“I’m her guardian,” Valor argued.
My jaw clenched because I knew exactly what he was saying. As Valor’s mate and the oldest male of my family, I’d be technically seen as Daphne’s guardian, even if Valor chose not to stay with me.
Pain erupted in my chest. Maybe her words had really only been to get me chained to that bed. Maybe I had been just a means to an end.
“I’ll keep her protected,” I promised.
“Yo. Sixteen,” Ransom said slowly.
“Two years are nothing when you’ve already lived a few thousand.” He took one last look at Daphne.
She blinked rapidly, her lips parting.
Xavier vanished.
“I hate when he does that,” Ransom mumbled.
“Alek called. The Sons retreated at the school about ten minutes ago,” Hawke said, putting his phone in his back pocket. “Two teachers dead. All the kids made it.”
My shoulders sagged. Two more lives lost.
“We need to get back to the estate.” I looked at Valor. Her face was contorted with pain, kicking my instincts into full gear. “Ransom, take Daphne to the Residence. Hawke, leave a squad here to secure the facility and call Patrick to bring in humans for the daylight hours. Get Avi home.”
Hawke nodded.
“Can you walk?” I asked Valor as the others hurried to make arrangements.
She nodded and stumbled forward.
“Fuck.” I caught her against my chest, then held her close, inhaling her scent, telling myself that she’d made it. “We have to get you outside.”
I led her slowly to the entrance, and the second we walked into the night air, my powers returned. My heart steadied. My mind cleared. My blood roared for the woman in my arms.
“Oh, God, Lachlan,” Valor’s fingers fumbled at my chest. “You were shot.”
“Vest. We upgraded when the Order took their ammunition game to the next level.” I leaned to the side slightly, examining her arm. “Valor, I think your shoulder is dislocated.”
“I know it is,” she grumbled. “That’s what you want to talk about?”
“That’s all I’m capable of handling without screaming at you,” I admitted. “We have two options here. I can take you to Gabriel and he can set and splint it. You’re looking at a six-week recovery if you don’t need surgery.”
“Option number two?” She tilted her head to look up at me, and I nearly kissed her.
Then I remembered the iron chains.
“I can give you a mouthful or two of my blood, and it will heal on the spot. Not enough for a transfer or anything.” The offer was just as gruff as my feelings. She may have come to have feelings for me, but I knew she was still wary of what I was. “You can accept what I offer or not, Valor. Those are your options.”
“Lachlan, I know you’re mad—”
“Heal now or heal at Gabriel’s?” I interrupted. Fuck, I loved this woman, had given everything I had to her, and she still wouldn’t accept it—wouldn’t accept me.
“Now,” she whispered. “But I know we need to talk—”
I unsheathed my dagger with the ease of hundreds of years of practice, and sliced open a small cut on my wrist, then sheathed the dagger and put it to her lips before she could finish her sentence.
She gasped, her lips parting. Then her eyes widened as my blood flowed freely into her mouth.
My entire body clenched. I wanted to know her thoughts, her feelings, wanted to be deep inside her in every way possible. My cock swelled.
She sucked once. Twice. Her throat worked as she swallowed.
This was exactly how it was supposed to be between mates. One provided for the other. They lived through each other, sharing their very life forces. They trusted. They leaned into each other when necessary. They loved.
A growl sounded low in my chest at the feel of her lips at my wrist, knowing it was my life that would heal her.
She swallowed again.
“That’s enough,” I whispered, breaking the contact and lifting my wrist to my own mouth. I drew my tongue over the cut, and it sealed shut, leaving only a faint, pink line that would disappear in seconds.
“Lachlan.” Valor lifted her fingers to her mouth, and I barely bit back a moan when she swiped a tongue over the bottom lip…as if she liked the taste of me.
You have to be quick. “This is going to hurt.” I gripped her arm and steadied my hand on her waist, then popped the shoulder back into place.
Valor cried out, falling against my chest.
