Fuck.
A crash sounded behind them followed by Kryos’s voice echoing down the hall. “Run!”
He didn’t bother to turn around. The sound of growling, of pounding boots sprinting after them said it all. Scooping Eve in his arms, he ran for the end of the hall and threw the door open to his apartment. It slammed behind him and he threw up a field of energy that should keep his brothers out. The other male didn’t make it that far. Another crash came as they hit the floor. Kryos had taken him down before he got there. As the only mated male among them, Kryos was the most stable. Eve didn’t seem to be affecting him at all. Proving Chaos right. Mating would solve this, whatever it was. Rocco’s hissed protests echoed through the door seconds later as he was dragged away.
In that moment, Lazarus became aware of the warm female bundled in his arms. She’d buried her face against his neck and her rapid breaths tickled his skin, sending tingles across his scalp. “You all right, Eve?”
“No,” she said, voice muffled.
Her lips lightly grazed his throat when she spoke, and he fought not to shiver in response. Jesus. He couldn’t take much more of this. Now he’d tasted her, he wanted to kiss her again in a way that went beyond desperate. Lowering her to the ground, he took a step back. “I’m sorry if they scared you.”
“Scared me? I’m terrified. Why did you even bring me here? You said I’d be safe.”
That knot in his gut twisted. “You will be, I promise. I will keep you safe.”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “What was that? What’s going on, Lazarus?”
“I know you have a lot of questions, and I will answer them.”
“When?”
“Soon.” Yeah, he was a fucking coward, but he wasn’t ready to have that discussion with her, not yet. It was pathetic, and he didn’t know why he was torturing himself, but he wanted one more day. One more fucking day of what if, of what might have been, before that look of budding trust on her face disappeared for good and turned to fear and disgust.
He craved that look like a starving animal.
Her eyes narrowed. “Lazarus—”
A quiet knock at the door thankfully interrupted whatever Eve was about to say. “Yeah?”
“It’s Meredith. Can I come in?”
He pulled the door open and motioned for Kryos’s mate to enter. “How’s Roc?”
“Ashamed of himself. He sent me to apologize to Eve.”
Eve took in the woman in front of her. Meredith was beautiful, tall and slim, and the stunning smile she directed at Eve was kind. “He really is sorry. If it wasn’t for—”
Lazarus cleared his throat, stopping the other woman mid-sentence. Frowning, Eve shot him a look. But he’d moved to the small kitchen off the living room and started messing with his coffee machine.
“Anyway.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “You’re safe with Kryos and me. Since we’re mated, he has all of that”—she aimed her thumb back toward the door—“under control.”
Eve frowned. “Mate?”
Meredith’s smile widened and her eyes softened. “Yeah, he stormed into my life and swept me off my feet.” She chuckled. “I’ve been waiting a long time for another—”
“Coffee?” Lazarus barked from the kitchen.
They both jumped and spun to face him.
“No. Thanks,” Meredith answered, her gaze moving back and forth between her and Lazarus. He wasn’t subtle in the least. He was stopping Meredith from telling her something, and Eve wanted to growl in frustration.
“Okay. I better head out. If you need anything, anything at all, I’m just down the hall.” She glanced back at Lazarus as she spoke. “I’ll come back in…a couple of days?”
He nodded and crossed his arms across his wide chest.
“If you need to talk before then, just ask Laz for my number.”
“Thanks, I—” A sudden wave of nausea took Eve by surprise, causing her stomach to roll. Oh God, she was about to throw up. Her vision swam and she reached for the back of the couch.
“Lazarus.” Meredith’s voice sounded panicked.
“Eve?” Lazarus called.
His voice sounded distant, his footfalls muffled when he moved toward her. Her vision dimmed, shrouded in darkness like a shadow moving over her, right before she crumpled to the floor.
The last thing she saw was Meredith’s worried expression and Lazarus stalking toward her.
Chapter 10
She was so still.
Lazarus wished Eve would fucking move, make a sound, something. But she just lay there pale and motionless. The two times she’d opened her eyes in the last day and half, she’d stared blindly up at him, not really there. Not back with him.
When she’d collapsed and he’d pulled her into his arms…
A knot lodged behind his rib cage as unwanted memories and emotions flooded his mind. He squeezed his eyes against them, but this time he didn’t have the strength to force them back.
“Don’t leave me, sweet girl. I need you here with me. Tobias needs you.” Scarlet’s mouth opened and blood bubbled up between her lips, cutting off whatever she was trying to say. He rocked her in his arms. “No. Please, God, no.”
“Lazarus?” Chaos’s insistent voice pulled him from the past. The male stood at the door, Kryos at his side. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah.” A complete lie. He was nowhere near all right.
Chaos narrowed his eyes, seeing it for himself. “Look, Lazarus—”
“What do you want, Chaos?” He was in no mood for a deep-and-meaningful, or a fucking lecture.
The big male crossed his arms over his chest, watching him closely then tilted his head toward the bed, toward Eve’s still form. “Any change?”
“Not yet.”
