couldn’t be shot. Not unless he…Oh God! He hadn't had his iron skin engaged.

  "How?" Ari continued to struggle to get free.

  Trace's pale eyes narrowed as he frowned. "An assassin. Some dark-haired bitch named Gina."

  Severin’s father perked up behind him. "Gina? Are you sure? Dark hair? Petite?"

  Trace turned and nodded, not looking like the nicest welcoming committee for Sev's father right now. "That's right. Who the fuck are you? And how do you know her?"

  "Lakota. I’m Sev’s father. And she was my date at the party tonight."

  Trace had been out of the loop, so all this was news to him.

  "No shit," Trace said.

  "Yeah, no shit. Where is she?" Lakota sounded primed to kill.

  "In a holding room," Tristan said. "We detain prisoners in the holding rooms."

  "Where are those?" Lakota sounded even more menacing.

  Obviously Tristan caught on to the bloodlust Lakota was rocking because he said, "You stay away from her until we’ve had a chance to get to the bottom of this."

  "She’s mine," Trace said, his voice deep and filled with lethal warning.

  Ari got the impression Trace had plans for Gina if shit went badly. But if that happened, it would mean Sev…. No, Ari couldn't think like that. He couldn't think Sev wouldn't pull through this.

  "Like hell she is. That’s my son in there!" Lakota pointed toward the emergency room. "And that bitch used me to get to him."

  Tensions were high. Testosterone was flowing. The aggression levels were off the charts, and all Ari wanted was to get to his mate.

  My mate's been shot!

  The crowd pushed forward and Trace let go of Ari to push Lakota back. Lakota retaliated. Fists flew. Bodies hit the walls and Ari turned to see Micah and Io holding Trace back while Tristan and Malek restrained Lakota. Sam stood back and huddled to the side to avoid being hit.

  This was his chance. He took off and darted down the hall and ran through the double doors just as Sev’s heart monitor flatlined.

  "No!" he rushed forward and pushed past the doctors and nurses who tried to hold him back.

  "He’s crashing!" someone yelled.

  "He needs blood, STAT!" another shouted.

  Ari jumped on Sev’s body and thumped his chest hard below the gaping wound. "Don’t you die on me, Sev! Don’t you fucking die!"

  He hit his chest again as a nurse rushed in with a bag of blood. They didn’t have time for that. Without a thought, Ari grabbed a scalpel and sliced his wrist open and shoved it over Sev’s mouth as he thumped his fist against Sev’s chest again.

  "Drink! Fucking drink, Sev!"

  The doctors knew better than to try and pull him off, so they worked around him, hooking up bags of blood and injecting syringes of blood directly into his veins.

  Ari collapsed over Sev’s lifeless body and started crying. His tears fell over Sev’s face as he kissed his closed eyes. "Don’t you leave me, Sev. I love you. I love you, goddamn it! You’re my mate. You can’t leave me!" He felt hope slipping away. "Please drink. Please don’t die. I love you."

  His chest ached, and the pain only worsened with each passing second. Sev was slipping away from him.

  The blood flowed from his wrist into Sev’s mouth, but Sev didn’t move. His throat didn't work to swallow the life-giving blood Ari offered.

  "We’re losing him!" someone yelled.

  Ari wrapped his free arm under Sev’s body and held onto him, sobbing. "No, don’t go. Don’t give up. I’m ready to fight for you, Sev. I’m ready to fight for us. Please." He pressed his lips to Sev’s ear, his voice a whisper now. "I love you. I need you. I can’t live without you."

  The continuous monotone shrill of the heart monitor filled Ari’s ears. Sev was dead. His mate was dead.

  "No." He whispered the single word before sucking in a wretched sob of air. "Nooo!"

  Suddenly, Sev’s body shuddered and tensed then arched up violently as his fangs sank into Ari’s wrist. The monitor buzzed to life again, beeping wildly as Sev's heart re-engaged inside the land of the living.

  The pain of Sev's bite was nothing compared to the joy that leaped into Ari's heart as he pulled back and looked down.

  Oh my God! Oh my God! He's alive.

  Ari's face filled with hope. "That’s it. Drink my blood."

  Vampire blood trumps human blood.

  Sev’s arms jerked and wrapped around him and pulled him close. His strength was off the charts and Ari could tell he was struggling to control his movements, causing tubes and monitors to whip around, shift, and fall over. But Ari didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was that Sev’s eyes blasted open and his beautiful, perfect blue irises flashed to his, full of life and panic.

  Ari smiled down at him, his tears turning to tears of joy as they fell on his face.

  "I love you. I love you."

  Sev’s head nodded as if he wanted to tell him he knew and loved him, too.

  A doctor tugged at Ari's suit jacket, now covered in Sev’s blood. "We need to prep him for surgery. Please. Let us do our job, Arion."

  They were right. There was still a long road to make sure Sev was safe, but as he moved to get down, Sev's arms locked around him and he shook his head as fear filled his eyes. Sev’s fangs released his wrist.

  "Don’t leave me," Sev said. His pleading voice was raw and weak.

  Ari bit back another sob. "I won’t. I’ll be right here. But the doctors need to work on you. They need to save you and they can’t do that with me in the way."

  "Stay…with me." Sev shivered and his teeth chattered.

  Ari licked over his own wrist since Sev obviously hadn’t released any venom to heal his bite, which explained the lack of euphoria. "I’ll stay. I’ll be right here. I won’t let go of your hand the whole time, okay." He moved to get off the gurney and Sev nodded as he let him go.

  "I love you." Sev’s voice was deathly quiet, but at least he was alive.

  "I love you, too, now sshh." He wrapped both his hands around one of Sev’
s. Damn, he was cold, but Ari held tight as the doctors went back to work.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Ari lost track of time, but after what felt like several hours and two more close calls, the doctors sewed Sev up and transferred him to a recovery room. They assured him Sev was stable, but Ari just wanted him to open his eyes again and look at him. Only then would Ari believe he was out of the woods.

  The rest of the team shuffled in except for Trace, and Io glanced down at Ari’s hands wrapped tightly around Sev’s. He could imagine the questions going through Io's head.

  "How is he?" Micah said.

  For the first time, Ari saw Micah in a new light. Something had clicked between them earlier at his parents’ home. Ari let go of Sev’s hand, stood up, and hugged Micah. "Thank you."

  Micah seemed to take the hug in stride, but a couple of others in the room gasped. Seeing the two of them hugging like old friends was something he doubted anyone would have laid bets on. He and Micah weren't known to be the best of buddies. Punches were more likely to be thrown between them than kind words.

  "Thank me for what?" Micah held him close and patted him on the back of the shoulder all big brotherly and shit.

  Ari pulled back and nodded at Micah. What Micah had made him see through his eyes changed him. He knew what needed to happen now.

  "For helping me to see what’s really important."

  "And? What is that?" Micah looked him in the eye, arching a brow in a way that almost looked like he was daring Ari.

  Perhaps he was daring him to reveal the truth in front of his team, including Io. Something Ari was finally ready to do.

  Ari couldn’t believe the changes in Micah since he had taken Sam as his mate, and this wise, compassionate side was just one more surprise Ari had never expected to see in Micah. Ari placed his hand on Sev’s leg. "Him. Severin. He’s what’s important."

  "And why is that?" Micah looked him dead in the eye.

  Ari kept his eyes locked with Micah’s and took a deep breath. "Because I love him. Because…" He glanced around the room and met the eyes of everyone there. "Because Sev is my mate."

  Io’s mouth fell open, and Ari watched him look away uncomfortably.