“Just count. One. Two. Three,” I murmured against the top of her head. “No more pain, right?”
She looked up at me in shock. “None. It’s…” She rotated the joint. “It’s mended!”
“I’m glad one thing is,” I said.
Her face fell.
“Let’s go.” I pulled her against me and wended out, hoping the icy bite of the between would cool my temper before we appeared at the Residence.
It didn’t.
20
Valor
“Thank you,” Daphne said, taking the mug of hot tea from me. She eyed the liquid inside it a little longer than necessary, and I huffed out a laugh as I sank into the plush chair opposite her.
“It’s not blood,” I said, raising my brows at her across the small round table. Alek and Lyric had graciously given her a room near mine.
“I know that,” she said, blinking a few times before she brought the mug to her lips and took a long sip. She sighed as she sat the mug on the table. “I can’t help it,” she said. “I’m doing my best to…adjust.” Her eyes widened at me apologetically. “Not that I’m not grateful to be here, Valor. I swear. I am. So, so grateful. I just—”
“I get it,” I cut off her ramble, reaching across the table to gently squeeze her hand. “I had a hard time when I was first…brought here too.” The memory of the day Lachlan found me flashed through my mind, and my heart ached and squeezed with the weight against it.
Two days.
It had been two days since the battle at the facility, since we’d rescued Daphne and brought her back to the safety of the Residence. Two days since he’d given me his blood—blowing my mind and the mating bond into nothing but brilliant sparkles of light.
And he still hadn’t spoken to me.
Hadn’t sought me out.
Hadn’t attempted to discuss the words I’d left him with before…
Yes, I’d shackled him in iron, but I’d been trying to save his life. I understood his anger, but I had thought after two days to cool, he’d at least try and talk to me.
I’d been wrong.
“What am I going to do now, Valor?” Daphne asked, sounding so much more mature than her sixteen years. “What are you going to do?”
I blew out a breath. “I don’t have those answers for you right now, Daphne,” I admitted. And I hated that on her behalf. The Sons of Honor—our families—had created and shaped our previous world down to the finest details. Daphne had been betrothed, for fuck’s sake, her entire life mapped out and narrowed down to producing more heirs to their bloodline. And if I hadn’t been trained to take over the Moorehouse line, I would’ve been forced to marry as well.
I rubbed my palms over my face. Faced with the freedom to choose, I could see why Daphne would panic. Especially with my brother still on the loose.
“Keeping you safe is my number one priority,” I said, at least knowing that much. “I’ll do my best to make sure you get your own choices as we do so, but Daphne, I can’t simply let you go out into the world on your own.”
“I know that,” she said, smiling at me. “This isn’t a prison,” she continued. “Not like what I’ve been living in. It didn’t matter if it was five-star hotels or seedy, crumbling homes. The people who kept me…” She shook her head, something dark flashing in her eyes. “They were a prison. For my mind, my soul. Everything I loved I had to hide.”
I swallowed hard. “Well, you don’t have to hide anymore,” I said. “I’ve
stocked this room with all the romance novels I could find in Alek’s extensive libraries. And I had Ransom hook you up with a streaming package—binge all the Netflix you want.”
She huffed a dark laugh. “Sounds like a perfect way to spend my time.”
I tilted my head. “How would you prefer to spend your time?” I thought she’d be thrilled to have the time and space to recover, reset, be free.
“I don’t know,” she sighed. “I just know I don’t want to be helpless again. Don’t want to be a useless girl only deemed worthy enough for breeding.”
I swallowed a mouthful of acid. “Did your ex-fiancé…did he—”
“No,” she cut me off, her hands falling in her lap as she ducked her head. “He…not that. Other things. I…I can’t…”
“You don’t have to,” I finished for her. “You can talk to me whenever you’re ready. Or if you’d rather talk to someone else, I’m sure I can ask for that to be arranged.”
