by Alanea Alder
"I hate it when you make sense," she grumbled.
He gave her hands a quick tug pulling her forward and off balance. As she fell against him, he quickly captured her lips. His kiss at first was gentle, but both of their hungers soon took over. When she inadvertently moaned he stepped back. The love she saw in his eyes humbled her. Not once since she had met him had he complained that she was putting others first. In fact, he had only gotten upset over the fact that she wasn't taking proper care of herself.
"You're too selfless," she said reaching up to touch his lips.
"Is it truly being selfless if serving others is what brings me happiness?" he asked.
"Try to put yourself first a bit more. You should have gotten a mate who would help you curb that, and look out for you, but you got stuck with me. I can barely keep track of myself," Vivi let her hand drop feeling worse for having put words to her feelings.
Etain thumped her between the eyes. "Stop that!" She glared at him. "Did you and Hal create the 'Thump Vivi' club or something?"
He just stared down at her smiling. "You need to put yourself first a bit more. You should have gotten a mate who would have the time to see to your health, not spend his day serving an entire city. But, you got stuck with me. I can barely keep my own home clean and feed myself, despite being over a thousand years old."
Vivi's mouth dropped open. When he said it, it sounded ridiculous. "How did you do that?"
His lips twitched. "I don't know what you mean." He looked up the transport tunnel. "Are you ready to experience fine dining on Level Six?"
"I love you."
His eyes widened in surprise at her sudden statement before he smiled wide. "And I love you too Vivian Vi'Aerlin."
She took his hand. "Not Princess Vivian?"
He shook his head. "To me, the fact that you are taking my last name trumps your royal status."
"We still need to register that," she reminded him.
He grinned down at her and pulled her into the tunnel. "I already have Rex drawing up the paperwork."
Etain called out to Micah, and he joined them as they floated up to Level Six. Vivian couldn't help smiling. She would be changing her name for the third and final time in her life. She couldn't wait to be Vivian Vi'Aerlin.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Etain had a boyish grin on his face as he led her to the vendor that operated at the edge of the eating area. He sat her down and went to the stand. Micah stood behind her waiting. When Etain returned and handed her a paper wrapped item she smiled in delight. "Crepes! I love crepes!"
Micah leaned in and took a bite of her treat. Licking his lips he groaned. "Damn that's good." He looked around. "Be right back." He jogged off to another food stand.
"Are strawberry and chocolate okay?" Etain asked.
"Perfect. I could eat these everyday and be happy," she closed her eyes happily and took another bite.
Etain nudged her and pointed. She looked over and saw that the crepe vendor was watching them anxiously. "She knows who I am," Vivi asked in the barest of whispers. Etain kept smiling but gave a slight nod.
Vivi took another bite. "Gods! These things are amazing! Can we come here more often?" she said in a louder voice.
The crepe vendor covered her face with her hands in delight and began to clean her tiny stand in a fit of happiness.
Etain smiled wide. "Of course my love," he answered. Under the guise of kissing her cheek, he whispered in her ear. "Softie." He sat back and continued eating his own snack.
Micah came back over and sat down on her other side. "You have to try these!" Micah held up a long, skinny orange stick.
Cautiously she took a bite and chewed quickly. "What is that?"
"Good?" he asked eyeing her knowingly.
"Better than good."
"They're sweet potato french fries dipped in a brown sugar and cinnamon glaze. They are my ultimate weakness," he confessed.
"I can see why."
She and Micah exchanged bites so that they could each enjoy the other's dessert. Etain finished his and simply sat at her side with his arm draped across the back of her chair.
They were just walking past the hospital, about to head back down to Level One when a tall, dark-haired wolf shifter stepped in front of them. "Is this her? The murderer?" he demanded.
Vivi gasped. "The what?" she whispered.
Etain and Micah moved to stand in front of her. Micah eyed the man a confused look on his face. "Cainan, this is the amazing doctor I was telling you about. The one that developed the treatment for the children. You said that you thought that she must be an amazing person and wanted to meet her. I don't understand the change in attitude."
