by Lynn Hagen
“You are my zaterio.”
The tears finally fell as Theo nodded. “As you are mine.”
Chapter Six
“Only twenty minutes, zaterio,” Nazaryth warned as he pointed to a round greyish rock. “Press that and the entrance will open for you, allowing you back into our home.” Nazaryth hesitated, his eyes telling Theo that he didn’t like this.
“I’ll be fine,” he said to Nazaryth as he placed his hands on Nazaryth’s chest, leaning up and kissing him quickly on the lips.
With reluctance in his eyes, Nazaryth nodded before walking back down through the passageway, the entrance sliding closed. Theo looked around. He was on the mountain’s peak, dawn barely a shadow on the horizon.
Theo spotted a large boulder off to his left. He took a seat, pulling his legs to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, watching as the sun began to rise. He had told Nazaryth that he needed time to think, needed time to clear his head. But Theo also needed time to work out everything about his relationship with Dorian as well.
Fate gave a were-creature only one mate in one lifetime. But Theo didn’t know what to think. He could feel the binding taking place with Nazaryth and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the beast was his mate.
Boy, had his plan backfired on him.
He had been out to prove that Nazaryth wasn’t his mate, but instead, he was now bound to the gorgeous man. Not that he was complaining. Nazaryth would make any man proud to call him his.
But where did that leave Dorian?
Was Dorian ever truly his mate? Theo had felt a pull. He had been positive at the time, but now he wasn’t so sure.
As he watched the sky lighten, a dusting of pink manifesting, Theo’s eyes caught movement down the side of the mountain. He released his legs as they slowly lowered to the ground. His eyes scanned the area, but he didn’t see anything but rocks and brush.
There. Theo’s eyes locked onto the two hounds in their dog form sniffing their way up the side of the mountain. He dropped down behind the boulder he had been sitting on. He was pretty sure he hadn’t been seen by the two creatures, but if he stayed here, he was surely going to be found.
“Crap, crap, and double crap,” Theo cursed under his breath as he scrambled for the entranceway. He crawled over to where Nazaryth had been standing just a moment ago, but Theo couldn’t remember which rock his mate had pointed to.
He began to smack every rock he could see, but no passageway appeared. Quickly crawling back over to the boulder, Theo peeked above it to see that the dogs were getting closer. Nazaryth wouldn’t be back for at least fifteen minutes. He would be in deep shit way before then.
Hell, he was in deep shit now.
Theo ran back over to the area of the passageway, uncertain that he was even standing in the right spot. Nothing looked familiar to him.
“Think, dammit,” Theo growled to himself as he dropped down one more time, his hands hitting everything in sight. He knew he was running out of time.
There was no way he was going to find the passageway, and he knew it.
He walked closer to the edge, peering over and seeing he had a long way down. But what choice did he have? If he didn’t climb down the other side of the mountain, and quickly, the two hounds would have him.
Theo knew that they were after him to use him against Nazaryth.
As hard as he had fought Nazaryth about being mates, now that he knew the truth, or what he could make of the truth, Theo wasn’t going to let the dogs use him against his mate.
Breathing out a long breath, Theo began his descent down the side of the mountain. He wasn’t sure where he was going to go once he hit solid ground, but it was better than staying put and facing those huge ass dogs.
That wasn’t an option.
He was a grey wolf and an agile fighter, but those things were fucking huge! He clearly remembered what one of them looked like in its creature form, and there was no way he would be able to fight two of them.
Carefully, but quickly, Theo climbed down. Small rocks slid out of place as Theo held on. His fear of heights almost froze him to the spot, but his fear of being taken from Nazaryth kept him moving.
His head shot up as he heard a loud bark. Theo looked up the mountain peak, where just moments before he had been sitting, and saw the two hounds staring down at him growling.
Oh shit, his time was up.
Theo had to move and move now. He descended quickly, grabbing onto brush and large rocks that were jutting from the side of the mountain as he made his way down. He prayed to the gods that he didn’t fall.
Right about now he could use a set of damn wings.
He would just have to fly with his eyes closed.