She nodded, silence eating up the space between us. I hated it. We used to talk over each other, we both loved to talk so much. Daphne had always had this pure light about her—sometimes I even thought she might be a damn descendent of an angel, if such things existed—that’s how absolutely good she was. She saw the world with hope and love, and optimism, even being raised by hateful, fearful people.
And I could still see the light shining through her, even now. It radiated from the very depths of her soul and shone through her eyes. But…whatever had happened while I was away, it had left its mark for sure.
I wanted to kill them all because of it.
“What about you, Valor,” she said. “Honestly, tell me. What are you going to do about Lachlan?”
I’d told her everything the first night I had her here. Told her the truth about the love I had for the vampire. I’d never keep anything from her ever again. Never again take for granted our time together.
“He hasn’t spoken to me in two days, Daphne. I don’t think he’ll ever forgive me.”
“Of course, he will,” she said, rolling her eyes. “He’s your mate.”
“That doesn’t always mean everything is roses,” I fired back.
“Love never is,” she said, a soft sigh escaping her lips. “Love is messy and brilliant. Exciting and terrifying. Love is all things, not just the cheesy parts.”
I narrowed my gaze at her. “How would you know,” I challenged.
She held her arms out horizontally. “I read,” she said almost as if she were saying duh.
“Not everything is a fairytale.”
“Not every romance novel is one either.” She stared me down, and I dropped my shoulders in defeat. Had to hand it to her, she had a fierce side right alongside her angelic one.
“If he wanted to talk to me, he would.” I knew that. Lachlan never did anything he didn’t want to do.
“Maybe you should stop waiting around for him to approach you. You’ve never been one for patience, Valor. Don’t start now.”
“Why does it matter so much to you,” I said. “Can’t I hide away with you for the rest of forever?” I teased.
She pursed her lips. “It matters because you love him. I’ve never seen you love like you love him. And while I’d love for us to bury our heads in the sand and lose ourselves to Bridgerton for the next month, we can’t do that. We have a responsibility to help the Order in whatever way we can. To stop the Sons agenda and once and for all put an end to the ignorance and hate they breed.”
I raised my brows, sitting up slightly in my chair. “When did you get so grown up?”
“Being held against your will can do that to a girl,” she tried to joke, but it stung the center of my chest. She waved off my attempt to apologize again. “Besides, I’ll be seventeen next week.”
I nodded, forcing a smile. “I’m sure Avi will help me throw you the best party ever.”
A real smile cracked her lips. “Will there be cake?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “You like red velvet, right?”
She nodded, then her eyes widened. “Is that bad? Because it’s red. Will that offend—”
I laughed, shaking my head. “The color red doesn’t make them think about blood, Daphne,” I said. “Well, not about drinking yours, anyway.” My cheeks heated with the craving pulsing in my veins for Lachlan to sink his fangs into my neck again. I hurried to clear my throat that was suddenly dry. “There is so much we didn’t know about vampires,” I said. “So many good and amazing things. I can’t wait to tell you about them all.”
She nodded, then yawned.
“Tomorrow,” I said, chuckling. “We’ll start the vampire gossip train tomorrow.”
“I’m so tired,” she said, and I rose from the chair.
“Get some rest,” I said from her door.
“Talk to Lachlan,” she fired back.
I shook my head, then shut the door behind me. My eyes instantly found his door, not five feet away from the one I stood outside of. Right next to mine. Apprehension bloomed in my chest, making it hard to breathe.
I put one foot in front of the other, deciding Daphne was right, at least in some regard. We needed to talk. I needed him to rip the Band-Aide off quickly if he’d decided he wanted to deny the bond and go our separate ways.
The notion was like a knife to the chest, but I knocked on his door despite the pain.
I felt him down the bond before he opened the door—broody, angry, hungry.
“Lachlan,” I said, tipping my chin as he opened the door. “Do you have a minute?”
