Eternal Reign

by Melody Johnson

  “All we’ve got is a hot mess, Nicholas,” I said. “Witnesses are forgetting what happened, Meredith snapped photos of nothing but shadows and blood, and the only proof we have, as usual, is the body count.”

  Dominic frowned. “Witnesses are forgetting what happened? How can they forget twelve-foot-tall minotaurs devouring human hearts?”

  “How indeed,” Greta murmured. She looked out over the ER at the sea of gurneys and at the moaning victims in pain writhing on them, not one cognizant enough to further her investigation, and her expression hardened. “And however they’re forgetting, what’s different about the three of us that we haven’t?”

  Dominic sighed. “Like I said. A hot mess of questions.”

  I watched Dominic’s on-point performance as Dr. Nicholas Leander and fumed. The Leveling obviously hadn’t affected his ability to bullshit.

  Dominic’s laser-focused eyes pinned me down, as if he could hear my thoughts. Maybe he could. The intensity in the simple shift of his gaze made me feel as if he could peel away the layers of my flesh and bone to see the thoughts beneath. While he was at full strength, I had no doubt that he could.

  “We have a seven o’clock meeting with Dr. Chunn in her office,” Greta said, and I broke eye contact with Dominic gratefully. There was no telling, with or without his full powers, what that man was capable of. “She’ll have the lab results by then, so maybe we’ll actually get some answers.” She pinned her eyes on me, which in some ways, wasn’t much better than facing Dominic’s stare. “How’s your leg?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “What about your shoulder and your arm and your—”

  I sighed and held up a hand. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be there,” I said.

  “Good. I’ll be expecting you.” Greta shifted her gaze to Dominic. “Both of you.”

  Dominic inclined his head.

  Greta left us to talk to more witnesses in a fruitless attempt to find someone who remembered the truth. I knew better than to hold out any hope; Sevris, Rafe, and even Neil were very good at keeping their existence a secret.

  Greta didn’t have extraordinary hearing compared to Dominic or his entourage, now back on duty at my curtain; nevertheless, I waited until she’d crossed the ER and was engaged in her own conversation before speaking. I had so many questions and grievances and so much gratitude to express that I felt raw from the rub of emotions.

  The moment Greta was preoccupied, I blurted, “Lift your shirt.”

  I wanted to take it back and start again on a more pressing topic, but if I was honest with myself, nothing was more pressing than the panic I felt at the thought of him seriously injured. I snapped my mouth shut and let my words scorch the air between us.

  Rafe turned his head, glancing back at us with a curious lift to his brow.

  Dominic grinned darkly. “If I’d known you weren’t opposed to public fornication, I’d have capitalized earlier.”

  I leveled my glare on him. “How bad is it?”

  “Not bad in the least. I actually prefer an audience. The more watching, the better the performance.”

  “Dominic—”

  “Cassidy,” he purred.

  “—you’re avoiding the point.”

  “No, I do believe you’re avoiding my point.”

  Taking matters into my own hands, literally, I ignored the uncomfortable pull and twinge of pain from the stitches in my forearm and lifted his shirt myself.

  And stared.

  Whether on scene or here at the hospital, a human doctor had treated him. Four long gouges raked across his chest and abdomen, angry red, swollen, and perfectly mended with tiny rows of very human stitches. A cluster of additional stitches circled around his collarbone where the creature had impaled him with its claws to hold him still for the strike. And if I recalled correctly, his front hadn’t even been the worst of his injuries.

  Him going back for Meredith and Greta might have been as dangerous as going back for them myself. I could have lost him, I thought, and something cold and trembling and desperate rocked me. Caring about a creature as enigmatic as Dominic was dangerous enough, but the thought of losing him was unacceptable.

  One of the perks of being a Master vampire was his inability to die and stay dead. If he got caught in the sun and burst into flames, human blood could restore him to health. If the Damned tore out his heart, I could just shove it back in his chest. Very few injuries would result in permanent death, and up until now, I’d resented his near immortality, had in fact used it as a barricade between us.