Laz thought he was going to drop whatever was on his mind, but then the guy frowned and ran a hand over his tattooed skull. “We don’t have time for this.”
Kryos’s brows hiked to his hairline. “I’m sure Eve feels terrible that her loss of consciousness is inconveniencing you, brother. You can tell her off when she wakes up.”
Chaos scowled. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
Lazarus wasn’t in the mood for their bickering. The two males were polar opposites and butted heads like angry bulls on the regular. Chaos had tunnel vision, always focused on the greater good—more often than not at the expense of everything else, including his own happiness. Kryos sometimes forgot that being a heartless bastard was what made Chaos an excellent leader.
“Enough.” Laz stood, reluctantly leaving his post at Eve’s bedside.
“We need to talk.” Chaos motioned to the living room.
“I’m not leaving her alone. We can talk in here.”
That pleased the other male. Chaos didn’t even attempt to hide the satisfaction written all over his face, and no doubt assumed Lazarus’s unwillingness to leave Eve meant they were close to mating.
Lazarus decided now wasn’t the time to correct him.
Eve’s eyes felt weighted down. Had she ever felt this tired in her life? She tried to move, but stopped quickly when pain sliced through her left arm.
Low voices reached her then, penetrating her foggy brain. More than one person was in the room with her. She tried to open her eyes again, but they wouldn’t cooperate.
“Is Meredith all right?”
Eve barely suppressed a shiver at the sound of Lazarus’s unmistakable deep voice.
“She’s worried,” someone else said.
This voice held a quiet intensity. It was soothing, nice. She was pretty sure it was Kryos.
“Tobias has left the city, has put distance between us. We can all feel it. He hasn’t covered his tracks, at least not his general location. When you get there I’m sure he’ll fuck with you. But he wants you to follow.”
“He’s trying to get Lazarus on his own,” Kryos said. “Let me go with him. I’m the only one of us who’s stable. Let me go after T.”
/> “Yeah, and Laz has no choice but to follow him. He’s not going to reveal himself to any of us. It’s Laz he wants. If I send you with him, we’ll lose our chance to take him down.”
There was a grumbling sound.
“I fucking hate sending you on your own, but it’s the only way we’re going to get him out of hiding. And with the way your brothers are right now, they’re too unstable to be around her. Brent’s wards are rock solid. She’ll be safe there.” This new voice was hard, determined.
“She can’t travel, not yet,” Lazarus said, low and just as determined.
“As soon as she’s well enough to be moved, get her the hell out of here.” There was a pause. “Give her this.”
“What is it?”
“Silas has decided to insinuate his superior, holier-than-thou ass in our business. We’re on the verge of war and this he decides requires his fucking attention. I don’t like it.”
A light jingling sound, then Laz growled. “What is it? What the hell do I do with it?”
“You know how damned mysterious that angel can be. All I know is she has to wear it. He said it’s for her protection and will give you the time you need.”
Angel?
They talked some more about whatever it was, which made no sense whatsoever to Eve. Then Laz said, “She’s been in and out of consciousness, but hasn’t woken fully. As soon as she does, I’ll make the arrangements.”
“Good.” A pause. “Just remember that Silas’s gift, it’s not a cure, it’s a Band-Aid. You can’t fuck around with this.”
“You don’t think I know that?” Lazarus’s deep, rumbling voice carried a note of torment that hit her behind the ribs.
“Take it easy. Once she’s out of the compound, things around here will settle back to the usual semi-violent hum. Isn’t that right, mighty leader?”
“God, you’re a dick,” the pissed voice cut in.
“If you say so, oh wise one.”
“So help me, Kryos…if you fucking bow to me one more time…”
There was a snort. “Listen, Laz, I know you don’t want this, but claiming Meredith was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
The room was silent for several seconds then Lazarus said in a low voice, “You’re right. I don’t want this.”
“Shit.” There was another pause. “Looks like you got your reprieve. But remember”—there was more jingling—“this isn’t a permanent fix.”
“You can’t claim her yet anyway,” someone else said. “Not until she’s recovered. The surge of power you send her during the mating could hurt her or worse.”
She stiffened. Claim? The mating?
“Eve?”
She jumped.
“Eve? Are you awake?” Lazarus asked, followed by the sound of someone moving closer.
She blinked heavily, forcing her eyes to open. Her vision was kind of blurred, but she could still make out Laz and Kryos standing a few feet away. Chaos stood behind them, scowling.
“How are you feeling?” Lazarus asked, voice gruff.
She felt weird, fuzzy. But mainly she felt confused.
“Eve…” He took another step closer.
God, she couldn’t think when he was near. Her mind spun with everything she’d just overheard. They’d been talking about her. She didn’t understand it—or maybe she did, at least some of it—and that scared her all the more. She lifted her hands, panic taking over. “Stay back…I want you to stay the hell back.”
The other two males exchanged heavy stares.
“Goddammit, just tell me. Tell me what’s going on,” she choked out. Fear, and she was ashamed to admit, betrayal laced her words. She tried to wiggle back, but winced when pain again shot through her arm.