"That was before I knew who she was, who she really was. I heard her name on that announcement they made about Prince Gavriel taking over, how she was a DuSang. A murderer born of a murderer!" he raved.
"My mate is no murderer," Etain said cordially.
Vivi felt her blood turn to ice. She knew without looking that Etain's expression would be murderous. She knew she was right when the shifter took a step back.
He recovered quickly. "Don't you think it's strange that Prince Magnus was fine until she arrived? How do we know she didn't do this to him?" Gasps were heard all around them. Vivi looked to their left and right and realized that both shifters and vampires had closed in around them to watch what would happen.
Vivi brought her hand to her throat. Little did he know his words stuck at her very core. She had hurt Magnus, just not in the way he was implying.
"See! She looks guilty!" he crowed.
"Would you please refrain from saying hateful things about my mate? I will happily turn her pain, into your pain," Etain offered almost off-handedly.
Cainan paled, but persisted. "Do you know who her father was? What he did?"
Etain nodded. "Of course. I was here for it."
Cainan was about to respond when Stefan pushed his way through the crowd. "What in the hell is going on? Etain? Cainan?" He looked from one to the other.
Etain's eyes never left the angry shifter in front of him. "Your pack member feels it necessary to say terrible things to my mate hurting her very soul. For that alone I could rip out his spine." Etain's even voice made the violent words that much scarier.
Stefan's eyes widened at Etain's demeanor. "Cainan, you want to tell me what this is all about?"
"She's a DuSang, Alpha. Her father killed my brother!" he exclaimed angrily.
Vivi pushed slightly between Etain and Micah to face the shifter. "My father killed many people, including my own mother. But I am not him." She straightened her back as the realization truly hit her. She was not her father, and she would not be bound by his guilt. She had her own mistakes to bear. She refused to be weighed down by his any longer. In a louder voice, she repeated her words. "I am not my father. I heal. I don't kill. I was raised by a shifter, Halbjorn Bergson and I would never do anything to disappoint him."
Cainan refused to accept her words. "Your father killed my brother and most of my pack all because he didn't want to admit that his supposed mate had left him for a shifter, her true mate." Low murmurs spread out around them.
Vivi stared at him. "How do you know that?"
"Because it was my brother who she left that tyrant for. He stole their pure happiness and their lives because he didn't want to be 'shamed'!" he growled low.
Stefan frowned. "So correct me if I am wrong. But you're snarling and being rude to the woman who would have been your baby niece?"
Cainan stopped mid-growl as his eyes widened. "Baby niece?"
Around them, wolves and vampires alike began to chuckle. Stefan had knocked the wind right out of the angry shifter. He put his hands on his hips. "Yes, baby niece you idiot. She would have been raised with our pack had her mother and true mate lived."
Cainan stared at her, a goofy look on his face. He turned beet red and began to rub the back of his neck when he looked back in her direction. "Sorry about that."
Micah exhaled loudly clutching at his chest. "You can't do stuff like this to me! I am a delicate individual." More chuckles were heard as the tension practically evaporated.
Cainan really looked at her. "Macario, my brother beat DuSang in the end." He gave her a teary smile. "Halbjorn was the name of my brother's best friend. If he raised you to be a healer and not a killer, then you have become my brother's legacy."
Etain and Micah stayed in front of her but stepped to one side so that she could face her uncle. He gave her a shy smile. His warm smile turned to one as horror as he leapt forward.
Vivi was confused until a sharp, biting pain blossomed in her midsection. She looked down and froze. There was a finger wrapped handle sticking out of her shirt. There were shouts and screams as Cainan crashed with someone at her side causing the handle and fingers to disappear as a jagged edge dagger emerged from her body. She looked up to see her mate staring at her in terror. "Etain, there was something on my shirt." Why was she finding it so hard to talk? She felt woozy, then she was staring up at the ceiling. Etain's lips were moving, and he looked so frantic. She reached up and traced his lips. She loved his lips. "Love you," she said before closing her eyes. Those crepes must have made her tired. She was just going to rest her eyes for a bit.
