No, no, no, no!
Arms secured around me, and I wanted to scream, knowing exactly who they belonged to.
I was going to die in the arms of the very man who had just tricked me into killing myself!
***
I couldn’t figure out how light was pouring back into my vision. Pinching my eyes shut, I demanded my eyes to focus. Upon reopening, the bright neon blue lights converged and sharpened into two legible words. “Motel” and “Vacancy.” I was looking out of a half drawn window, noting it was nighttime. Disjointed fragments of half-thoughts floated about my mind, but in my lethargy, I couldn’t seem to piece any of them together. I didn’t feel exhausted. I felt…drunk. How long had I been asleep? How did I get here? What happened?
Everything hit me all at once; Blaine’s body, Val smirking, me passing out. What happened? That rat bastard tricked me! But how was I still here? How was I still alive? Something was digging into my side beneath me, and I rolled over, trying to find relief. I quickly realized I was lying on the bed, because platinum blonde hair gleamed directly in front of me, the hint of black roots visible up close. If I wasn’t feeling so woozy, I would have sprung up from the mattress. Not because I was scared, but because I was so utterly taken aback.
Blaine was alive!
And not only that, but there was a healthy glow blossoming on his resting face.
How?
“Vestri 'pono super brachium meum.”
I yelped. Literally yelped at the sound of his voice.
He peeled a groggy eye open and cast me a lazy, lopsided smile.
“What—what does that mean?” I managed to ask.
“You’re laying on my arm.”
“What?” I looked down at my other side now, realizing that my discomfort was indeed thanks to the muscled appendage wedged beneath my ribcage. He only chuckled as I scrambled up. “Oh! Sorry!”
And I only wanted to keep apologizing when I realized it was the very same arm he’d been shot in, seeing dried blood staining his bicep. But wait… Dried? He…he was healing, too? And so was I! My wrists still ached, but the pain was nothing to how it had been, and the skin had lightened up to a pinkish-red, the blisters and charcoaled flesh almost completely gone.
Blaine’s fingers idly teased through the ends of my hair, and that familiar tug in my chest urged me to lie back down. I made sure not to crush his arm this time as I settled back onto the mattress and faced him. Warmth still coiled through my body, and I found my eyes sinking shut again when a soft kiss pressed to my forehead.
“Awww, how adorably nauseating.”
My eyes flew back open.
Leaning against the open doorway stood Blaine’s insufferable bastard of a brother. I tried willing my runes into action, but only a low buzz tickled the surface of my skin. At least it was something. But I really, really wanted to smash that bottle of vodka in his face. Before I could make a move for him though, Blaine was already charging at the door.
Damn, for a guy who was just knocking on Death’s door, he sure could move. But he plowed past Val, and…
Something crashed outside. Thankfully, my legs had regained enough of their strength that I didn’t collapse face-first on the carpet as I darted for the door.
Crap.
Reese’s body was nailed to the front hood of the Escalade with Blaine’s hand wrapped around his throat. I tried lunging for the two, but arms snatched me from behind, pulling me back. The runes on Reese’s arm flickered, struggling to ignite.
“Not so easy to control them when you can’t breathe, is it?” Blaine seethed, squeezing his grip even tighter.
“Blaine, stop!” I thrashed in Val’s hold, but he refused to let go of me.
“How did they find her?” Blaine demanded, letting up his grip just enough to let Reese speak.
He just shook his head, unable to muster the words.
“How the fuck did they find her?” Blaine roared. His fist hammered down at Reese, and I gasped, seeing his Wrath rune ignited.
“Blaine, don’t—”
His knuckles slammed into the hood of the car right beside the Light Mage’s head. Reese flinched, his eyes wide in unadulterated fear as he heard the metal crumple beneath Blaine’s fist like it was tinfoil.
Blaine tightened his grip ever so slightly, as if it would force the words out of him. “How did Reynolds’s men find her?”
“I don’t know,” Reese choked.
“Bullshit!” Blaine yanked him off the truck and whirled him around, throwing him into the side of the building.
Between the ongoing commotion and the ruckus from earlier, I had to wonder why none of the other guests had at least made a noise complaint to the front desk. My gaze shifted away from the guys, noticing a nearly indistinguishable ripple in the air. Wards. Val had set up magical wards around this place. It made sense now why no one else seemed to hear us, or why nobody reacted to Blaine being carried inside earlier.