He took a small step back and shoved his hand through his hair. “You’re injured. You need to be still or you’ll tear open your stitches.”
“Stitches?” She lifted her arm. A thick white bandage was wrapped around it and she could see angry purple bruising peeking out from the edges. “How?”
Lazarus’s jaw hardened and the other two exchanged more looks. “You fell when you blacked out. You knocked a glass bowl off the cabinet. It smashed when you landed on it.”
Her head throbbed. “I don’t understand.”
He turned to the other males in the room. “Leave us.”
They did as he asked after several more intense looks were exchanged, leaving her and Lazarus all on their own.
Lazarus frowned. “It could’ve been a lot worse. Do you remember what happened?”
“I felt sick…dizzy. That’s all I can remember.”
“This ever happen before?”
“No.”
His gaze darted away from hers. “Right. Must have been all the excitement. You need to rest. We have a flight to catch in the morning.”
Excitement wasn’t the word she’d use. And he was still avoiding her question. “Where are we going?”
“Chicago. We’ll be staying with a friend of mine there for a while.”
“Why?” That wonderful scent of his hit her, surrounded her. He didn’t answer, instead watched her closely, and she forgot what was so important that she would rather talk than sleep.
“Rest, Eve.” His voice turned velvety smooth and brushed across her skin like a caress. She could do nothing but obey. The sheets were soft and smelled like Lazarus, and she snuggled down, letting her lids drop.
When Eve woke again it was to the smell of food. Her stomach rumbled. When had she eaten last? She couldn’t remember.
She flexed the fingers on her left hand and winced. Ouch.
The bed dipped and a hot dry palm gentled across her forehead, brushing back her hair.
“Eve, wake up, sweetheart.”
For the first time, Lazarus’s voice held no anger, no pain or urgency. He spoke low and soft, and the natural rasp to it made his words a sensual caress.
He’d called her sweetheart.
Her belly fluttered and a zing of pleasure shot between her thighs. The feeling didn’t let up, quickly becoming a low, insistent throb.
What the hell is happening to me?
His warm, rough fingers brushed her forehead again. “Eve?”
Goose bumps rose across her skin when he said her name. She didn’t like the way her body reacted to the barest touch from him. When she opened her eyes, he sat beside her, watching her. His hair was damp. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt, and she could smell the heady mix of the soap he’d used mingled with his own unique scent.
“Hey,” he said.
She shivered at the sound of his voice, and her reaction annoyed her. She brushed his hand away then struggled to sit. When she couldn’t, she sighed and gave up. Her whole body felt weak for some reason.
“How are you feeling? How’s the arm?”
“Okay, I guess. It stings a little.”
He checked the tape holding her bandage. “It’ll only sting another day or so. Can you sit up?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Let me help.” He slid his arm around her shoulders and gently lifted her forward then tucked another couple of pillows behind her back. His fingers grazed her hip as he withdrew his arm and the skin beneath tingled.
She took a moment to take in her surroundings. She’d been in his apartment but not his bedroom. The bed she was in was huge, the headboard dark wood, and carved into it was an intricate design that she couldn’t fully see in her current position. It looked like some kind of battle scene. The heavy cover was deep blue and the pillows were blue and gray. Besides a chunky dark wooden dresser and a pair of bedside tables, there wasn’t anything else in the large room.
“This your room?” she said, stating the obvious.
“Yes.”
His features were soft, and she couldn’t hold his gaze with him looking at her like that. She felt safe in this room, and the idea of leaving was a frightening prospect. “When we leave tomorrow, what happens if another Orthon comes after me?”
<
br /> “I’ll kill it.”
The quiet danger in those three words made her pulse pick up speed. He’d kill for her again, would try to protect her like he’d promised. She glanced up. “What if there’s more than one, what if—”
His jaw clenched, and all softness dissolved. “You don’t need to worry, Eve. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She’d made him angry. Again. And unless they had a handbook on how not to piss off giant scary demon hunters, she guessed this was going to happen a lot.
“So what do you have on the tray?” she asked to change the subject. As much as she wanted answers, she got the feeling she wasn’t going to get them from him. Not yet anyway. And honestly, she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear them.
His big body relaxed. “Chicken, salad, and a baked potato with sour cream, I believe.”
“Sounds good.”
He lifted the tray from the bedside table and placed it on her lap. He unscrewed the lid from a bottle of water and handed it to her then sat back against the headboard and watched her. Intently.
“Um, have you eaten?” she asked.
“Yes.”
His voice was back to velvet. Okay, no more talking. That voice was doing things to her, things she did not want it to do. If he wanted to watch her eat, so be it. After several tries it was obvious her injury made it impossible to use her left hand, not until the stinging pain stopped shooting up her arm every time she tried to grip her knife.
Lazarus obviously noticed as well, because he scooted forward, and without a word, took the cutlery from her hands. He cut a piece of chicken then topped it with a little potato and salad, and lifted it to her lips.
Her cheeks heated. “No. I can do it.”
Knight's Redemption (Knights of Hell Book 1) Page 9