Theo wasn’t too sure how well that would work out, but it was better than sticking around here. He glanced up once more to see the hounds working their way down, coming after him. Nazaryth had told him, told everyone in the house that the hounds were only guessing that the winged beasts lived there.
Now that they spotted Theo, he knew they would be back. Theo cursed when his ankle twisted as it slipped from one of the jutting rocks. He was going too fast, and he knew it. But he had no choice.
As he scaled down the side of the mountain, Theo shouted when his injured ankle slipped.
Before he knew it, he was free-falling.
He slammed his eyes closed, praying his death would be quick.
He felt his body hit something rock hard and solid. His eyes flew open to see his mate had him as strong arms wrapped around him.
“I have you,” Nazaryth murmured as he flew higher, taking Theo away from the hounds.
“I’m sorry,” Theo said as he wrapped his arms around Nazaryth’s neck.
“For what?”
“They were only guessing before, but now they know where we live,” Theo said as he buried his face in Nazaryth’s neck.
He glanced up when he heard a deep chuckle, his brows pulling together as he wondered why Nazaryth would be laughing at a time like this. “You find that funny?” Theo asked.
“No, zaterio,” Nazaryth replied, “but they have to get past the warding spells to enter our home, and I highly doubt Morbius and Rythicam are that intelligent.”
Theo wasn’t so sure about that. Now that the hounds knew where they lived, the dogs would be relentless in their pursuit of finding a way in.
“I am not worried,” Nazaryth reassured him, his strong arms squeezing Theo tightly.
“I’m glad you’re not,” Theo said as he refused to look down.
“Now get me on solid ground before I vomit.” He was feeling queasy as hell. His stomach rolled and flipped as Nazaryth held him close.
“I guess now is the perfect time to gather your things,” Nazaryth said as he flew toward Theo’s home. “Since we know where the hounds are, we can gather your things without worry.”
“I still don’t know how we’re going to get my things back to your place,” Theo said as they finally descended, his feet touching solid ground.
He would never get used to flying.
Theo winced when he put slight pressure on his injured foot, but he kept Nazaryth from seeing his painful expression as he walked the best he could to hide his injury. If the large man knew Theo was hurt, he wouldn’t let him out of his sight ever again.
But fuck if it didn’t hurt to walk on it.
“Our place,” Nazaryth corrected him. “We can gather what you want to take and leave it at the tavern. I’ll send one of my men to retrieve the items.”
Theo knew a compromise when he heard one. “Fine,” he said as he let himself into the back door of his home. The place wasn’t much.
He hadn’t kept it up since Dorian passed, and not many things decorated the place. Grabbing a suitcase from the closet, Theo tossed it on the bed and began to gather his clothes, shoving them into the suitcase precariously.
Nazaryth walked into the room, carrying an empty box. “I figured you’d want to put your personal items in here,” he said as he sa
t the box on the bed.
“Thanks.” Theo walked to the dresser, grabbing the picture of Dorian. He ran his hands over the frame, wondering if the man he was staring at was ever truly his mate. Would fate have given him two mates? Would fate have felt sorry for him and given him another chance at happiness?
He would like to think so.
Theo looked over his shoulder at Nazaryth. The beast nodded his head. “Take it, Theo. You should have some memory of your lost beloved.”
Theo was shocked. He didn’t know too many men that would allow their mate to keep a picture of their dead lover. Hell, he didn’t know any man who would allow such a thing. Theo placed the frame inside the box and then gathered his photo albums from the bottom dresser drawer.
Next he grabbed a small throw blanket that his mother had made him when Theo mated Dorian. He refused to think about Dorian not being his mate. He pushed it to the back of his mind as he finished gathering his things.
Looking at the suitcase and the box, Theo realized that he hadn’t much to take with him. Over the last twenty years he had stopped caring, and his meager belongings were proof of that.
“Anything else, zaterio?” Nazaryth asked as he grabbed the suitcase off of the bed.
Theo shook his head. “This is it.” He grabbed the box from the bed as he and Nazaryth walked out of the home Theo knew he would never come back to.