Reese narrowly dodged the fist aimed at his head, sidestepping back to the open motel door. Val hauled me back inside, and with nowhere left to run as Blaine lunged for him again, Reese ducked in as well. The runes on his arm sparked back to life, but the bedside lamp suddenly hurled right at him. The energy he’d summoned managed to offset the strike, only to leave him vulnerable again as his runes died down once more. Reese didn’t even have the chance to breathe as the air pulsated, the invisible force catapulting him against the tiny vanity counter just outside the bathroom.
Blaine was on him in a second, and Reese didn’t dare move, feeling the barrel of the Dark Mage’s revolver press beneath his jaw.
“What happened, Blackburn? You finally catch a glimpse of what she really is, and you couldn’t take it?”
Reese closed his eyes, trying to regain his composure. His runes wouldn’t work like this. He needed to fully concentrate.
Blaine smacked him, the power behind it jolting Reese’s head to the side. The Dark Mage gripped the magician’s jaw, forcing him to face him again. “Look at me, you fucking coward.”
I could barely make out his eyes in the reflection of the mirror, but the murderous rage in them was unmistakable. Squirming in Val’s hold, I finally managed to snake my arm out just enough to throw my elbow into his ribs. The asshole merely chuckled at my attempt, not the least bit affected, but he loosened his grip, allowing me to break free.
Stop,
Stop,
Stop,
I kept pleading the same word to Blaine as I raced to his side, but he wouldn’t listen.
“You were the only other person who knew where she was,” he seethed, those steely eyes cracking under his own anguish.
“Why don’t you look at your friend over there?” Reese choked out.
Blaine laughed, but it was a cruel, vicious snarl. “My brother may be a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them.”
Val’s brows furrowed. “Uh, thank you… I think.”
“See, as much as he may hate me, he’s far more concerned with keeping Kat alive,” Blaine further elaborated, ignoring the remark.
“That’s funny, especially since he was trying to kill you earlier,” Reese rasped, his eyes shifting to the side of Blaine’s neck.
As if only now acknowledging the sting of pain, Blaine lowered the gun from Reese’s jaw, using his free hand to reach up and finger the abrasion just above his right shoulder. His jaw fell slackened, apparently appalled by his discovery as his head snapped over to his brother. “Did you bite me?”
Val burst out laughing. Even as Blaine shifted the aim of his gun at him, he couldn’t rein in his amusement.
Blaine cocked the trigger, but his brother just rolled his eyes, still chuckling.
I wasn’t sure why I was coming to Val’s defense, but I suddenly blurted, “He didn’t bite you… I did.”
Blaine faltered at the words, the air heaving from his lungs as if I’d hit him. He whirled around, his eyes immediately locking on mine. The feral edge in them had me stumbling
backwards, and I barely managed to catch myself on the edge of the vanity sink.
“I’m… I’m sorry. You were dying, and Val said it would help…” I didn’t know what I was saying. I just kept spewing out random nonsense, hoping he’d just stop looking at me like that.
“Oh, come on, brother. Lighten up.” Val dared to approach, slinging an arm around Blaine’s shoulder. Looking like the cat who ate the canary, he brushed the puncture marks with a feather light touch.
Sure enough, Blaine recoiled, his hand slamming defensively against the wound. He looked more feral than ever. “No…”
“No?” His brother parroted back, mockingly. “Oh, I see. You wanted it to be a special occasion, did you? Maybe have a bearskin rug and some grape soda on ice ready.”
Blaine just kept shaking his head. “It couldn’t have worked, not if she didn’t mean it…”
“Trust me, it worked just fine.”
That ire in Blaine’s eyes resurfaced as he turned to face Val, but the rest of his body had gone eerily calm. His brother seemed to relax, only making the impact more satisfying. The motion was nothing but one swift blur as Blaine nailed Val square in the jaw with a devastating left hook. The impact sent the towering male falling to the floor with a sharp crack! It sounded like he’d literally broken his brother’s face.
Val still didn’t look the least bit concerned, merely vexed as he tweaked his beaten jaw from the ground. “Hey, I did you a favor. If I hadn’t, you’d both be dead.”
“What did you do?” I demanded.
Val’s grin only broadened as he climbed back up to his feet and slowly sauntered over. “Me? I didn’t do a thing. You, on the other hand, Doll Face… You were spectacular. And it’s all quite fantastic, when you think about it. He bites you to save your life, only for you to return the favor. How very kismet.”
I was nearly breathless, feeling a wave of nausea wash over me. “What did I do?”
“You, Doll Face, finally completed your half of the mating ritual.”
Chapter 19
Shameless
I was going to be sick.
Like projectile-vomit sick.
