He worked his way through the demons, shifters, and vampires hellbent on stopping him from reaching Andrew Vane, ignoring the blows they landed, the blades slicing through his skin, and-
“You should have claimed your mate when you had the chance,” came the coldly drawled words that had everything in Kale going still while he watched as Andrew Vane was ushered through the front door towards a waiting SUV.
Kale scented the air and…nothing. He listened for the telltale heartbeat that he’d somehow missed and realized that it wasn’t there. He told himself to keep going and stop that SUV only to find himself turning around and facing the demon that never should have been able to scent his mating mark.
Chapter 21
Thursday
Upstate New York
“Well, this is fun,” Ashley announced to the otherwise empty living room as she sat there staring at the television, only to sigh heavily when she realized that she’d already watched this movie. That led to her worrying her bottom lip as she sent a hopeful look around the living room, looking for something to do, only there was nothing.
Damn it.
She definitely should have stretched out fixing up the house, but once she got started, Ashley hadn’t been able to stop, and now…
Now, she really needed to come up with something to do at three in the morning to keep herself busy, Ashley decided only to wonder if she should make cookies. That led her to remember that there was no one here to help her eat them. Then again, Jacob might stop by tomorrow, she told herself only to sigh when she remembered that he told her that he had to head down to Boston for a few days and to call him if she needed anything.
There was always Kale, but…
He wasn’t supposed to be back for a few days and something, mostly the fact that he clearly hated her, told her that he wouldn’t touch anything that she cooked even if he was here. The man loved to glare, Ashley thought as she grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved it in her mouth with a heartfelt sigh as she debated going to bed only to shift her attention back to the movie since she really didn’t feel like spending the next five hours staring at the ceiling.
God, she was exhausted.
Maybe she should…wonder what someone was doing here at three in the morning, Ashley thought, trying not to panic when she heard the car pulling into the long driveway. It was probably just Jacob coming to check on her or maybe Kale decided against coming by weekly to provide her with blood and ordered another blood delivery, Ashley thought as she sat there trying to tell herself that everything was fine only to realize that she was an idiot.
That was followed by telling herself that there was nothing to be afraid of as she hugged the bowl of popcorn against her chest and listened as the car that she was really hoping wasn’t full of Sentinels coming to finish what they’d started, slowed down to a stop outside. She was fine, Ashley told herself with a firm nod, reminding herself that she was a Pyte and could handle anything, even though she still had no idea what that meant since Jacob’s explanation had left her confused and she hadn’t exactly asked any follow-up questions, mostly because she wasn’t sure that she wanted to hear the answers and now…
Now, she really wished that she’d begged Jacob to stay, Ashley thought as she stared at the front door even while she told herself that it was time to run. Definitely time to run, Ashley thought with a frantic nod as she heard the car door slam shut and scented blood along with apples as everything turned red only to find herself frowning when she caught the familiar scent getting stronger. Before she could wonder why Kale was here, he was walking through the front door and leveling a silver-eyed glare on her.
“Go to bed,” he bit out coldly as he headed for the stairs only to stumble while Ashley sat there, feeling her stomach drop as she took in all the blood covering him.
“What happened?” Ashley asked, moving to get up to go help him only to sit back and swallow hard when Kale shouted, “Go to bed!” while she watched him struggle to walk up the stairs.
As she watched him slowly make his way up the stairs, Ashley took in the cuts and bruises marring his handsome face, the tears in his blood-stained clothes, and the way that he held onto his side. He would be fine just as soon as he shifted, she tried to tell herself while she watched him only to remind herself that he didn’t want her help.
He was fine.
More than fine, Ashley told herself as she forced herself to turn around and-
Knew that this wasn’t going to end well when she placed the bowl of popcorn on the couch next to her and shoved the blanket aside so that she could go get yelled at some more by the stubborn jerk. He should have already shifted by now, which meant that something was wrong and as much as she would love to avoid being yelled at again, that wasn’t really an option.
He’d taken care of her during her transition, made sure that she was safe, and gave her blood when she needed it and no matter how much he hated her, she couldn’t let the big jerk suffer like this.
“Fuck,” Kale groaned as he reached for the hem of his shirt only to pull his hand away when the demon blood soaking through his clothes and sticking to his skin, burned his fingers.
He should have gone to the Williams mansion and had the human take a look at him, but he hadn’t been able to get the fucking demon’s words out of his head. As soon as he’d killed the demon, he’d dragged his ass back through the woods, checking the video feed to make sure that Ashley was safe as he went, but it hadn’t been enough. Not nearly fucking enough to make the panic tearing him apart stop.
He’d texted Jacob and told him to get his ass back here to make sure that she was okay and moved his ass, making the eight-hour drive in five to make sure that she was safe and once he did…
The need to take her in his arms and make sure had nearly fucking killed him.
He never should have stopped, never should have let that fucking demon distract him from his goal, but once he’d realized the demon could smell his mating mark, Kale hadn’t been able to stop until he’d killed every last one of them to make sure that they couldn’t get to her.
