by Faith Gibson
Pain exploded in her head. “Dane…” Marley whimpered, unable to look at the screen. Somehow she knew it was Dane’s pain she was feeling and not her own. No, that was impossible. They weren’t true mates yet. She shouldn’t be able to feel what he did, especially from that far away. Her mind was playing tricks on her. She had to trust Dane to come home to her. He explained how the Gargoyles were virtually indestructible, even against Unholy.
Since she had no idea how long she was going to have to wait, Marley went into Dane’s bedroom and looked through his drawers until she found one of his T-shirts and a pair of sweatpants. Both swallowed her whole, but at least she would be comfortable while she waited. She went into the bathroom, removed the pins from her hair and washed the make-up off her face. After she changed, she returned to the sofa where she flipped through the channels until she found a movie to watch. Action was her favorite, so she stopped on an old Thor movie. As she watched, Marley couldn’t help compare the actor on the screen to one of the men who worked at the gym. She hadn’t seen the man named Urijah in a while, but he could have easily replaced the actor in the movie.
During a commercial, she got up to get a glass of water and checked her phone. She had three texts and two missed calls, all from Dane. Crap! She had silenced her phone and forgotten to turn the ringer back on amid the excitement. She was entering her code so she could listen to his voice messages when there was a knock on the door. “Marley?” Dane called out. “Marley, are you in there, Sweetness?”
She rushed to unlock the door, and as soon as the lock turned over, the door was pushed open to a sight Marley would never forget. Dane was battered and bruised. Blood poured out of numerous wounds on his chest, neck, and face. She reached out for him, but before she could get to him, Dane fell face first onto the floor
“Dane!” Marley screamed. “No!”
Chapter Eight
After he kissed Grace on the forehead, Dane passed her back to Lynette. He retrieved a business card out of his wallet and pressed it into Chase’s hand. “Call me if you have any trouble at the hotel.” Marley’s brother-in-law gave him a chin lift, and Dane added, “And Chase? Thank you for taking care of Marley’s family. It means a lot to me.” Chase’s eyes widened as he came to understand what Dane meant.
“Let’s go,” Merrill said, punching the elevator button several times.
“Bye, Uncle Dane,” Grace said, waving from her mother’s arms.
“Bye, Princess.”
What a fucked up day. Dane wished more than once since he’d seen Marley lying on the concrete bleeding that he would have taken her to her bed and sealed the mate bond instead of taking her out to eat. He still would have received a call about the Unholy, but in that one instance, he would have told Frey to call someone else, and the large Goyle would have. Frey understood what it meant to claim a mate. He was three steps from Marley’s room when she screamed his name. Dane rushed to her bedside. “Marley?”
She whimpered, “No!” but her eyes were closed. The nurse was right behind him, checking Marley’s vitals.
“It isn’t uncommon for victims of head trauma to cry out in their sleep. She may be dreaming, but it’s also possible she’s reliving her abduction. I’m going to give her another dose of morphine.”
Jonas entered the room carrying supplies needed to draw Dane’s blood. If the nurse thought it odd the chief of staff was playing phlebotomist, she kept her opinion to herself. Dane rolled his shirt sleeve higher up his corded arm. It was a good thing Jasper was close to the same size as Dane and that he had a spare shirt in his car. All the Goyles kept spare clothes with them when they patrolled. That was easier than explaining why their clothes were covered in blood.
When the nurse left the room and the door closed behind her, Jonas said, “You could bite her,” before he secured the tourniquet around Dane’s arm.
“I’d like for her to be awake when we seal the deal.”
“This technically wouldn’t complete the bond. It would be the same as when Frey bit Abbi to save her life. Think of it as a booster shot.”
“Biting her won’t give her my blood.”
“No, but it will give her the venom that keeps her young and strengthens her system. Your blood is like a baby aspirin where as your venom is like a bottle of oxycodone.”
“Why didn’t you say that before?”
“I didn’t feel her unease before. She’s become much more agitated.”
