by Aliya DalRae
The already bright room exploded in light, and I stood before Rachel, demanding answers to questions that had none. Only her expression of shock and awe had me dialing it down enough to realize something wasn’t right.
I shifted my eyes around the room, trying to figure out where all that light was coming from, but everything I looked at was the same brightness.
I turned back to Rachel. She had taken several steps away from me and had her hand over her mouth. A single blood-red tear leaked from the corner of her eye.
I blinked several times, trying to focus, and the brightness faded a bit. I felt strong, a power coursing through me like something reserved for super heroes, or gods, maybe. I was supposed to be recovering from the loss of the baby, the infection, and I knew that Vampire blood was an excellent healing drug. However, I had never recovered this quickly in the past.
The two previous times I’d felt better though still tired and I needed a little rest before my body returned to tip top shape.
But now? It was as though, instead of blood, they had transfused me with pure energy and that energy was trying to escape through my eyes.
I reached a panicked hand to Rachel, and she hesitated only a moment before closing the space between us and pulling me into her arms.
As she held me, I began to tremble and we fell to the floor together, neither of us able to hold me up for long. Rachel rocked me back and forth, like an injured child in need of soothing. She smoothed my hair and repeated, “It’ll be okay,” over and over. I’m not sure who she was trying to convince.
As the light faded from my eyes, I regained a sense of peace, or maybe it was the other way around. I took deep, soothing breaths and drew away from Rachel, whose shaking rivaled my own..
My mouth was dry—so dry—and I licked my lips without thinking. In the process, I felt a sting on the edge of my tongue, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Cautious, I ran my tongue over my teeth in search of the offending sharp edge.
I had kissed Raven a thousand times in our short months together. I knew the feel of his lips and wasn’t ashamed to say I was obsessed with stroking my tongue on his teeth. It excited him, and therefore was an erotic experience for me as well. I knew the touch of his mouth, all the soft places and the hard peaks. I knew a pair of fangs when I felt them.
The room began to spin, and the last thing I remembered was falling into Rachel’s arms.
Chapter Forty-Eight
N ox led them to an exam room several doors down from where Jessica lay mourning the child she lost, and probably that gods damned cat as well. It still tore Raven’s heart out that she had turned to Malcolm when shit got hard between them. At least he wasn’t desperate to kill something because of it anymore. Apparently, his beast really had come to terms with the betrayal, realized she was too important to lose.
Raven’s more human side, for lack of a better description, still had some catching up to do.
“Ow!” Raven said as Nox poked at some mental synapse a little too aggressively with his powers.
“Sorry,” Nox said, but he didn’t sound like it.
Nox removed his hands from Raven’s temples and stepped away. “It’s remarkable,” he said, scratching his head. “Every block I put up, every mute or damper has been dissolved. That shouldn’t be possible, and yet…”
“…here we are,” Raven said.
“Yes, here we are.”
“So, what now?” Raven rose from the chair Nox had shoved him into for the exam and leaned a hip against the counter.
“I haven’t a clue. Uncharted territory and all that. The only thing I can figure is that the beastly side of you is more formidable than we thought. Perhaps your desire to kill Jessica was never as strong as we thought.”
Raven looked at his brother, locked eyes for a beat before both said, “Nah.”
Raven pushed himself away from the counter and paced the length of the room, subconsciously moving to the wall closest to where Jessica lay down the hall. Placing both hands on the concrete barrier, he sighed.
So much to talk about. So much to work around. As hard as it was to forgive her for sleeping with Malcolm, Raven could only imagine how difficult it would be for her to forgive him for ending the bastard.
Thinking about it now, with a calmer mind and a silent beast, Raven had to admit feeling a bit of remorse for his actions. He’d never been a fan of the fucking furball, but he’d never really wished him dead. Had he been in control that night, things might have ended differently. He still would have beat the shit out of him, but perhaps he would have kept his own claws retracted.
Raven placed his forehead on the cool wall, thinking.
A few days ago, Jessica had solace in the fact that Malcolm lived on in the baby she was carrying. Now, she had nothing left of the man she’d thought enough of to risk everything they had, separation or no.
That would explain the look of disgust on her face when he and Nox left her room.
And yet, she had to have known. He was who he was, and he’d never lied to her about it. Given the strength of their connection, she had to have at least suspected that he would kill anyone who touched her as only he should.
Didn’t excuse what he’d done, though. They may have reached a resolution with the Clowder, but Jessica was another story.
Raven turned his back to the wall and was halfway through a slide to the floor when they heard a woman screaming for help. He was on his feet and out the door a half a second behind Nox. The twins ran through the hall to the source of the panic, ending up outside Jessica’s room where Nox wasted no time in bursting through the door.
They were on the floor, Jessica lying unconscious in Rachel’s lap.
“Harrier!” Rachel continued to scream, oblivious to the fact that help had arrived. Allon squeezed in behind them and sighed when he saw what was going on.
“I need Harrier,” Rachel repeated, this time looking directly at Allon.
“Is it done, then?” he asked, and Rachel could only nod, her crimson tears painting a macabre tableau upon her cheeks.