“Why haven’t you shifted yet?” came the question from the doorway that had Kale shifting his glare from the blood that felt like it was burning him alive to find Ashley standing in the doorway, wringing her hands together as she watched him.
“I thought I told you to go to bed,” Kale said, leveling a glare on her only to grab hold of the counter as more demon blood seeped into the gunshot wound that wouldn’t fucking close, making his knees buckle.
Holy fuck did that hurt, Kale thought, gasping as searing pain tore through his side. It felt like his skin was melting. He needed to get his clothes off, but every time he tried the demon blood saturating his clothes would cling to his skin and make it worse.
“Since you haven’t shifted yet, I’m going to assume that you can’t at the moment,” Ashley said, ignoring him as she hesitated at the doorway before taking a deep breath and-
“Fuck!”
-decided to take a closer look by trying to peel his ruined shirt out of the way.
When she gasped in pain and pulled her hands away, he released the counter to grab hold of her hands to make sure that she was okay. When he spotted the edge of her mating mark peeking out from beneath her tracker, he noted that it was red, letting him know that she’d been punished for trying to help him.
For a moment, Kale stood there, staring down at her mating mark, wondering if she knew what it meant when it turned red and waited for her reaction, only to curse when the rest of her skin turned bright red where her skin came in contact with the demon blood, masking the punishment for hurting him.
“What is that?” Ashley asked, her voice pained as she went to wipe the blood off her hand only to gasp in pain when the move made it worse.
“Demon blood,” Kale said, releasing her only to feel his own mating mark burn as the move caused the demon blood on his hands to leave behind a fresh burn on her skin. He barely managed to stop himself fr
om grabbing her hands again to make sure that she was okay.
“Get out,” Kale said, forcing himself to grab hold of the counter as he dropped his head forward and closed his eyes as he tried to breathe through the pain.
“Kale, I-”
“Get out!” Kale shouted, tightening his hold around the counter, needing her to leave him alone. He couldn’t fucking think straight with her near him and…he didn’t want her to see him like this.
God, he just fucking needed her to go.
“Let me help you,” Ashley said as more pain tore through his side, threatening to drop him on his ass as he felt her small hand touch his shoulder and nearly fucking destroyed him.
“Fucking leave!”
There was a small pause and then, she finally left. His grip tightened around the bathroom counter as he struggled against the urge to stop her, wondering why he wanted her so fucking badly. He didn’t need anyone, hadn’t in a long fucking time. Whatever lessons that he’d failed to learn when he’d lost his Pack had been learned the hard way when he’d fucked everything up with Logan.
He never should have stayed after that first night, never should have gone into that village, but he’d been desperate and scared out of his fucking mind and…
It didn’t matter anymore, Kale reminded himself as he turned on the shower, hoping that the hot water would be able to cut through the demon blood that clung to him. Struggling to take his next breath, Kale stood there, staring down at the drain and waited for the water to turn pink only to end up biting back a scream of agony as the hot water that should have washed away the blood, made it worse.
Slapping his hand against the wall, Kale struggled to step out of the shower stall only to have his legs finally give out on him, dropping him on his ass with a pained groan as the silver bullet that had torn through his side slowly started to kill him.
Chapter 22
They were definitely going to have words, Ashley decided as she debated between original and mountain-fresh dishwashing soap only to end up putting them both in the bucket that she’d grabbed from the downstairs bathroom.
A lot of words, Ashley thought absently, noting that the burns on her hands were finally gone along with the swelling and pain. She didn’t know how much damage demon blood could do, but she knew that it would only get worse if they didn’t get it off him. It had taken her nearly a half-hour to figure out how to get it off her skin and now that she knew how to do it, she was going back upstairs to help the jerk whether he wanted her help or not.
“What’s going on?” Jacob asked as he walked into the house.
“The stubborn jerk upstairs is being difficult,” Ashley said as she grabbed a handful of dishtowels and tossed them in the bucket along with a pair of scissors.
“He’s also dying,” Jacob said, releasing a vicious curse as he headed upstairs, leaving Ashley to panic as she searched for a first-aid kit only to remember that they didn’t have one.
Not knowing what else to do, she threw another stack of hand towels in the bucket and quickly followed Jacob upstairs into Kale’s bedroom and-
Thought that she was going to be sick when she heard Kale’s scream of agony as Jacob grabbed hold of his shirt and went to move it. That was quickly followed by Jacob snatching his hand away with a curse as the blood that had felt like it had been burning her alive, coated his skin.
“What the hell is this?” Jacob asked, placing his hand beneath the water only to yank his hand away with another curse when the hot water made the pain worse.
“Demon blood,” Kale managed to get out as Ashley moved to go help him, deciding that she’d wasted enough time only to suddenly find herself pulled back.
“What kind?” Jacob demanded.
“No fucking clue,” Kale muttered.
“Shit!” Jacob said, shoving her behind him as he stepped back, giving her no other choice but to move back with him.
“Wait! What’s going on?” Ashley asked, swallowing hard as she shifted her gaze from Jacob’s wide back to find Kale watching her through silver eyes.
