by Ford, Rinna
She never took her hate-filled eyes off of Matias. But the fact she called him a nickname, and one that meant something dangerous, made me pause. However, I didn’t pause for very long.
“The fact you just said that implies you’ve never had a mate, so you don’t understand what you would do for the person who is yours,” he told Di, hate still covering his features.
Her eyes bled from blue to red as her anger grew. “You know nothing…” she sneered. Well, well. Maybe she did have a mate after all. I wondered what happened to him. I decided to let that go, even as I decided on my next course of action.
“You made me a supernatural super-species, but you won’t get to use me like you planned. I am leaving this place and your precious rebellion. I will not take up your cause. The only thing I want to do is find my uncles and learn to survive as I am. I can do that without you now, so I am leaving the first chance I get.”
Matias was next to me in an instant and held my hand in his, lending me his support. I wasn’t going to ask for it, but I was beyond thankful.
“You, you can’t leave,” she cried. “You are meant to be our savior and I made you more powerful! You can defeat your enemies and become the leader we’ve always needed! Why aren’t you grateful? Why aren’t you happy?”
“You just don’t get it, Di, and I’m not sure you ever will.”
I raised my hand, flicking my fingers in the air and the two frozen vampires crashed into each other, nearly knocking themselves out. Di ran to them and when she reached their sluggish bodies, she helped them up one at a time and all three hobbled away, hate filling their eyes.
Matias moved in front of me and cupped my face with his free hand. I closed my eyes against the sensation and leaned into his palm ever so slightly. It was wrong, but I couldn’t help it. I was his and he was mine, no matter how much I tried to fight it.
He just attacked Di for me. Threatened her because she hurt me, made me feel weak. He would have done anything for me, including the fact he would have rather me not be turned at all if it meant I would never feel that helpless again. If that wasn’t love, I didn’t know what it was.
“Emelia, I…”
The door swung open and Xander walked in, his angry expression fixed on Matias and the way he was holding me. I slid away, letting go of his hand and tried not to look as guilty as I felt. Guilty for feeling like I had betrayed my dragon mate and guilty for refusing my vampire mate once again. I hated it. I hated it all.
“I want to leave, Xan. I can’t be here anymore. I don’t want to be a part of this… whatever it is. I just want to give us time to be… us.”
Xander looked relieved, until Matias spoke up next. “I have the perfect place we all can go,” he said. “No one will find us.”
“I don’t think she meant you, vampire,” Xan told him through clenched teeth.
“And I thought I made it perfectly clear I was not going to leave her side, dragon,” Matias snarled in return. The two had moved closer together, their predator sides becoming more prominent as they geared up for another brawl.
I felt my body begin to shift into my dragon, then out of it as my vampire side started to emerge. I closed my eyes and willed myself to stay calm, making my body return to normal, even though those two were beyond trying to do the same thing. The last thing I needed at that moment was to add fuel to the fire, so to speak, and my body wasn’t handling the multiple supernatural powers I possessed with my emotions all over the place.
“You’re both fucking idiots,” I said quietly. I knew both of them heard me, so I didn’t feel the need to speak up. “If you two decide to keep up your resentment of each other, I’ll go at it alone. Without you. I don’t want to, but I need to stay calm and I can’t do that with you both at each other’s throats. I’m having a hard enough time as it is and I don’t want you to fight. At least not with each other. So please, knock it off.”
I opened my eyes to see them both staring straight at me, their features back to normal. They both looked sort of sheepish at my chastising speech.
“I am sorry, little one. I will leave you alone, if that’s what you want,” Matias said.
“No!” I exclaimed. My vampire side resurfaced and I closed my eyes to calm myself again. “No, I don’t want that,” I told him in a quieter voice.
“Then what do you want?” Xan asked. I heard the exasperation and anguish in his question. It was hurting him and I couldn’t help it.
“I need to be around Matias, Xan, just like I need you in my life too. I just can’t….”
“You can’t be without him…”
I opened my eyes and shook my head. I pleaded with him to understand how it was breaking my heart to break his, but without Matias, I didn’t think I’d be able to control the different parts of me. Just the thought of being without him made my powers go crazy.
He stared into my eyes for several seconds before nodding his understanding. He didn’t like it, but he wasn’t going to stand in my way as long as it meant Matias would be in my life.
Xander walked up to me and threw his arm around my shoulders pulling me into his chest. He leaned down and kissed the top of my head.
“Come on. Let’s get you some breakfast, then we’ll grab our stuff and go,” he told me. Xan let his left arm fall to his side and turned so that we could walk toward the gym door. “You coming, vampire?” he threw over his shoulder as we walked into the hallway.
Those three words made my heart soar. I turned my head slightly, watching Matias’ stunned expression change to one of humor as he walked behind us toward the dining room.
Before we got there, we found Di and several of her minions in the foyer. The other vampires, not Di, were each lugging several large, bulky suitcases and setting them down on the porch outside the front door. Di had cleaned herself up and it looked like she was going somewhere.
She started to speak to me but then cut herself off when she saw the menace in Matias’ eyes and quickly looked away toward one of her minions. “Hurry up, Brian!” she snapped at one of her minions.