His eyes scanned the length of my body, and I felt every graze like a brand. He leaned against his door, debating, holding me in that agony for a full minute before he stepped aside.
I walked past him, my body and heart crying out to close the distance between us.
I didn’t obey my instincts and instead walked to the sitting area across his room—far from the bed. But it didn’t matter. Lachlan had claimed me in almost every available inch of space in this room and mine. There would never be an escape from the memories or the need for more.
“Aren’t you going to speak to me?” I asked when he’d taken up a good lean against his wardrobe next to the chairs and table gathered in the corner where I stood.
He arched a brow at me.
I glared at him, my anger quickly outweighing the need for him. “I understand you’re angry with me, Lachlan, but you can’t simply ignore me for the rest of your life.”
He flashed me a look that said he could damn well try.
I stomped my foot, practically growling. “I’m sorry, okay! I’m fucking sorry I chained you to the bed. That was cruel, and I took away your choice, and I’m sorry. I was out of my mind with the thought that Kyle was laying a trap for you…which, hello, he was. And the idea of losing you…” My heated words cut off in a gasp, and I pressed my hand against my chest. “I couldn’t…” I swallowed hard, noting how his eyes had yet to soften, yet to flash with that swirl of understanding I’d grown so used to.
I let my hands fall to my sides, completely defeated. “I won’t take up any more of your time, then,” I said, walking toward the door, trying like hell to keep my head up when all I wanted to do was rush to my room and cry my eyes out.
“Aye,” he said, and his voice—despite the coldness in it—washed over me like the first breath after being underwater. “You probably have a lot of packing to do.”
I spun around to face him, my lips parted. “What?”
He shrugged, his eyes like ice. “Our little arrangement is over, right? I got your cousin back safely for you. That’s all the time we agreed to.”
“All the time we agreed to,” I repeated his words in a whisper. My heart hammered against my chest, threatening to break and burst out all at the same time.
“Aye,” he growled.
“I laid myself bare to you.” I glared up at him, taking one step toward him, then two. I stopped just shy of our bodies brushing. “And you haven’t given me one reason t
o stay,” I said, hating that my voice cracked.
His eyes guttered as he stared down at me. I could feel the heat swirling off his body, the bond between us going taut. “I love you, you stubborn, infuriating woman. If that isn’t reason enough—”
“And I love you, you cocky, highlander ass. I told you that—”
“Aye,” he cut me off, showing his fangs behind his lips. “You told me that right after you cuffed me with iron, Valor. Forgive me if I didn’t take your words seriously.”
I growled at him, and he smirked. “I was telling the truth! God, do you think for one second that if I didn’t love you, that if I didn’t want and need you like I need my next breath that I would’ve chained you to that bed?” I pointed behind me. “If I didn’t love you like I do, Lachlan, I would’ve let you storm that facility without a care in the world at what would happen to you. I would’ve let you walk into danger without the thought of you getting harmed crushing me to the point of panic. I would’ve—”
His lips crashed against mine, his fingers sinking into the strands of my hair. He tilted my head back so he could claim my mouth at a deeper angle, and I whimpered at the taste and feel of him.
I jerked my head back. “I love you,” I said, all the anger and desire rushing around my words. “And I’m…fuck, I’m lucky to be mated to you.”
That smirk returned, his eyes churning with wonder and love and desire. “Say it again.”
“Fuck.” I glared up at him.
He bared his fangs, his hold tightening in my hair. A thrill of heat shot straight through the middle of me as he walked me backward. “Say. It. Again.”
My thighs clenched at the demand in his tone, at the primal tenor that sent waves of heat along my skin.
“Fuck,” I teased, arching a brow at him.
He laughed, shaking his head. “You’re being naughty again,” he said, then gave my shoulders a gentle shove. I fell back onto his bed. “You know what I do to you when you’re naughty.”
Tendrils of warmth curled against my insides as he stalked me on the bed until he settled between my thighs. I sighed at the weight of him, at the feel of him against me.
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