Allon made an about face, and left the way he’d come in.
Raven turned to Nox, but his brother shrugged, as much in the dark as Raven was. They both turned to Rachel, and Nox asked what they were both thinking.
“Is what done?”
Chapter Forty-Nine
“I s what done?” Raven repeated when Rachel merely stared at him. She was still coming to terms with what she’d done to her niece. She didn’t have the time nor the inclination to explain it to him.
“Raven,” Allon was back and at his side, his hand on one shoulder as Nox took a similar stance on the opposite side.
“No!” he pushed them away and stood to tower over Rachel and Jessica. “Tell me now! What have you done to her?”
Rachel refused to be intimidated. “Allon?” she said, ignoring Raven’s shouting. The doctor stepped away from the twins and she rose to help him lift Jessica onto the bed.
Raven stood back long enough for them to get Jessica comfortable, but when Rachel turned he was there, in her face again.
“Now tell me,” he growled, “what have you done to my…to Jessica?”
Rachel shouldered past him, showing much more confidence than she felt, and moved to stand by the door. This was Jessica’s story to tell, and Rachel would not be the one to betray her trust. Not again. Raven would just have to wait until she woke.
She was opening her mouth to say just that when the door flew open and Harrier stormed in.
“What is it?” he bellowed. “What’s happened?” His eyes were frantic, his hair a mess, and he breathed as though he’d run the entire way home.
“It’s okay,” Rachel assured him, threading her arm through his. “She’s sleeping now.”
“Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?” Raven refused to back off. Rachel turned to see Jessica stirring under the blankets.
“I hate to be agreein’ with Rave
n, sister, but you’re scaring me.”
Rachel loved when Harrier’s accent came through. A shame it only happened when he was stressed.
She patted Harrier on the chest but turned to address Raven first. “Jessica will tell you what’s going on when she’s good and ready. Harrier, I’m sorry to have frightened you. Things got a little dicey with our Jessica, but it will sort itself out. It has to now.”
Harrier’s shoulders sagged and he scrubbed his hands over his stubbled cheeks. “You gave her the blood, then?”
“Aye, first Nox, then Raven, but she’s been healed and at the moment that’s all I’m concerned with.”
Raven was watching them with growing scrutiny, eyes narrowing into thin slits. “I doubt seeing Jessica healed would have had you screaming like that, Rachel. Something happened in here, and I’m not leaving until someone tells me what the hell’s going on.”
“Fine!” Rachel stamped her foot and got back in his face. “Don’t leave. In fact, sit your big arse down in that gods-awful chair, and stay by her side until next Christmas for all I care. But if you upset her, if you bother her in any way, I’ll remove your bloody carcass my own self!”
Rachel pushed Raven toward the chair and turned back to her brother, ignoring the chuckles of the dark-haired twin in the corner. Nox had wisely moved himself out of the line of fire, but now she found his presence annoying.
“Any reason for you to be hangin’ about?” she asked him.
Nox glanced at his brother, who had settled into the chair beside Jessica’s bed, then back at Rachel, and shook his head.
“I’ll just be going,” he said with another smirk at Rachel.
Harrier glowered at the male’s back as he retreated from the room but kept whatever thoughts he had to himself. When Nox was gone, he motioned Rachel out the door. “A word,” he said.
She left without looking back, assuming her brother would follow.
Chapter Fifty
H arrier exited close on Rachel’s heels, and followed her down the hall to a room at the far end. Twice now the pain or panic from one of the women in his family had interrupted his patrolling. His heart wouldn’t take much more of it. Based on the results of the first time, he’d skipped the phone call and left Martin on his own again, expecting the worst as he rushed home to his family.
By the look on Rachel’s face, that’s exactly what had happened.
They entered the room and Harrier closed the door behind them. With tremendous effort and some major deep breathing, he managed to control his racing heart. That done, he leaned against the door to await an explanation.
When her silence dragged on longer than the string of his patience, he spoke. “Please, Rachel, tell me we haven’t ruined her.”
“She’s not ruined,” Rachel snapped, her wringing hands a contradiction to the surety of her words. “She’s as she was born to be.”
“You don’t believe that any more than I do,” Harrier said. “You know damn well this is the very last thing she wanted.”
“I would think the last thing she would want is to be dead,” Rachel countered, but Harrier wasn’t so sure that was true.
“Maybe,” he said, “maybe not. How bad was it?”
Rachel spun to face him, her eyes dancing with emotion. “Oh, Harrier, it was glorious! Her eyes sparked white, a light so bright it blinded me in a fully lit room, and when she hissed at me—Harrier, she’s got her fangs. This truly is a miracle.”
“A miracle she made quite clear to us she did not want.”
“Bull shite,” Rachel insisted. “She doesn’t know what a gift she’s been given. She was human before, yes, and I’m sure she was perfectly fine being normal and plain. But she was also born Vampire. Do you know how blessed she is to have this side emerge?”