“Going somewhere?”
Theo’s head snapped up to see Morbius and Rythicam standing there at the back door looking smug. How in the hell had they gotten there so fast? Theo wasn’t sure as he took a step back, his injured foot throbbing. He sat the box down, not wanting his memorabilia damaged.
Nazaryth did the same, lowering the suitcase to the ground before straightening, his wings spanning out as his skin began to change.
Theo could see the beast surfacing and knew they had half a chance.
He shifted into his wolf form as Nazaryth’s fingernails elongated into long black claws. The hounds shifted as well, snapping and snarling. One went after Nazaryth as the other bounded toward Theo.
Theo ran further into the backyard, giving himself more room to fight. The hound was huge, its canines long and thick as the hound tried to bite into Theo’s neck. He could hear fighting and knew his mate was battling the other hound, but he couldn’t look up. Theo couldn’t lose focus. One slip and the hound would have the advantage.
Theo snapped his jaws, growling out a warning, but that only seemed to make the dog angrier. They circled each other, both growling, their lips pulled back, their canines exposed. He may be in his grey wolf form, but that hadn’t been enough time for his ankle to heal.
Theo realized this too late when his back leg gave out, giving the hound the advantage. The hound went in for the kill when Theo went down, but he rolled, stopping the hound from locking onto his neck, biting into his shoulder instead.
Theo howled in pain. He scratched, digging his claws into the dog’s flesh as he tried to break free, but the hound had his canines embedded into Theo’s flesh.
It felt like his blood was on fire. Theo had fought many times before in his life, been bitten a time or two, but it had never felt like this before, like his entire body had been thrown into a pit of fire.
He growled and whimpered as his front paws continued to claw at the hound. It was useless. The dog had a good lock on him. Just before Theo passed out, he heard an echoing roar and saw a span of greyish-white wings as his eyes closed.
“Is he alive?” Silo asked as he poked at Theo.
“Of course he’s alive, numbnut. But you won’t be if you keep poking him,” Dog said from the other side of the bed. “If Nazaryth sees you touching his zaterio, he’ll skin you alive.”
“I was just checking,” Silo defended.
“Checking what?” Nazaryth asked as he walked into the bedroom with an ancient book in his hand. Dog grinned as Silo shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“Then I thank you for watching my zaterio, but you can leave now.”
Silo almost broke his neck trying to run from the room as Dog walked at a more leisurely pace. “I’ve set up extra cameras around the perimeter and added motion sensors. We may hear them go off when a stray coyote passes by, but at least we’ll know when a creature is close.”
“Thanks,” Nazaryth said as he studied the book.
“How is he?” Dog asked.
Nazaryth looked up, confusion on his face. “Who?” Dog rolled his eyes. “Your zaterio?” Nazaryth’s eyes snapped over to Theo as the man rested in the bed. Dog was amazed how small Theo looked in Nazaryth’s large bed. As Theo fought his fever, the man looked twice as small as Dog remembered. His skin was pale, and his legs jerked around restlessly.
“He’s a fighter,” Nazaryth said more to himself. “He’ll pull through.”
Dog heard the hope in his commander’s voice. Nazaryth wasn’t as confident as he wanted everyone to believe. Being bitten by a hound was a torturous experience that left the victim fighting for his life. It always depended on the person and their pantheon.
Wolves seemed to survive the bite, most of the time anyway, but the poison always left a lasting imprint. Dog prayed Theo made it because if the man didn’t…he shivered as he glanced over at Nazaryth. He so did not want to go down that road.
Nazaryth waited until Dog left the room before hurrying over to kneel on the floor next to the bed. He reached up and stroked his hand down the side of Theo’s hot, sweaty face. He was more worried than he had let on with the others. In fact, he was fucking terrified.
Nazaryth knew that Theo was strong enough to fight the hound’s bite, but half of the battle was wanting to fight it. Theo had to want to live. And Nazaryth was very afraid that Theo would rather die and be with Dorian than stay and be with him.