  I reached out and grazed my fingertips gently over his abdomen, hovering over the stitches, and very slowly, very carefully, I touched his skin.

  “Better me than Greta. I can survive this. She can’t,” he growled darkly.

  “Turn around,” I commanded, but of course, my commands didn’t hold any weight.

  Dominic shook his head and pulled down his shirt. “What’s done is done, and we’ve all survived. Let it go.”

  I pulled my gaze away from his wounds to meet his eyes, and the tenderness in his gaze pierced my heart. He cared. Greta and Meredith weren’t important to his plan to survive the Leveling—they were, in fact, hindrances to his plan and a risk to the secrecy of his existence—but he’d made them a priority because they were important to me.

  “Thank you for going back to save them. It means more than—” I cleared my throat and shook my head, at a loss. Not five weeks ago, it wouldn’t have mattered if Greta and Meredith had been my identical twins; he wouldn’t have saved them. Six weeks ago, he might have killed them to ensure their silence.

  “I know what it means to you,” Dominic murmured. “That’s the only reason I went back.”

  “I know,” I said, my voice suspiciously thick. “Thank you.”

  Dominic inclined his head, and his selflessness on my behalf struck an uncomfortable chord in my heart.

  Lusting over Dominic and appreciating the strength and protection he offered was one thing; anything more was something else entirely—and unthinkable. My experience with Adam had taught me that dreams of a happily ever after stayed in dreams. An ordinary man—beautiful, talented, and driven, but in comparison to the vastness of Dominic’s existence, completely, humblingly ordinary—had stolen my heart and torn it to pieces. A creature as dangerous and duplicitous as Dominic would not only tear it apart, he would lick my blood from each finger and savor the taste of my demise.

  My heart accelerated at the thought of Dominic’s tongue and other places he might lick.

  A clicking growl hummed from Dominic’s chest, and I realized my fingers were still grazing his stomach under his shirt.

  I hastily snatched my hand back and changed the topic before logic and love cleaved me in half.

  “Agreeing to meet with Dr. Chunn this morning was bold,” I stated. “How will you pull that one off?”

  Dominic let my swerve in conversation go unnoted, but I could hear the barely withheld restraint in the clipped chords of his voice as he spoke. “I agreed to a meeting? Did you hear me utter such an agreement?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “That’s a fine line, Nicholas, one I don’t think Greta will acknowledge.”

  He shrugged. “One challenge at a time. Let’s get you home first. We’ll discuss business later.”

  “That would be wonderful, except that I’m still waiting on my discharge papers. Meredith was released an hour ago.” I craned my neck to see around Sevris and Neil. Although the ER was still flooded, my doctor was nowhere in sight. “I’ve been waiting, but—”

  “Ms. DiRocco?”

  I blinked. The middle-aged, blond doctor who had provided Meredith with her discharge papers, who had been alternately checking our vitals and triaging all night, was suddenly, unaccountably, standing at my bedside, papers in hand.

  “Yes, that’s me,” I said dumbly.

  “You’re all set. Thank you for your patience.”

  I glared at Dominic. “No one has that
impeccable of timing.”

  He shrugged, but someone snickered behind him. When I shifted my gaze to the goons still guarding my curtain, Rafe had joined them. Sevris was glaring at him with heavy disapproval. Rafe pointed at Neil, and Neil was gazing out over the ER, unaware of the blame being tossed at him.

  I rolled my eyes. “You can’t just entrance people at random. He’ll discharge me when I’m ready to be discharged.”

  Rafe clapped Neil on the shoulder. “He needs the practice.”

  “Ms. DiRocco?”

  I transferred my glare to the doctor.

  “You’re ready to be discharged. I’m sorry for the wait. As you know, we’ve had a busy ER tonight.”

  I sighed heavily against battles better left unfought and signed the paperwork. The doctor traded my consent forms for crutches.

  The disgust on my face as I stared at the crutches must have been obvious, because the doctor chuckled. “I’m guessing this isn’t your first rodeo.”

  I shook my head. “Been there, done that, and had planned on never doing it again.”