“We’d like you to stay,” a familiar voice said from the living room doorway. All three of us turned around to see Amos leaning against the doorframe, his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets. He was talking to us, which surprised me. “I understand your need for Di to be nowhere near you and so does she. Despite her stupidity, she does have some self-preservation.”
“If she’s going, what will happen to this place? I thought she ran it all.”
“Amos and I are switching places,” Di answered for my grandfather. “I’ve always wanted to live on the east coast anyway.”
Matias, who was standing between Di and me, hissed at her, showing his fangs. She softly whimpered and turned back toward her minions.
“Hurry up!” Her voice cracked at her command and she rushed out the front door, not waiting for her help. I watched as she scurried down the steps and into the backseat of a waiting car before the trunk was even full of suitcases.
I turned back toward Amos, shaking my head. “So you’re staying then.” It wasn’t a question.
He nodded. “If that’s okay with you. I want to make up for what I’ve done and get to know my granddaughter better. When Di asked me to come here, she told me her plan. But she didn’t tell me who you were exactly, not that I would have believed her. I thought my granddaughter died when Eric did. Even so, I never imagined she, you, would be the one from the prophecy. I’m sorry, Emelia. I’m sorry I played a part in what happened and that it had to happen at all.”
Xander and Matias who were standing on either side of me, began to growl protectively. Amos looked down at the ground in submission to their anger, like he expected it from them. There was so much I still needed to learn about supernatural behaviors because, even though I loved they were both angry on my behalf, I still felt like it was male posturing.
“Why should we stay?” I asked, trying to ignore the tension and failing. I could feel my magic trying to surfa
ce. I closed my fists and took a deep breath in and out. “Almost everyone here played some part in what happened to me, including my own grandfather.”
My mates began to growl even louder and I had to shut my eyes and turn away. My hands grew hot as magic rushed to them, waiting to be released. Xander, with his quick reflexes, scooped me up and began running. Within seconds, I felt the familiar breeze coming off the ocean and knew I was outside.
I opened my eyes and raised my hands toward a group of boulders, releasing the pent up energy before it consumed me completely. Large chunks of rock and debris shot into the air as my magic blasted a couple of holes into the boulders and rained down to the ground and crashing waves below.
My magic spent, I felt all of my strength leave me and I began to fall, but I was caught before hitting the ground. Lazily, I looked up and saw Matias’ crystal gray eyes, knowing he was the one to keep me from hitting the ground.
“Thank you,” I told him and saw Xander standing over his shoulder. “Thank you both.”
“That’s why we’re here, little one,” Matias answered for them both.
“You alright there, shooter?”
Camille was walking out the back door with a mocking smile on her face. I knew she was concerned, but she rarely showed any kind of weakness. The only time I ever saw her scared was when I was being turned into a vampire.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I told her as Matias helped me stand back up on my feet. “My powers are going crazy.” I touched my head and looked down at the ground, trying to make the dizziness go away.
Soleil nudged against me reassuringly as she lent me some of her strength. I was beginning to appreciate my inner dragon more and more every day. She was my constant companion and someone I could always count on, even when I was at my worst.
“Well, yeah,” Camille’s smirk got bigger. “You’re an abomination. Of course things are messed up inside of you.”
Matias’ eyes bled to red and he took a step toward her, believing her to be a threat. I put my hand against his chest, making him halt, but his posture was no less rigid.
“Well then, what do you think I should do?” I asked her.
“Stay,” she said plainly. “I can help, and even though I’m still pissed at my asshole boyfriend for what he did, I can’t leave him. Besides, you need me because I’m your best friend.” She looked down at her cuticles nervously.
A small smile played on my face and I glanced back and forth between Xander and Matias, then over to Amos who was standing by the back door watching it all. He seemed to be waiting for my decision too.
“What do you think we should do?” I asked Xan, my eyes resting back onto him.
He looked thoughtful for a moment, then replied, “What do you want to do, Emi? Do you feel safe here? Honestly, I don’t know who we can trust from the people in this place, but I don’t think that’ll change wherever we go, if we decide to leave. Camille is here to help with your caster side, and even though I still want to tear Amos to pieces for the shit he had a part in, I think you want to forgive him, and I won’t stand in the way of that. One thing shifters respect is family.” He leaned down and kissed me on the top of the head. “If you want to stay, then I’m with you one hundred percent. If you want to go, then I’m with you there too. It’s up to you.”
My heart softened during his speech and I turned to Matias to get his opinion. “Whatever you think is best, little one. Like your dragon mate, I still want to destroy everyone who hurt you, but I will contain my anger if you’d like to stay and learn to control your intertwined powers.”
“Anyone who hurt me? I asked, quirking an eyebrow. “That would be a long list, Matias.”
“Just let me know who and I will take care of it all for you.” I saw the raw honesty in his eyes and I knew he meant it. I needed to be sure to say what I meant and not say things foolishly in the future.
I cleared my throat and turned back to Camilla and Amos. “We’ll stay. For now,” I said. “As soon as I have a handle on it all, we’ll be on our way.”