*****
"Etain, there was something on my shirt." His mate looked down at her stomach baffled seemingly unaware of the growing bloodstain. Her words unfroze his muscles, and he caught her as she fell. He cradled her in his arms. "Micah!" he screamed. "I need help!"
Micah knelt across from them. "Set her down Etain, I need to see the damage," he instructed.
Etain had to fight every instinct to set her down. Micah quickly ripped the fabric of her shirt aside and sucked in his breath. He held his glowing hands over her wound.
She reached up and touched his lips, just as she had before. "Love you," she said before she closed her eyes.
"No! Micah, do something!"
"I am, but it's not working! We need Ellie or Rheia or Dr. St. John. She's not healing Etain. I can only sustain for a few more minutes, then she's going to bleed out."
Stefan knelt beside them. "I called down to Level One. Rheia is waiting for you in the lab. She said to stay out of the infirmary," he advised.
Etain scooped her up in his arms. "With me Micah?"
"Go!" Micah yelled.
Together they ran for the tunnel and shot down to Level One. Etain didn't look back. He knew Micah would be there. The hallway flew by before he knew it he spotted Colton standing at the door holding it open for them. He ran inside.
"Here!" Rheia yelled pointing to a gurney.
He set her down and was immediately pushed out of the way. When he pulled his hand back to punch Tarragon both Adriel and Grant grabbed him on either side and dragged him to the wall.
"She needs me!" he yelled.
"She needs the doctors more!"Adriel shouted in his face.
Etain felt his world spinning out of control. "Why is this happening?" he asked. Grant and Adriel each wrapped an arm around him to hold him steady. But neither of them had an answer to his question.
Tarragon stepped back and looked around the room. "Kendrick can you come here?"
Kendrick hurried over, and Tarragon pointed. "Can your magic detect any foreign substance in the wound?"
Kendrick placed a hand on Vivi's shoulder. He pulled it back growling. "It's an anticoagulant and blood thinner."
"Dammit!" Tarragon shouted then turned back to his patient.
"What?" Etain asked. "Why is that bad?"
Kendrick walked over and placed both hands on his shoulders. "The mixture of an anticoagulant and blood thinner in a wound this deep in a vampire is fatal. Unlike shifters, fae and witches, vampires react horribly to both substances. This wound was meant to kill her," he explained slowly, in an even voice.
Etain shook his head. "That is unacceptable."
"We agree," a voice said from the door. Gavriel and Caspian hurried over to the gurney. "We would like to use a similar method to the one Vivi has been trying with the virus treatment. If Caspian and I both donate our blood, we may be able to prevent a bond from forming." He turned to Etain. "There is a probability that she may form a bond to one or both of us, but as we will only be sharing a few drops each to counteract the anticoagulant and blood thinner it should not happen. That being said, she does not share our bloodline, so we also run the risk of our blood acting like a poison and killing her. But as the four royal families are closely related we believe that it has a very good chance in working. Are those risks you are willing to take?"
"Yes! Gods, yes! Anything, just don't let her leave me," he begged.
Gavriel gave a nod and turned to Caspian. "As there is a substance in her wound preventing it from healing, I believe that the best method would be to drip our blood directly into her."
Caspian nodded. "I believe you are right."
They each took a breath and using a claw from the opposite hand, they opened deep cuts on their wrists. Etain watched as each drop of their blood seemed to take an eternity to fall. After a few minutes, Etain struggled against his best friend and unit leader. "Well!"
Gavriel and Caspian licked their wrists closed. Gavriel turned to Rheia. "Blood pressure?"
Rheia watched the monitor. "Rising! Thank god! It's rising!"
"Rising is good?" Etain demanded.