  “Well, these bad boys will be your best friends for at least four weeks.”

  He couldn’t be serious. “Four weeks?” I squeaked. “Put me in a CAM Walker, and let me loose.”

  The doctor nodded. “You’ll get a CAM Walker afterward, but right now, your leg needs rest. Stay off of it, and keep it elevated. It’ll help with the swelling.”

  If I’d thought discovering the existence of vampires was a living nightmare, four weeks of immobility and crutches was going to be hell. I ground the heels of my palms into my eyeballs and groaned.

  I felt a hand on my shoulder, and when I looked up, I was surprised to see it was the doctor. “Take care, Cassidy.”

  I opened my mouth, but before I could respond, he’d already turned his attention to Dominic. “Ibuprofen will help relieve the swelling and pain, but nothing beats good, old fashioned rest.”

  The doctor gave my shoulder a final squeeze before leaving me alone with Dominic, his gang, and the crutches. I wasn’t sure which I resented more.

  “Will you hold these for me?” I asked. I handed the crutches to Dominic and tried to scoot myself to the edge of the bed. My hip fired a shock of pain up my spine.

  Dominic tossed the crutches behind him. “I will carry you.”

  “I can do this myself,” I said, breathless from the pain.

  “You heard the doctor. Rest is the best medicine.” He leaned over the sidebars to scoop me up. “Let me help.”

  “Hands off,” I snapped. I lowered my voice and said, “You’re losing your powers. Soon you’ll be at human strength, and then where will I be? I need to be able to care for myself.”

  Dominic snorted. “Even at human strength, I can still carry you.”

  I held out my hand. “Crutches.”

  He shook his head but complied, handing me the crutches.

  I scooted slowly, painfully to the edge of the bed. By the time my legs finally swung over the side, I was sweating and trembling, but I didn’t know pain until my legs dropped. Blood poured in a pounding rush to my tender shin; my entire leg throbbed.

  I gripped the crutches like the lifeline they weren’t, tucked them beneath my armpits, and stood. My hip screeched from the lopsided pressure of standing one-footed, and my swollen shoulder and forearm balked from the strain. I didn’t even bother attempting the precarious hop-swing motion that was crutching. From experience, I knew my limits. If I didn’t sit in the next two seconds I would collapse, so I sat down before I fell down.

  “Shit,” I gasped. “Give me a minute.”

  Dominic lifted his hands innocently. “Please, take all the time you need. The sun isn’t rising. I don’t have anywhere else to be. It isn’t imperative to return to the crime scene for damage control, and that task will be brief.”

  I glared at him. “Sorry my body’s healing never fits into your schedule.”

  “If you let me carry you, we could stay on schedule.”

  “Let it go, Dominic.”

  “How will you ambulate without my help?” he pressed. “How will you leave the hospital, hail a cab, and walk to your apartment?”

  “I’ll manage,” I gritted. I didn’t know how at the moment, but I’d find a way.

  “Let me help you. The Leveling may be siphoning my powers and strength, but I’ll always be strong enough to carry you. You need me.”

  “I said give me a damn minute,” I snapped savagely, but a second failed attempt to simply stand, let alone swing on the crutches, only underlined my complete helplessness. After years of limping and gritting my teeth through the pain, my hip had finally won. I was completely immobile. If I’d been an otherwise healthy person, I’d have been able to crutch from the hospital of my own accord. But I wasn’t otherwise healthy. I wasn’t going anywhere without someone’s help, whether or not I accepted Dominic’s.

  This is how it begins, I thought. I’d always known my hip would eventually limit my independence and lifestyle, but I’d never thought the end would be so soon. Today, it was my ability to walk. Tomorrow—

  “Don’t even think it,” Dominic murmured.

  “You can’t read my thoughts anymore. You don’t know what I’m thinking.”

  “I don’t need to read your thoughts to know your mind. This pain is temporary. When you are a vampire—”

  “I’ll never be a vampire,” I snapped.

  “—your pain will be nothing but memories. You will be stronger, healthier, and more powerful than you can imagine. Until then, come back with me to my coven, Cassidy. I will be your legs. Let my strength be your strength.”

