by Becca Van
A howl of rage and pain left her mouth when the shadows seemed to wrap around her body, locking her arms to her sides so she could no longer fight them off. She didn’t even realize she was falling until her knees slammed into the rocky ground, pulling a cry of agony from deep in her chest.
However, it wasn’t the pain of landing hard on her knees that hurt so excruciatingly. It was the constant tugging of demons at her chest that hurt the most. There were countless unseen hands pulling at the very essence of her soul and she felt as if she was being ripped apart.
A flash of movement to the right caught her eye and she moved her eyes to see what other evil was stalking her, and then she blinked with shocked awe as she saw them striding toward her.
The other beings who had also fought the shadows were walking toward her, fighting off the shadows as they moved. The closer they got the harder it was for Krysta to focus.
Then something really strange happened. The eight men surrounded the three women, keeping the shadows from getting near them as they struck out at the evil with their sickle-shaped swords.
The women formed a circle, joining hands, and then they began to glow.
Krysta blinked, trying to focus her blurry vision and just as she fell to the ground on her back the glow coming from the women was so bright she had to close her eyes. Her body was so weak and heavy when she tried to open her eyes it was a real effort to pry them open to small slits. The pain in her body was agony but she couldn’t draw a full breath to fill her lungs so she could scream.
A huge flash of light blinded her and she wondered if she was dying. The pain in her body dulled down to a low throb. It took her a few moments to realize that the shadows were no longer wrapped around her, and that her eyes were closed once more.
When she felt a light touch on her shoulder, she reacted instinctively and immediately. Her hand gripped the hilt of her sword in a firmer grip and although she was surprised she still held the weapon in her hand, she tried to lift it to ward off her attacker but she was just too weak. Krysta suspected that blood loss was the reason she felt so bad but she couldn’t give up yet, not until she had no breath left in her body.
“Easy.” The timbre of the voice was deep and crooning as if trying to soothe and comfort.
Krysta struggled to push her eyelids up but as she did so, she had to blink again. Her vision was so blurry everything was a haze and the face looming over her wavered in and out as if there were two or three of them. Another handsome face came into view but the struggle to remain conscious was too much and she finally succumbed to the darkness pulling her down.
* * * *
The moment Mitry appeared on Shoshone Mountain and saw the woman fighting off the demonic was one of the best and worst moments of his life. After one glance at her small lithe body he knew she was his and Weni’s mate.
Fear like he’d never known before coursed through his heart and body but he quickly pushed it away. There was no way in hell he was going to lose her after just finding her. He roared with rage as he pulled his scimitar from the sheath on his back and hurled himself into the mass of shadow demons. Wen’s bellow of fury joined his as his friend moved up close to his back and they began to slash through the demonic as if they had been possessed.
The other sentinels and their mates joined in but there were too many shadow demons surrounding his mate and from the way she was gasping she was having trouble keeping up with the numbers.
“We need to destroy them. Now!” Lavinia shouted.
Mit didn’t reply, too busy trying to cut through the mass of demons to get to his and Wen’s woman. When he glanced over at her and saw her fall to her knees, his heart lurched in his chest and he roared out again. Moving faster than he ever had before, he cut through five demons at a time, working his way toward his mate.
“We need to join hands,” Nina said in a loud voice.
“They’re right.” Zara moved toward the other women but had to stop numerous times to take out the demons trying to stop her.
“Guys, we need you to surround us and protect us from the demonic,” Lavinia ordered in a strong voice.
Mit shook his head as he took out another handful of the shadow demons. He didn’t have time to protect women who could protect themselves. He needed to get to his mate before she was lost to him and Wen.
“Do as she says,” Set ordered in a hard voice. “I know you are trying to protect her but if we let our mates join hands they can destroy these evil fuckers in one go.”
Mit sighed with resignation. Set and Sab were their leaders and he couldn’t ignore an order. He just hoped that his warrior friend was right. He couldn’t lose his mate when he’d been waiting for her for what seemed like forever.
“Move, Mit.” Wen tapped his shoulder.
Mit ran over with the other sentinels until the three women were surrounded by them. He continued to kill the shadows as the demons tried to get to Zara, Nina, and Lavinia to take them out. He felt a slight tingle along his back and the area began to light up as the women joined hands. The glow became so bright he could no longer see where his mate or the demonic were but he continued to move his sword left, right, up, and down. The shrieks of pain the shadow demons emitted before they died was assaulting to his ears but he was thankful to be still killing them even when he couldn’t see them.
The light from the three women was so bright he could see it through his closed eyelids and then he heard a loud crack and the bright glow ceased. He had to blink a couple of times to clear his spotty vision but the moment he did and he saw his mate lying on the ground facedown. With a yell of fear and anger, he surged forward.
He was down on his knees beside her an instant later staring into unfocused, beautiful green eyes. “Are you all right?”
When she didn’t answer him or acknowledge his question, he knew she was hurt pretty bad.
“We need to get her back to the base,” Wen said as he knelt beside him. “She has a lot of wounds and is losing too much blood.”
“Maybe we should take her to a hospital?” Mit suggested, not sure what to do because his mind was in turmoil.