“Her family… Fuck! I should never have let her father in. Her daughter – I mean her niece…” Fuck it. This was his father, so Dane explained the situation with Grace.
“I’m proud of Marley,” Jonas said, looking at the sleeping woman. “It takes a lot more strength to give your child to someone else to raise than it does to keep them.”
“You’re probably stronger than Superman then,” Dane said. When Jonas sucked in a breath, Dane wrapped his hand around his father’s wrist. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I can’t imagine what that was like for you or Caroline. Or Marley. I felt her pain when she told me about giving in to her father’s wishes. If she still hurts that badly after seven years, the heartache must have been nearly crippling when she encountered it. She went through it once. You did it multiple times. So, thank you, Dad. Thank you for putting your children first.”
Jonas’s eyes shined as tears threatened to fall. He cleared his throat and whispered, “You’re welcome, Son. Now, are we doing this or are you going to take care of it?”
Dane released his father’s wrist and turned toward his mate. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Then I’ll give you some privacy.” Jonas gathered the supplies and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Dane studied Marley, trying to figure out the best way to go about getting access to her neck. Finally, he removed his belt and shoes and climbed onto the bed. He straddled Marley’s still body, and his dick decided it was time to play. Not now. Keeping his weight on his forearms, Dane kissed her.
“Hey, Sweetness. I promise we’ll do this again when we can both enjoy it.” Letting his fangs drop, Dane scraped the sharp tips along Marley’s jaw and down her pale neck until he reached the tender flesh where it met her shoulder. Begging his beast to remain calm, Dane inhaled deeply before sinking his razor-sharp canines into his mate’s body. The jolt he received in return was like a high he’d never encountered, and as he lapped at the blood from the entry points, images from Marley’s mind passed through to Dane. He prayed she didn’t receive the same images from him. There was too much he’d seen and done that he would never wish on anyone.
Taking care not to jostle her too much, Dane turned onto his side and slid his arm across her stomach. “Rest now, my love. Everything’s going to be okay.” Marley let out a sigh, and her breathing relaxed. The nurse came in several times during the night, but she never said anything to Dane about being in the bed.
Marley’s head was pounding, she had a weight pressing against her, and she was burning up. Still, there was a peacefulness surrounding her. She didn’t think she was dead, but everything was foggy. Blinking, she did her best to open her eyes. It was mostly dark, wherever she was.
“Marley?”
The voice whispering in her ear was the most beautiful sound Marley had ever heard. She turned toward the voice she was sure had been a dream. The pain in the back of her head intensified, and she hissed. “What happened?” she asked.
“Do you remember anything?” Dane replied, pulling his arm away from her waist. She grabbed it, stopping him. Marley needed his touch to ground her.
“Please don’t leave me,” she begged.
“I will never leave you. I was just going to let the nurse know you’re awake.”
“Not yet. I… I was driving your car. That was fun, by the way. Maybe I can do it again sometime. Anyway, I got to your apartment and looked around. Sorry I was snooping.” Dane tensed up next to her, but somehow she knew he wasn’t mad, only confused.
“What ha
ppened next?”
“This is gonna sound crazy, but instead of your office, the second bedroom was a nursery complete with a crib that contained the sweetest baby girl. She was sleeping and sucking her thumb. I first thought she was my daughter, but that wasn’t right. She wouldn’t have been at your apartment. Then I realized if you had a baby that meant you had a wife or a girlfriend besides me. I ran to your bedroom looking for proof, but all I found was your stuff. I went back to the nursery, but when I looked in, it was your office. I think I must have hit my head at some point. Is that why it’s hurting?”
“Yeah, Baby, you did. Is that all you remember?”
Marley was getting sleepy. “My head hurts. Can we talk more later?”
Dane kissed her softly on the lips. “Of course. I’ll be right here.”
“Thanks, Chief. I like sleeping with you.”
