Depth (Apalala Clan Book 2)

by Dzintra Sullivan

  Wyvern had hold of the dirty blonde, and they were moving so fast away from the door. His head turned just in time to see the tail of Q in full phoenix form taking off from the balcony. A roar from Ladon as he flew after it, only a trail of blue left in the air as he took off like a dragon fueled rocket.

  Attor slid to his side and dropped down on to the ground.

  He was dying, he could feel it.

  Looking up, he saw Taryn’s eyes locked on him, the last tear of life rolling down her cheek, as her breathing stopped. Attor stretched out his hand, and with his last bit of strength, he grabbed her cold hand tight.

  If we die, we die together, he thought.

  As his brothers rushed to his side, skidding to their knees beside him, his world went black.

  Attor slowly cracked his eyelids, then closed them tightly against the offensive white walls which tried to blind him. Trying again, he opened only one eyelid, keeping the other tightly shut. Gently turning his eyes from left to right, he tried to work out where he was, and why heaven had a window. A soft snoring sound drew his eyes to the far left as he saw curled up on a chair was Taryn, her legs tucked up under her body and wrapped in a light pink hospital blanket. Her head was tilted back, mouth slightly open as she snored rhythmically, and it was the most beautiful tune Attor had ever heard. Taryn’s hair cascaded down her shoulders and covered half her face, but he knew it was her, he could feel her in him.

  “Taryn…” he said trying to sit up. The white-hot pain that shot through his body nearly caused him to pass out. Attor groaned from the throbbing waves of torture that kept hitting his body like water pounding the beach in a cyclone.

  “Tor?” Taryn said with a start, her own body sent a shot of pain through her as she jumped up. She doubled over as she waddled over to him. Reaching out her hand to tenderly run her fingertips down his cheek she said, “You’re awake?”

  “Are we dead?” Attor asked with a wince.

  “No, Tor, we made it. Although you were touch and go for a few days.”

  “Days?” he exclaimed with shock. The agony of his sharp movement made him grit his teeth and whimper softly.

  Taryn smiled as she ever so slowly slid her chair over closer to him. Tenderly sitting down, she took his hand in hers. “You’ve been unconscious for three weeks, four days. They told your brothers to prepare to bury you. The damage you sustained was extensive,” she said softly.

  Attor’s brain was trying to swim to the surface from an ocean of drugs. “I thought I died…” His brow creased as he looked over at her. “I thought you died.”

  “Can’t get rid of me that easily.” She grinned. “The knife missed my lungs luckily, but it caused some damage to my shoulder, though.” She swallowed. “I… um…” her head dropped, “… I’ve lost the use of my wings. They had to remove them in order to keep me from bleeding out.”

  “Feathers…” he squeezed her hand tightly, “… I’m sorry. If I could have got to her first.” He shook his head with self-loathing. “I should have been looking. I should have been watching. I should have…” His face contorted with pain as his body tightened in anger at having not being able to protect his mate. “I’m so sorry, Feathers.”

  “Tor,” she said her pet name for him. “Tor,” repeating it until he looked at her. “Please don’t. I’ve lost a part of me I didn’t know I had and didn’t know I wanted until it was too late. I don’t want to lose the best thing I have in my future, either.” Her words were accompanied by silent tears rolling down her cheeks. “You survived a freak bullet finding the one tiny place exposed under your vest. I survived a knife being driven deep into my spine. If you still want me, I just want to go and live the gift we’ve been given together.”

  “I love you, Feathers,” Attor said, his eyes filled with tears of undying love for his mate. He didn’t know how he’d gotten this lucky, but he wasn’t going to let her go anytime soon.

  “I love you, too, Tor.” Taryn stood up, she hid her own grimace of pain as she leaned forward and kissed her mate’s lips. She rolled her lips lightly over his, feathering him as she breathed in his essence. She’d waited weeks to kiss him, and it was worth it.

  “Attor?” V walked in the door, followed quickly by the rest of the warrior brothers. “You’re awake,” he said with a sigh of relief. “Fuck, man, but you sleep like the dead,” V joked as a tension breaker.

  Jo laughed. “Crap! I’d already planned to take your room, it’s bigger you know.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, Jo.” Attor laughed then grimaced against the pain.

  “Ah…” He shrugged. “Shit happens.”

  Attor looked at the brothers. “What the fuck happened? Did we win?”

  V shrugged. “Depends on your definition of win, I guess.”

  “I lost Q,” Ladon said, his voice flat. “I tried, man, but it was dark, and you were dying, and I just… fuck,” he growled at himself. “I failed to find the beast that tried to take your life.”

  Jo clapped his hand on Ladon’s back. “Win some, lose some. We will get another chance.”

  “I shouldn’t have lost him, I’m not worthy.” Ladon turned silently and walked out the room.

  “He’ll be okay,” V said. “He’s just beating himself up.”

  Wyvern said from the back, taking a few steps forward, “Q has gone quiet again. I will continue to seek his location. We will get the bastard, sooner or later. On a good note, though,” Vern’s voice lifted, “… Taryn here is off the hook with her family. The Spigoletti’s just wanted her safe. After I spoke to them about the accident involving their daughter, I also explained that she wanted to become part of our family and we would keep her safe.”

  “They agreed to not hunt her down?” Attor asked.

  “Well, it wasn’t them that were hunting her. It was Pettigrove, and you, well…” Vern grinned. “You took care of her, permanently.”

  Attor looked over at Taryn. “You want to join our family, Feathers?”

  V snorted at the nickname. “Feathers… perfect.”

  Taryn smiled at V then looked back to Attor. “Tor, you and your lemon pie covered ass are stuck with me.”

  “Your ass is covered in pie?” Jo acted shocked.