They were mates. He knew that. Theo knew that. But the pull of his lost love was strong for Theo, so strong that Nazaryth didn’t know if he had what it took to keep Theo with him. If Theo’s need to be reunited with Dorian was stronger than his growing feelings for Nazaryth, they were both lost.
Nazaryth sighed deeply and laid his head on the mattress where he could watch Theo’s face and glance down every now and again to see the labored breathing in his chest. His heart ached in a way he hadn’t experienced in his twenty centuries of life.
And it sucked.
He couldn’t fight this battle for Theo. He couldn’t magically make him better or make Theo want to live. He just had to sit there and wait for the outcome and hope that Theo chose him over his dead love.
Nazaryth quickly reached for Theo’s clammy hand when the man started mumbling and rustling around on the bed. He brought Theo’s hand to his lips and pressed a small kiss into the palm.
“Please choose me,” he whispered silently as he rubbed Theo’s hand up and down his cheek. Nazaryth had never begged in his life, but for Theo, he would. He couldn’t think of anything he wouldn’t do for his zaterio.
Nazaryth fell back on his ass when Theo suddenly screamed and arched into the air. He quickly scurried back, trying to hold Theo down to the bed as he started to thrash around wildly like he was possessed.
Theo’s eyes snapped open and stared at him. Nazaryth’s jaw dropped. They were no longer the beautiful amber color that he had grown to love. Now, they were red rimmed and solid black, no white in them at all.
“Theo, wha—” Nazaryth had never seen anything like it.
Theo wasn’t—Theo.
Nazaryth scooted back until he hit the wall and covered his ears when Theo began to scream. It was so high-pitched that Nazaryth felt like his ears were bleeding. A glass on the nightstand shattered. The glass covering the framed pictures hanging on the wall fractured.
Nazaryth’s hands slowly fell to his sides. He stood there in shock as he watched thick black liquid ooze from Theo’s pores. It had a foul smell, like brimstone and sulfur, with a side of dead flesh added in for good measure. It was the most noxious thing Nazaryth had
ever smelled, and he had lived through the burning of infected bodies during the Black Plague.
Nazaryth suddenly knew that he had to get the black stuff off of his mate. He didn’t know what the black foam was exactly, but it was imperative that the noxious stuff not touch Theo any longer than it had to. Nazaryth bounded to his feet and raced over to the bed.
His hands burned when he reached down to grab Theo, and they got covered in the black shit. Nazaryth gritted his teeth and swept Theo up in his arms. Everywhere that the black ooze touched burned like live coals. Nazaryth couldn’t even imagine what it was doing to Theo.
He paused long enough to kick his door open and call for help then raced Theo into the bathroom. He held Theo with one arm and reached down to turn the water on in the tub. Once warm water started filling the tub, Nazaryth slowly lowered his mate into it and then began washing him.
Theo didn’t say anything, but his eyes remained locked on Nazaryth. It was unnerving, especially when they should have been golden amber, not pitch-black.
“What the fuck is that stench?” Dog snapped as he came running into the bathroom, his arm covering his nose.
Nazaryth glanced over his shoulder. “I need a cup or something to wash Theo with.”
Dog stepped closer, his eyebrows shooting up. “Is that coming from him?”
“Yes,” Nazaryth shouted as he went back to washing Theo. “Now get me a fucking cup!”
Dog ran out of the room without a word. Nazaryth heard a noise and noticed that the space Dog had vacated was suddenly filled with Silo and Ruthless. They looked just as disgusted as Dog had been.
“Can you change the sheets on my bed?” Nazaryth asked. “And make sure none of that black shit touches your skin. It burns like hell.”
Silo shrugged. “Makes sense, it comes from the bite of a hell dweller.”
Nazaryth paused in washing Theo to look at the man. “Do you know what this shit is?”
“My guess would be the poison being expelled from Theo’s body.”
Nazaryth’s gaze snapped back to Theo. “The poison is being expelled from his body?” he whispered. That could only mean one thing, right? Theo had decided to live. He was fighting. “And his eyes? Will they remain black?”