Dane waited until Marley’s breathing evened out before pressing the call button for the nurse. When a voice he didn’t recognized answered, he said, “Miss Sperry woke up briefly. Can you please notify Dr. Mooneyham?”
“The Chief of Staff?”
“Yes. I’d like to speak to him.”
“Mr. Sperry—”
“It’s Chief Dane Abbott. I’m Miss Sperry’s fiancé. Now, if you would please call Dr. Mooneyham.”
“Yeah, all right.” The intercom clicked off, and Dane reached out to listen. When the nurse hadn’t called for Jonas after five minutes, he eased from the bed, pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket, and dialed his father’s private line.
“Dane? Is Marley okay?”
“She woke up for a few minutes and talked to me.”
“I’ll be right there.”
A few minutes later, the nurse asked, “Dr. Mooneyham?”
Jonas stopped right outside the door. “Nurse Tucker.”
“What… I didn’t realize…”
“Is there a problem?”
“You’re never here this early in the morning.”
“You’d be surprised how early I get here. We’ll discuss this later. Now, I’d like to see Marley’s chart.”
“I… her vitals were… I haven’t had a chance to check them yet.”
Dane stepped to the entrance of the room. He’d not seen his father angry, but his mood was ratcheting up several notches, even if his voice remained even. “Why is that?” Jonas asked the young woman.
“I was almost back to this end of the hall.”
“Ms. Tucker, do us both a favor; take a look at every single room on this wing. When you’ve managed that, clock out, and leave your badge on the desk. You won’t need to bother returning.” When the nurse walked away, Jonas placed a call to security.
“What’s going on?” Dane asked.
“She’s a lazy liar. There are no other patients on this hall. I had them all moved so Marley would have the nurse on duty’s undivided attention. Had I known it was Nurse Tucker working this shift, I would have reassigned her.”
The security guard arrived, and he was a male from the penitentiary. It was good to know at least one Clan member was on hand at the hospital. Tyrus, a black male who rivaled Frey in size, fisted his heart. “Chiefs,” he said, quickly inclining his head.
“I didn’t know you worked here, Ty.”
“I have no life, so I pull double-duty. Keeps me out of trouble,” he said, grinning. The nurse handed over her badge, but she didn’t beg for her job or apologize for her lack of professionalism. Instead, she held both hands in front of her and asked Tyrus, “Gonna cuff me?”
Ty’s grin turned to a mean snarl. “Let’s go,” he growled and pointed toward the elevator.
If Dane hadn’t known Jonas was on hand in case Marley needed something, he would have lit into the woman for her negligence.
“Come on, Son. Let’s check on your mate.”
“She said her head hurt, but I expected that. What I didn’t expect was for her mind to be so confused.” Dane relayed Marley’s version of what happened, though she hadn’t mentioned any type of accident that would explain the pain she was experiencing.
“It’s possible she was recounting a dream. She went through a traumatic experience, so Marley could be repressing what really happened. Don’t forget, she has morphine running through her system, and if you bit her, that is amplified. Don’t worry yet. We’ll see how she is when she comes to and is fully cognizant.”
“If you’re sure.”
“You want some coffee? I’m going to make a fresh pot in my office when I go find a responsible nurse to replace the last one.”
“I’m good, but thanks.”
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours. If you need anything at all, I’m just a floor away.”
“Thanks for everything.” Dane sat down in the chair and crossed his arms on the bed, setting his chin on top of them so he could watch his mate. By the time visiting hours were in effect, Marley hadn’t woken. Her parents and Lynette arrived at eight on the dot, but Grace and Chase weren’t with them. “Where’s Grace?”
“Chase took her to the aquarium. Dad didn’t think it was good for her to be stuck in a hospital room all day.” Lynette didn’t look at anyone when she spoke, but Dane didn’t miss the anger in her voice.
Dane had showered and changed into clean clothes Trevor brought on his way to the morgue. The young male had taken the early shift in case Sixx was able to push through the sale of the house Marley liked. Dane wanted her to have a nice home to recover in.