  His words hit a little too close to home, and I lost what little control I’d maintained on my temper. “For someone with such heightened hearing, you don’t listen to anything I say. I will never be a vampire.”

  “Then you will never find relief from the pain,” Dominic said harshly.

  My breath hitched. I’d known the truth for a long time now, but hearing him say it confirmed it on a level that hadn’t solidified completely in my mind. I would be in pain, possibly immobile, for the rest of my life. “I know,” I whispered, and the weight of acknowledging that truth was crushing.

  Dominic reached toward me and brushed his knuckles over my cheek, his gaze suddenly shamed and imploring. “You’re injured and in pain, but you’re wallowing. You’re nowhere near the end.”

  I shook my head.

  “Please, Cassidy, don’t—”

  “Don’t make me gag,” someone behind Dominic said, and the interruption was capitalized by the rapid beep of a horn.

  I leaned away from Dominic’s touch to see around his body. My brother was driving a motorized scooter toward us, and despite the light tone in his teasing, Nathan’s expression looked anything but amused.

  “Cassidy doesn’t need your legs or strength or anything else you have to offer. She has a home to come back to, not your damn coven, and this scooter to get there. So use that extraordinary hearing of yours; I believe the lady said hands off.”

  Dominic turned his head to face Nathan, his jaw flexing. His hand didn’t so much as twitch from where it rested on my cheek.

  I beamed. Nathan had impeccable timing all on his own. “A scooter?”

  “I’m a genius, I know. And the best brother ever.” Nathan narrowed his eyes on Dominic’s hand. He stopped the scooter next to the bed and stood. “Your legs,” he said, gesturing grandly to the scooter.

  I didn’t want a scooter. I hated that my body was betraying me, slowly at first and now completely, but being mobile on a scooter beat not being mobile at all. “How did you know?” I asked quietly.

  Nathan’s expression turned suddenly bland. “That’s not important.”

  Dominic raised his eyebrows, but remained silent.

  For the amount of anger rolling off him, Dominic was being uncommonly reserved.

  I bounced my gaze between the two of them, but when it became apparent that ne
ither of them intended to speak, I pushed. “Nathan, what’s going on?”

  Nathan’s face shut down. “Some people, when presented with a scooter, would just say thank you.”

  “I am thankful, but I’m not most people. How did you know that I’d need a scooter?”

  “Does it matter?” he snapped.

  “It does now. Why won’t you tell me?”

  “Because it doesn’t matter,” he said stubbornly.

  “If it didn’t matter, you would simply tell me.” I leaned forward and tipped my voice low, so anyone eavesdropping who wasn’t a vampire or didn’t know about vampires wouldn’t overhear. “Did you retain some of your vampire abilities from being Damned?” I asked.

  Nathan blinked. “What are you talking about?”

  “I understand why you’ve been distant. If I’d experienced everything you’ve experienced, I’d crawl inside myself, too, but even though I’ve never been Damned, I know what it’s like to resist addiction. You can talk to me,” I said. “If you’re struggling with cravings or heightened senses, you can tell me. You were there for me when I needed you most. Let me be there for you now.”

  “There’s nothing to tell,” Nathan said, but his expression said otherwise. “Just drop it.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t.”

  “Why the fuck not?”

  “Because I’m losing you. Whether or not it’s cravings or heightened senses or something unforeseen that I haven’t put my finger on yet, something is wrong. You can’t eat. You barely sleep. You hardly talk. You’re living a shadow of the life you once lived. I didn’t find you and bring you back from the Damned only to lose you all over again.”

  Nathan crossed his arms. “It’s not what you think.”

  “Then enlighten me.”

  He made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. “I knew you were injured because Dominic called me,” Nathan said, jerking his thumb to the right.

  Following the direction of his thumb, I met Dominic’s laser-focused gaze.

  I frowned, jerking my head alternately between Dominic and Nathan, but Dominic’s expression remained impassive, carved from decades of experience.

  “He called you?” I asked. “He still has mental ties to you? Is that why—”