“How are we going to explain the cuts all over her body?” Wen asked.
“I don’t give a damn. She needs medical help.” Mit clasped one of her shoulders and nodded to Wen. “Help me roll her onto her side.”
“That’s not going to help. She has cuts on her side, too.” Wen met Mit’s gaze.
“I’m going to pick her up, but to do so I need to move her onto her side first.”
Wen nodded and they gently rolled her to her side.
Mit eased his arms beneath her body and as gently as he could lifted her from the hard ground, up into his arms and against his chest. She was so small and light but felt so right in his arms. However, now they needed to get her some help.
“Who is she?” Lavinia asked as she and the others came closer.
“Our mate,” Weni answered.
“She’s hurt,” Nina said with a hitch in her voice. “She needs a doctor.”
Mit nodded in agreement and turned to look at Wen. He was going to need his friend’s help to teleport their mate to the closest hospital.
“Wait!” Sab said. “Take her back to the base. We’ll bring a doctor to her.”
“Won’t she be better off in a hospital?” Zara, Sab and Set’s mate, asked.
“No. Her injuries are too hard to explain,” Set said. “We’ll meet you at home.”
Mit nodded again and met Wen’s gaze.
His best friend drew a deep breath and said, “Now.”
Mit swayed on his feet, glad that Wen was by his side to steady him after teleporting. If his friend hadn’t been there, he may have ended up falling to his knees and could have jolted his mate. When he felt as if he had his equilibrium back, he strode from the living room in the apartment he shared with Weni and walked toward his bedroom.
He could have put their mate in the spare bedroom, but he didn’t want her leaving
his side. Not until he knew she was going to be all right. After placing her gently on the bed, he moved toward her feet and removed the black leather ankle boots and then her socks.
“Should we remove her clothes so that when the others bring the doctor back he can examine her?” Wen asked.
“Yeah, I suppose we should.” Mit just hoped that when their mate woke up that she wouldn’t be embarrassed that he and Wen had taken her clothes off.
“I’ll do her pants,” Wen said. “You take her top half.”
Mit nodded, but didn’t start right away. Instead, he got up onto the bed behind her. He lifted her upper half until she was resting against his chest between his spread legs.
“Fuck! She has cuts everywhere,” Wen muttered angrily as he drew her jeans down her hips, legs, and off over her feet.
“Shit!” Mit growled when he saw her soft, pale skin was covered with cuts and blood. When Wen turned and walked toward the bathroom, Mit grabbed hold of the seam of her T-shirt and removed it. His heart hammered against his chest when he saw the swells of her beautiful, full breasts cupped in the red lace bra. He mentally cursed his reaction to her when his cock twitched and began to fill with blood, feeling guilty over his body’s response when she was in such a bad way.
“Geezus,” Wen whispered as he came back into the room.
Mit glanced over at his friend to see that he was frozen in the doorway, his mouth gaping open. “She’s so fucking beautiful.”
“That she is, but we can’t be staring at her body while she’s out cold.” Mit noticed the bowl in Wen’s hands and when he sniffed he detected the scent of antiseptic. “Bring that over here. She has dirt in her wounds.”
Wen shook his head, walked toward the bed, and then set the bowl down.
“You want to help me?” Wen asked, holding up the two washcloths he had in his hands.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to move away from her right now. Dip the cloth, wring it, and pass it over.”
Wen did as Mit said and when he had the cloth in hand he began to clean the cuts on her upper body and arms. Wen started on the slices on her belly and hips.
“Do you think she’s going to be okay?” Wen met his glance for a second before looking at the cut he was cleaning again.
“I don’t know. I wish I knew the answer to that question, too.”
Mit and Wen looked toward the hallway when they heard the others arrive. Mit hoped that they had brought a doctor back with them. He wasn’t sure what they were going to do if they hadn’t been successful.
Set and Sab entered the room with an elderly man following behind. A rumbling growl formed in his chest when he realized the other men were seeing their mate in her underwear. He grabbed one side of the cover on his bed and flung it across Krysta to hide her body from view.
“Easy.” Set held his hands up in a placating gesture. “I’m not here to look at your female. This is Dr. Richard White. Doc, this is Mitry and Weni.”
“And the woman?” Dr. White asked.
“Needs your medical expertise,” Mit answered, hoping the doctor wouldn’t realize he had no clue what his mate’s name was.
“You need to leave,” Weni ordered in a low, firm voice as he glared at Set and Sab.
Sab nodded and nudged Set’s shoulder. “We’ll wait in the living room.”
Mit moved aside as the doctor approached and tried to control his possessiveness when the man drew the covers away from Krysta’s body.
The doctor sucked in a shocked breath before meeting Wen’s and then Mit’s gaze. “What the hell happened to her?”
Wen opened his mouth but closed it again when Mit shook his head slightly. They couldn’t tell the professional the truth so he did the only thing he could. He lied through his teeth. “We don’t know. We found her out in the wilderness.”
“She looks like she’s been tortured with a knife. God knows how much blood she’s lost,” Dr. White mumbled as he leaned over Krysta to examine her wounds. “Why the hell didn’t you bring her to the hospital?”