Marley’s boss as well as a slew of the Clan and their mates also stopped by. Trevor had recruited several of the mates to help with getting the new house ready. Dane wasn’t worried about Cammie, who was home packing Marley’s things, being overwhelmed. He had been around the Clan enough to know she would be welcomed into the family the same as Marley. He couldn’t say the same about Marley’s family. Her room was a revolving door as members of her new family stopped to check on her and Dane. The Clan had witnessed Merrill’s attitude, and it didn’t sit well with any of them. It hadn’t mattered that they had yet to complete the bond. Marley was his mate, therefore that was enough for them. She was now one of them, and father or not, the man was not going to treat Marley in any way less than she deserved.
When Isabelle stopped in, he hugged his sister tight before introducing her to the Sperrys and Lynette. With it being Sunday, Connor was with his mother. He stepped up to Marley’s bed and frowned. “May I?” he asked Dane.
Dane wasn’t sure what Connor was going to do, but having seen firsthand the boy’s gift, Dane knew Connor would never hurt Marley. “Of course.”
“What’s he doing to my daughter?” Merrill asked.
Dane was getting tired of the man trying to keep a claim on Marley every time he spoke. Dane ignored him as Connor stood next to Marley’s bed and took her hand in his. Closing his eyes, Connor was still for almost a minute before releasing her hand. “I need to speak with Grandpa,” Connor announced and grabbed Isabelle’s hand. “You need to come too, Uncle Dane.”
Dane wasn’t worried exactly, but Connor knew something so he excused himself and stepped into the hallway. From the room, Merrill’s voice carried. “No wonder that man asked Marley to marry him. His family’s as crazy as she is.”
Connor stopped walking and turned back toward the room. Isabelle called for him, but he kept going.
“Mr. Sperry, you aren’t a very nice man, but I hope you feel at least a small amount of love for Marley considering she’s your daughter. If that’s the case, please know that even though she’s asleep, she can hear you. Please do your best not to hurt her feelings any more than you already have.”
Merrill gaped at the young boy who just handed his ass to him. Dane bit his lip to keep from laughing at his nephew, and Isabelle said, “Nicely worded, Son.”
Gods, Dane loved his family.
Chapter Nine
Connor didn’t speak again until they reached Jonas’s office. Dane was surprised the boy knew exactly where the room wa
s, but after he listened to their conversation, it was evident they spent quite a bit of time together. The Clan knew Connor had special gifts. Not only could he see the future, but he was empathic as well. No one knew how he had such gifts considering he was too young to transition, but he did have Original blood coursing through his veins. Blood which came from Jonas, and the male was beyond genius.
“Grandpa, Marley is hiding her memories.”
“You mean she’s repressing them?”
Connor nodded. “Yes, repressing. I need to remember that word. In her mind, she thinks Dane came home wounded.”
“You saw that?” Dane asked.
“Yes. She’s also confused about a baby. Uncle Dane, is Grace Marley’s daughter?”
Dane looked at Jonas instead of answering Connor. There was no way the boy could know that. He hadn’t met Grace.
“In her memories, there’s a baby, and Marley referred to her as hers, and she called her Grace.”
Jonas tried to explain. “You know how I put Uncle Dane up for adoption? Well, Marley put her baby up for adoption. You are right; Grace was Marley’s, but now she lives with Marley’s sister.”
“No wonder Lynette’s so sad,” Connor said.
“Why’s that, Son?” Isabelle asked.
“Because she knows one day Grace will go live with Marley and Dane.”
Dane knew Connor had seen a vision at some point, but he didn’t ask details. Some things were best left to fate. If he knew why Grace would come live with them, he might try to do something to stop it if he could. As much as he wanted Marley to be able to raise her daughter, Dane didn’t want it to be under circumstances where Grace would lose Lynette. Until that moment, he’d never thought about Connor’s gifts and what the boy must go through, especially for one so young. He put his hands on Connor’s shoulders and said, “You have no idea how proud of you I am.”