Micah's hands stopped glowing. He looked up tears in his eyes. "Rising is very good. Her wound is closing." Micah swayed a bit, and Declan propped him up. "Good work Casanova," he said, bumping his shoulder.
Etain felt his legs go, but he didn't fall. His brothers wouldn't let him.
"We have you," Adriel said quietly.
Etain rested his forehead against Grant's shoulder and let the tears fall. He refused to let the room see them, but he didn't mind if his brothers saw. When he needed them the most, each member of his unit had been there to support him. He would never, forget that.
"Can I get a fucking update!" an irate voice demanded out of no where. Etain lifted his head and found himself smiling. The tiny human had a way of spilling light into their darkest of moments.
Gavriel picked up his walkie talkie. "I will update Meryn. Etain why do you not take Vivi to your quarters where she will be more comfortable? There is a large, frantic squire desperate to see the both of you, and he is losing his mind as we speak."
Etain straightened. "I can move her?"
Rheia leaned against her mate looking exhausted. "She may be slightly tender, but she's perfectly healed." She pointed down. "Not even a scar."
Etain rushed forward to confirm for himself. The edges of her ripped shirt were bloodstained and the only proof of the ordeal he had just lived through.
Adriel stepped up behind him placing a hand on his back. "Her attacker?" he asked in a low voice.
"Stefan and his pack member Cainan have him on Level Six," Micah replied. "You'll never believe who it is." Etain looked up. "Who?"
Micah's eyes hardened. "That damn tunnel escort."
Etain went to turn to his unit leader and Adriel tightened his grip on his shoulder. "Do not worry brother. No matter what the council may say, his death is already a certainty."
Etain gave a nod in acknowledgement and gently picked up his mate cradling her close. He faced the room. "Thank you, all of you."
Rheia waved off his thanks. "It's what family does."
Her words shook him to the core. For the first time in centuries, he truly felt surrounded by family.
*****
"Put her here! No! Wait, there! No, wait!" Hal was practically walking in circles in their family room.
"Hal."
"Maybe here, so she's closer to the kitchen," Hal continued.
"Hal," Etain repeated trying to get the squire's attention.
"But she should be in a bed." Hal looked around the room.
"Hal!" Etain practically shouted.
Hal turned to him his e
yes wild. Etain swallowed hard. The man's fear mirrored his own state not too long ago. "She's okay. Gavriel and Caspian saved her. She's just fine, not even a scar. Come look."
Hal stumbled over on unsteady feet and looked down. Tears dripped down his nose to pool on Vivi's belly. Hal reached out and traced the blood on her shirt. "The one who did this?"
"Will be taken care of, you have my word. My brothers are seeing to it," Etain swore.
Hal looked him in the eye. "She is my entire world." His frank statement just about destroyed Etain, because he knew exactly how he felt. "As she is mine," he replied.
"Take her to your room. I'll make her favorite hot chocolate for when she comes around," Hal said gruffly wiping his cheeks.
"We will be out as soon as she wakes so you can see her," Etain promised.
Hal nodded. "Get her out of those clothes and washed up. She shouldn't have to see that."
Etain couldn't help but agree. "I will."
He carried his mate to their master suite and carefully balanced her against his body to open the door. Once the door closed behind him; he headed straight to the bathroom and stripped her gently. He wrapped her in a bath sheet and walked out to lay her on their cushy floor in front of the fireplace before switching the logs on. She would be nice and warm while he cleaned up the mess.
His hands shook as he cleaned the blood smears from the bathroom floors and fixtures that he clothes left behind. He wrapped up the offending, bloodstained shirt and pants in a towel and pushed it between the toilet and the wall. He'd take it out to Hal to be incinerated later. He stripped himself of his clothes and went back to lift his mate in his arms where she belonged.
He set her on the long bench and took his time washing her hair and body. When he got out he quickly dried them with a towel before tucking them under the covers. He pulled her close and allowed himself to face what happened. He was glad her hair was already wet. She would never know that the thought of living without her had driven him to tears.