  “When I get out of here it won’t be my ass covered in pie…” waggling his eyebrows at Taryn, “… and I looove pie a lot.”

  “Fuck, yeah, Attor…” Kylee and Payton come walking in. “You love that pie. You love it so hard, her pie won’t be able to sit down for weeks.”

  Attor laughed with a grimace as Payton slapped Kylee’s arm. “You can’t say that.”

  Jo raised his hand for a high five from Kylee. “Yes, she fucking can, I think she is my long-lost sister from another mister.”

  “I do have one question though, Attor?” V said.

  “Mmm?” Attor hummed an answer as his mind was still entertaining thoughts of eating pie of his mate’s naked body.

  “What the fuck is with the pink unicorn shirt?”

  Taryn, Kylee, and Payton all burst out laughing simultaneously. “Long story, babe,” Payton said as she huddled under mate’s arm lovingly.

  “Visiting hours are over people…” In stalked a matronly type nurse, her hair pulled up firmly on top of her head. “Out. Out. Out.” She shooed them with her hands. The brothers waved and said their goodbyes as they left. Attor recognized the matron from the same hospital Jo had been fixed in. It specialized in people other than humans.

  “You too, miss.” She looked at Taryn. “You’re still on bed rest, and shouldn’t be up and about either.” She shook her head unapprovingly. “Back to your room, miss.”

  Taryn leaned down. “I’m three doors down, I’ll sneak back later,” she whispered, placing a lingering kiss on his lips and she left under the guidance of the nurse.

  Attor leaned back in the silence of his vacant room.

  They had lived, he thought to himself.

  Who would have guessed that would have been possible.
<
br />   One Month Later

  Taryn snuggled back into the chest of her very own large dragon. He wrapped his arms around her as they sat on top of a cliff face, looking out over the ocean. It was night, and the moonlight rippled on the water’s surface was completely magical.

  “So,” he said. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

  Taryn playfully dug her elbow back into his chest. “For the millionth time… yes. Yes, I want this. Yes, I want you. Yes. Yes. Yes.” She tilted her head back, and he kissed her hard. His hand coming up to cup her chin as he rolled his lips hard against hers.

  “Ahhh… Feathers, the things you do to me.” Attor sighed. “I’m so lucky.”

  “Yes, you are.” She smiled playfully. “But, so am I.” Her head turned back out to the ocean. “Has V decided where the clan’s going?”

  Q had gone to ground again, and while that bird was still alive the clan wouldn’t be able to be fully safe and free. Ladon blamed himself for letting him slip away, and had sworn on the blood of his ancestry to find and kill the feathered freak himself. Attor had smiled as he remembered having said the same thing only a few months previous. Until that day the clan would continue to move, and try and remain one step ahead of any future attack.

  “Yes, but if Jo thinks just because Scotland is our new home, we’re suddenly all going to start wearing kilts and eating haggis, that boy has a rude shock waiting for him.” Attor laughed. His chest still twanged every so often, but once he’d gotten out of the hospital and changed a few times back and forth, the power of the dragon had him almost as good as new.

  “I don’t know, I think you’ll look pretty hot in a kilt.” Taryn wiggled her eyebrows. “I’ll have easy access to lil’T.” She grinned as she referred to Attor’s cock.

  “Mm-hmm…” he thought, “… might have to reconsider the kilt.”

  “Is Cinders coming into the clan?” Taryn asked.

  “No,” Attor said. “She’s gone to ground again. V tried to persuade her to stay, but her terror of the man who colored her childhood with a cloth of torture and abuse is too great. She chose to vanish again, but we will try and stay in contact with her. If she should need the help of the clan again, we will not hesitate.”

  Taryn nodded. “Good, turned out she was nice… most of the time.”

  “Okay,” Attor tapped Taryn’s thigh. “Ready to go, Feathers?”

  “With you by my side? I’m ready for anything.”

  Attor placed a soft kiss on her lips. Standing up, he helped her up next to him. He stood at the very edge of a high cliff, below was the black inky open ocean. The wind had picked up and whipped her hair around against his chest. He looked down at her, he asked a question he had asked before. “Do you trust me?”

  “With my life,” came her heart-felt reply.

  Attor nodded, wrapped her in his arms and dove off the side of the cliff into the waiting water below.

  'Princess Dzintra'

  Inspired by the Apalala Clan novels.

  Painted by Michelle Mann.

  Spiritualist artist, Sunshine Coast.

  http://www.michellemann.com/

  I hope you enjoyed the story.

  Check these links for more books from Author Dzintra Sullivan.

  Goodreads Links

  Click here to add the books below to your TBR list.

  Arkadia - Halfway House #1

  Raven – Halfway House #2

  Nevaeh – Halfway House #3

  Ashja – Halfway House #4

  Mali & Em – Halfway House #5

  Merakai – Halfway House #6

  Immersion – Apalala Clan #1

  Amazon

  Click here to view my Amazon profile.

  Twitter

  @DzintraSullivan

  Email

  fernandrose@rocketmail.com

  Facebook

  Goodreads

  Twitter

  Website

  Dzintra Sullivan is happily married to an amazing Canadian man and a proud mother of four incredible children. She fell in love with books as a young girl, reading Judy Blume and Enid Blyton, progressing on to loving the supernatural genre as a teenager and never leaving.

  Dzintra lives up on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.

  It had always been a dream to write a book, but she’d never had the self-belief that she could. Then she celebrated her fortieth birthday, and it hit her, ‘now or never.’ So here she is, writing stories she hopes will allow her readers an escape, a time away in her weird world, and an opportunity to fall in love with Dzintra’s crazy characters.

  It’s a pleasure to meet you, and she hopes to be a part of your reading life for a long time.