“She may see it as more of a curse, Rachel. I didn’t rush back here because I felt you two celebratin’ and dancin’ a jig. I came because you were frightened and panickin’. I came because she felt overwhelmed, and not in an ‘Oh great, my fangs came in,’ sort of way. And she didn’t faint from joy. She’s passed out because it was more than she could handle.”
Harrier pulled himself off the door and began walking around the room. It was an exam room by appearances, with a small, paper-covered table and a counter with a sink on one side and a variety of instruments spread out on the other. He turned back to his sister, who stood in the center of the room where he’d left her, her chin in the air and her arms crossed in defiance.
“We did this to her,” he whispered. “We made this decision for her, and she may never forgive us for it.”
“She will,” Rachel insisted, but Harrier sensed his sister’s uncertainty.
“And if she doesn’t?” he asked. “We just found her, Rachel. For the first time in centuries I felt like I had a wee bit of family. It’s not like we broke her favorite vase or ate the last slice of pizza. Her life has changed now, forever, and we’re the ones who’ll have to answer for that.
“No, Harrier, it’s not our fault. It’s Raven’s for giving her his blood in the first place.”
“She was dying, Rachel. He didn’t have a choice then.”
“And I didn’t have a choice now,” she cried. “We didn’t have a choice.”
Harrier saw his sister’s confidence for what it was: a façade to hide the fact that she was as terrified as he was that their actions could lose them their niece forever. He went to her and pulled her into his arms.
“We’ll get her through,” he said, and Rachel relaxed against him, hugged him tight. “She may hate us while we do, but we’ll get her through.
Chapter Fifty-One
R aven sat in the chair next to Jessica’s bed, more confused than ever. She was supposed to have healed—had healed. He saw it with his own eyes. There was no reason for her to be unconscious again.
Allon was checking her vitals. Temp was normal, which was good—meant the infection was gone. But her blood pressure and heart rate were high and erratic. The doctor checked her eyes several times and for some reason kept looking in her mouth, muttering to himself all the while.
After about five minutes, Allon stood back and looked at Raven as he used to years ago. A look that said, “Be prepared.” Raven hated that look, because it usually meant Allon was about to tell him something he didn’t want to hear.
Raven shifted in his chair and scrubbed his hands over his face. “How is she?” he asked.
Allon hesitated before responding. “In time she will be perfectly fine.”
“How much time?”
“Well, son, that’s up to her,” he said, his tone as cryptic as his words. The old male circled the bed to place a reassuring hand on Raven’s shoulder before turning to leave the room. At the door, he stopped and faced Raven again.
“She’s going to need you, son, especially now. Can you be there for her, without letting recent events interfere? Can you put the past where it belongs? If not, then I ask that you leave now, before she wakes. She has a long road ahead of her, and your bruised ego will not help her at all.”
“But why?” Raven asked, frustrated. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Wrong? Nothing’s wrong, Raven, but it’s not for me to tell. I need your word, son, that you will put her needs before your own. Can you do that?”
Raven looked back at Jessica, so pale again, despite her recent return to health. Could he forgive her as his beast had done? Move on from all the ugliness? He felt a thump in the back of his mind, his beast telling him to buck the hell up, and he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I can do that.”
“Good.” Allon turned and opened the door. “I knew I could count on you.”
Raven turned back to Jessica, the exchange with Allon having done nothing to ease his concern. He reached for her, lifted her hand, so small in comparison to his own, and drew it to his lips.
“Come on, Jess,” he whispered. “Wake up and talk to me. Tell me how I can help.”
When she squeezed his han
d, it was as if it had a direct connection to his heart, his chest tightening even as he felt the pressure in his fingers.
“Jessica?” Raven pulled the chair closer to her side and folded her palm into his. With his free hand, he brushed the hair from her eyes. “Wake for me, amante. Show me those crystal blues.”
“Not blue anymore,” she muttered, but he must have misunderstood. When the tear leaked out of the corner of her eye, his heart throbbed, her misery echoing in his chest.
“You’re talking nonsense, Jessica. Of course, your eyes are blue. Open them, and I will reassure you.”
Jessica squeezed her lids together, but it didn’t stop the tears from spilling through. Raven traced their tracks with his finger, stroking her cheek as he tried to soothe away her pain.
“Open your eyes, Jessica. Talk to me. I can’t help you if I don’t know why you hurt.”
“You can’t help me at all,” she cried. “Nobody can. What’s done is done, but I…” A choking sob broke her words, and Raven felt at a complete loss. He’d become used to her emotions, illogical as they were, but this was something he’d never seen before, not from Jessica. This was utter despair.
“Please, Jess. Let me try?”
Jessica pressed her cheek against his hand. Without another word she opened her eyes and stared directly into his.
Raven smiled. Fear clouded her face but otherwise she was exactly as she should be. Chestnut hair, high cheekbones, and those flawless ice blue eyes. How could he have forgotten how truly stunning she was?
“See?” he said, comforting her. “It’s all good. Your eyes are perfect, you’re perfect. Allon said the infection has healed, and you are one hundred percent healthy again.” Which was the wrong thing to say, obviously, because she only cried harder.