Camille looked up, a small triumphant smile on her face and Amos nodded his understanding. He looked relieved at what I agreed to. I hoped that it was the right decision.
Chapter Eighteen
“So, why did Di call you Butcher?” I asked Matias between bites of bacon. Xander choked on his coffee and reached for a napkin to wipe the little bit of drink he spit out.
Matias stilled, setting his glass of blood back down and several other residents gathered their plates and exited the room hurriedly. It was strange, like they couldn’t get away fast enough. Their eyes darted between Matias and the exit before they all found their way out, leaving only Xan, Matias, Camille, and a few other people. The ones who stayed had looks that ranged from fear to awe as they stared at Matias.
“Oh, shit,” Camille said quietly, and her eyes went round. She pushed back in her chair and I wondered if she was going to leave too. “You’re the motherfucking Butcher?”
Matias sighed. “Yes, I am. Although I’ve never been referred to quite that way.”
“Wait. What does that mean?” My full attention was on Matias and the answer I was waiting for.
“It means he’s a legend!” Camille exclaimed, making me jump in my seat. “The Butcher, I mean Matias,” she quieted her voice when she saw she had startled me, “was a soldier for the Council before they were the Council. Like, they wouldn’t have been able to take power if it weren’t for him. He was given the nickname after he slaughtered an entire village in one night. He worked for them for years after. Then one day, he just vanished. People fear the name like you wouldn’t imagine! Your mate here is one terrifying guy. ”
Matias sighed again and looked away from my eyes. It was easy to see he was tired of the nickname and the stigma attached to it. He didn’t like what it meant, even if he did horrible things to get it. I didn’t know if I believed everything Camille said about my vampire mate, because stories get stretched the more people told them, but I was sure there was some kernel of truth to it.
Just watching him sit there and listen to what Camille was saying about who he was while he took it, made me angry.
“That’s enough, Camille,” I ground out through my teeth. I felt my fangs lengthen in my anger and I closed my eyes, willing them to go back where they came from.
“What? It’s the truth!”
“And you’ve made your point.”
She slumped back in her seat, angry at my chastising tone and muttered to herself I shouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want the answer.
Rolling my eyes, I ignored her and focused on Matias.
“Are you ready?” I asked him, trying to change the subject.
I could see his jaw flexing and releasing as he calmed himself down. Eventually, he nodded his head, brought his glass of blood to his mouth and drank it down in one single gulp.
“Are you sure you’ve had enough?” Xan asked me. His eyes were locked firmly on Matias. They weren’t angry or annoyed, but cautious and protective. Not that I needed protecting from Matias.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I’m okay.”
I rose from my seat and held out my hand for Matias. He eyed it for a second before taking it and getting up out of his seat too. I leaned over and kissed Xan on the lips, gave him a sweet smile, then led Matias from the room and toward the gym.
We were quiet the whole way to the gym, as I tried to wrap my head around what Camille said about him. I was sure he was still trying to calm himself down. We walked through the door and onto the mat where I turned back to him.
“You know, it doesn’t matter, right?” I said. “So what? You have a past. As long as you’re still not working for the Council, that’s all I need to know.”
He looked stunned for a second, then shook his head, smirking. “You have no idea what you’re saying, little one, but thank you anyway.”
“Then tell me. Or don’t, if you’d rather not. I’m not going to pressure you, but I’m not go
ing to judge you either.”
He raised his hand and slipped it around the back of my neck, pulling me in to his chest. He wrapped his other hand around my back and I could feel him inhaling as he put his face toward the top of my head. He wasn’t as tall as Xan, but he was still at least a head taller than me.
Matias released me and looked down at me with a relaxed smile. “Can I tell you about my past another time?” he questioned. I nodded my agreement and smiled back at him. “I promise I’ll tell you everything. But first, I want to teach you how to be a vampire. Okay?”
“Sure. I just have one question. How old are you?”
He threw his head back in laughter. “You know, I don’t even know,” Matias told me. “I stopped counting a long time ago, but for you, I’ll figure it out.”
He picked up one hand and kissed the back of it, then released me and walked across the mat to the other side and faced me. He took a deep breath as if trying to clear his mind.
“So, what are we working on first?” I asked nervously. “You said something about testing my strength earlier…”
“Yes, I think that’s where we should start.” He brought his tattooed arm up and dropped his chin in his hand looking thoughtful. “You already have incredible control over your thirst, so even though that is one of the first things young vampires need to figure out, I think we can skip it and move on.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “I do?” It hadn’t even occurred to me. Sure, I craved blood, but it was no more than when I craved certain foods to eat.
“Oh, yes. Usually new vampires desire blood so much they begin hunting prey from the moment they wake up for the first time.”
I was disoriented and on edge when I awoke, but I didn’t even realize I wanted blood until I asked Camille for it.
“Why do you think that is?” I asked, confused.
“I don’t know, little one. It could be because you have such great control over the other parts of you.”
I scoffed. “You call what happened up there control?” I asked, referring to the remodeling I did of the rock cliff.