“Take care of her,” Kale said, watching her with something close to regret as Jacob pushed her towards the door.
“Would someone please just tell me what’s going on?” Ashley asked, shoving Jacob’s hand away, but the persistent jerk simply ignored her and kept moving.
“We need to get you out of here,” Jacob said, swallowing hard as he continued moving back.
“What about Kale?” she asked, moving to push his hand away only to stop herself before she hurt him.
“I’ll handle it. But for right now, I need you to listen to me and go downstairs and stay there,” Jacob said as he gave her that final push through the door.
“Jacob, what are-”
“Just go!” Jacob snapped on an anguished groan as he pulled the hand coated in demon blood against his chest and-
She’d seen enough.
Praying that this worked, Ashley grabbed hold of Jacob’s shirt and dragged him back inside the bathroom. As soon as he stumbled to a stop in front of the bathroom sink, she grabbed the bottle of mountain-fresh scented dish soap and shoved it in his arms.
“Warm water and a few drops of soap will take it off,” she said as she shifted her attention to Kale.
As much as she wished that it would be that easy for Kale, she knew better. While they’d only had to deal with light smudges, Kale’s shirt and pants were coated in demon blood. Really hoping that this worked, Ashley placed the bucket on the shower floor and knelt down by Kale’s side and quickly set to work grabbing a hand towel and held it beneath the spray of hot water. Once it was wet, she squeezed dish soap onto the towel, released a shaky breath and-
“Fuck!”
-immediately realized her mistake when the material from the towel clung to the blood, tearing an unholy roar from Kale as she jerked her arm back, causing the side of her arm to brush against the blood and sending agonizing pain through her arm.
Biting back a scream of agony, Ashley dropped the towel on the bathroom floor as she sat there, trying to breathe through the pain while she tried to figure out how she was going to do this without making it worse. It took her a minute to realize that she wasn’t going to be able to as she watched her skin heal until all that was left behind was the smudge of demon blood that felt like a bad sunburn.
She healed faster, Ashley thought numbly, releasing a shaky breath as she glanced from her arm to all the blood covering Kale and quickly realized what she had to do. Swallowing hard, she emptied the bucket on the floor and shoved it in the shower stall next to Kale, who was watching her every move, and filled it with hot water and added dish soap, hoping that it was enough.
Once the bucket was filled with soapy water, Ashley took a steadying breath and-
“What are you doing?” Jacob asked as she picked up the bucket and poured it over Kale’s stomach and legs, tearing another scream of agony from him as the scent of apples became stronger. Ashley quickly dropped the bucket, grabbed the soap and poured an insane amount in her hand and set to work washing the blood off Kale’s clothes.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Jacob asked, moving to stop her only to go still when she said, “It’s working!” as she struggled to keep her hands moving through the blood, noting that it felt more like gel than blood as pain tore through her hands and up her right arm.
God, this hurt, Ashley thought, grinding her teeth together as she forced her hands to keep moving when all she wanted to do was pull them away and scream in pain. When she saw the blood start to wash away from his clothes, she knew that she was on the right track. She grabbed the bucket and filled it back up with hot soapy water, ignoring the blisters that were now forming all over her hands and kept going, knowing that she couldn’t stop now.
“Holy shit,” Jacob said in a daze as he watched the blisters on her hands and arms split open, tear her skin apart only to close seconds later as her skin began to heal as the soap washed away the blood.
Befo
re her hands finished healing, she was grabbing the bucket of soapy water and pouring it over Kale again with a murmured, “I’m sorry,” as he screamed in pain. By the time that she dropped the bucket on the floor and grabbed the dish soap, her hands were on fire again and excruciating pain was tearing through her right arm, making it difficult to focus as she worked her hands over Kale’s shirt and pants, gently working the soap into the material and washing the blood away.
When the blood began congealing on his clothes again, Ashley reached for the bucket only to have Jacob grab it first. He made quick work of filling up the bucket and pouring more soap in it while she sat there, trying to give Kale a reassuring smile as her arms shook violently while her body raced to heal the damage. God, it hurt so much, Ashley thought, struggling not to cry only to end up biting her lip when a sob broke free as the first tear rolled down her face.
“Stop,” Kale said hoarsely as he pushed her hands away, but she couldn’t stop.
Not now.
Ignoring him, Ashley quickly shifted back until she reached his legs and focused on getting his clothes off before the blood coating his skin had a chance to grab hold of his clothes again. While she struggled to remove his boots, Jacob stepped past her and kept filling the bucket with soapy water and pouring it over Kale.
“How did you come up with this idea?” Jacob asked as she pulled Kale’s right boot off and tossed it aside before reaching for the other one with shaky hands, noting that the burns weren’t healing as fast anymore.
“Wildlife rescue documentary,” Ashley said, forcing herself to ignore how much her hands hurt as she pulled off Kale’s socks, noting that there wasn’t any blood in his boots before shifting her gaze back to his pants.
Unstoppable Page 13