Mit glanced away as he shrugged his shoulders. Guilt assailed him at his actions. Maybe they should have teleported her to a hospital instead of bringing her back to their home, but the thought of not being at her side was just too hard to bear.
“I can’t treat this many wounds here. I’m going to call an ambulance. We need to get her to a hospital.”
Mit felt a surge of power as the doctor spoke and wondered if their deity was going to appear in front of the human. It wouldn’t matter if he did because the sun god had powers beyond his imagination, he was sure.
A low golden glow began to light the room and a loud crack followed as the light got brighter. Ra appeared on the opposite side of the bed to the doctor and when Mit shifted so he could see both of them he nearly laughed at the shock her saw on the medical professional’s face. His eyes were wide behind his wire-rimmed glasses, and his mouth was gaping, opening and closed like a fish out of water.
“What the…”
Ra waved his hand and the doctor’s eyes became glazed and he stared straight through the god as if he could no longer see him.
“She cannot be away from you and Weni. This little one is in too much danger.”
“You know who she is?” Wen asked as he sank down on the end of the bed.
“Yes.”
“Did you recruit her to fight the demonic?” Mit asked and cringed when he heard the anger in his own voice.
“No,” Ra answered calmly. “This little one has been aware of the shadow demons and fighting them for a couple of years.”
“All by herself?” Weni asked in a shocked voice.
“Yes.”
“What’s her name?” Mit asked.
“Krysta Black.”
“How did she find out about the demonic?” Mit walked around the dazed doctor and sat on the bed beside Krysta.
“Now is not the time for more questions,” Ra said. “You need to bite and claim your mate. It’s too dangerous for her to go to a hospital and if you don’t mark her as yours and begin the transformation, she will die.”
“Shit!” Wen rose and began to pace.
“What the hell are we going to tell her when she wakes up? She’s going to hate us for making such a huge choice for her without giving her the chance to refuse us, or what she’ll become.” Mit scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. It didn’t matter that he was clamoring to make her his. He was very concerned over how she was going to react once they told her everything. However, maybe she wouldn’t freak out as much as he thought. If she knew about the evil shadow demons surely the existence of their kind would be easier to digest?
“Do you want her to die?” Ra asked.
Mit was aware that his deity hadn’t answered any of his questions and although he wanted the answers, he knew that badgering the sun god wouldn’t have any affect if he didn’t want to reply.
“Of course not,” Weni replied vehemently.
“Then you know what to do.” Ra walked around the bed, placed his hand on the doctor’s shoulder, and then nodded his head toward Krysta. “I’ll take care of the human healer. Don’t worry about him remembering anything.”
Mit drew in a deep ragged breath because in the next instant Ra and the doctor were gone. “Do you want to do this together?” He met Wen’s gaze.
Weni had a pained expression on his face but it quickly turned to resignation. “Yeah.”
Mit and Wen crawled up onto the bed and carefully shifted Krysta until she was lying on her back. He hated seeing her so listless, so lifeless and injured, but hopefully she would be back to her normal, feisty self very soon. He didn’t need to be a genius to work out she was full of fire and fight, especially after seeing her fighting the demonic on her own.
Mit hoped that she wouldn’t fight him and Wen as hard as she had the demons but he wasn’t about to hold his breath.
“This position isn’t going to work,” Wen said.
Mit nodded. Between him and Wen,
they drew Krysta up so that she was sitting on her ass between his splayed thighs. He rested his back against the headboard and pulled her tighter against his chest. Wen separated her legs and crawled in close to Krysta, until his chest was nearly touching hers. He glanced up, waiting for Mit’s signal.
“Are you ready?” Mit asked as he brushed Krysta’s red hair away from her neck.
“As I’ll ever be,” Wen answered after a loud sigh.
“Do it!” Mit ordered.
He and Wen moved in until their mouths were inches away from her delectable smelling skin. Mit’s tongue lapped over her flesh and he groaned as the sweet taste of his mate filled his mouth. His fangs erupted from his gums and without any hesitation he sank them into her neck. He moaned as her tangy, yet surprisingly sweet blood flowed over his tongue and filled his senses. The moment he swallowed her life essence, he felt Krysta in his own blood. The connection filled him with hope, love, and joy. The cold empty places in his heart filled as the tether snapped into place. She was his mate. His and Weni’s, and even though she didn’t know it yet, she completed him in ways no one else ever had.
She was a light in his long, dark, lonely life and he prayed to the gods that she would feel the same way he did.
Mitry sighed with resigned reluctance as his fangs retracted back into his gums and he laved over his bite mark while filling his senses with Krysta.
He looked internally into his heart and soul and while the bond was there, it wasn’t very strong. It was going to take making love to her to allow the connection to them to grow, but he wasn’t so sure she was going to be on board with him kissing her once she woke up, let alone making love to her.
Mit glanced at Wen when his friend sat up on his knees, moving to the right of Krysta. The light in his best friend’s eyes belied the uncertainty in his gaze.
“I can feel her. Here.” Wen placed his hand over his heart.
Mit smiled but he wasn’t so sure the smile had reached his eyes. “I can feel it, too.”