Why was the floor spinning? I was standing still, yet the ground seemed to waver beneath my feet.
Reese seemed to have regained a morsel of his composure, enough to ignite a single rune, because he charged at Val. My body lurched, instinctively wanting to intervene, but the slightest movement sent my stomach reeling. I was going to be sick… I staggered, only tripping over my own feet in the process. Blaine seemed to have notice my current state amid the commotion, because he managed to catch me. I rewarded the deed with the most forceful shove I could muster, choosing to collapse sideways into the wall instead. The thought of his hands on me… And a metallic tang still coated my tongue. Was it his blood? Was it in my mouth?
I seemed to have recovered some strength back into my legs, because I darted into the bathroom. For the first time in my life, I wanted to throw up. I wanted whatever was in me to get the hell out. I wanted it all out, now!
But no matter how hard I tried, nothing came.
That’s what the intoxicating rush of magic had been. I hadn’t been stealing Blaine’s energy. No, I had broken the final seal that had been keeping the Crown Prince’s power captive in Hell. And I’d unleashed it…into me as well.
“You can’t get sick with Devil’s Pod in your system,” remarked a voice from the doorway a moment later. It was only then that I realized the commotion outside had finally calmed down. I looked up to find Val standing there, his lip busted, the entire right side of his face bruised, and his perfectly groomed hair now a complete mess. “Its sole purpose is to contain dark magic, so it does everything it can to suppress your body’s natural ability to expel it. The effects will probably last for a few more hours.”
Reese came into my line of vision, shoving past Val to get to me. He, too, looked a bit beaten up from the tussle, sporting the beginnings to what was inevitably going to be a pretty ugly shiner beneath his left eye. Wiping the tears from my face, he gently coaxed me up to my feet and led me out of the bathroom. Val made a remark of some sort, but Reese just growled. “She’s staying in my room.”
“The hell she is.” Blaine, still clearly not trusting Reese, moved in toward me, but stopped as I recoiled at the very sight of him. “Kat—”
“Stay away from me.” I looked between the two brothers, sickened at the sight of them both. Blaine had rescued me, but at what cost? I was now claimed to him, and I had no idea what that even entailed. As for Val… I wanted nothing more than to bathe him in holy water. Even then, it still wouldn’t be enough. What little information there was on mating bonds, one thing was adamant. Their consummating rituals were meant to be sacred—intimate. That’s why Madsen and I had believed it to be sexual in nature. Seeing the sickening amusement Val found in tormenting his brother like this, robbing him of a tradition that was clearly meant to be respected, it had my fangs threatening to tear through my gums. And the very fact that it bothered me so much only had me wishing all the more that I could vomit.
***
I didn’t know how long I’d been in the shower. Well after the shampoo and suds were gone, I just stood there, letting the hot water cascade down my face, as if I could somehow wash away the events of the night. Once again, my ignorance had put me one step closer to eternal damnation. I’d completed the mating ritual.
How could I be so stupid?
Did I honestly think that biting him wouldn’t have had repercussions?
How would this affect the hex?
My dizzying array of questions and self-loathing was cut short as I closed my eyes. In the darkness, the steam of the shower suddenly seemed to be smothering me. I couldn’t breathe! All I could see was the tomb, feeling the concrete pressed against my back. My eyes flew back open and panic arrested all my senses. The limited space of the tub closed in all around me as every last loose fixture in the limited space started to rattle. I would have thought it to be an earthquake, if not for the sudden pressure that slammed down into my arm. Most of my runes were lit, and the fury brewing beneath them only grew. The pain nearly sent me crumpling to the ground as I tore the shower curtain open and stumbled out. I barely managed to fasten a towel around myself before I cried.
Reese pounded on the bathroom door, begging to know what was wrong, asking me to unlock the door, but I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. I curled over and began sinking to the floor when I heard something pop. The lock on the door. My low line of vision had me seeing a pair of knees and feet, but I recognized the decorative Gothic boots.
Reese pushed the shower curtain out of my way and helped me up so that I could sit on the edge of the tub. “What happened?”
The air was still too suffocating in here. I tried to say as much, but found myself instead stumbling out of the bathroom. The immediate drop in temperature between the bathroom and the bedroom was a blessing, but it still wasn’t enough. I staggered over to the door and pried it open.
“Kat, what the hell are you doing?” Reese grabbed my damp arms, hauling me back. “It’s twenty degrees out there!”
I didn’t care. I wrestled out of his hold and bolted out the door, clutching to the railing running along the entire exposed second story. The bitter cold stole my breath as the howling winds crashed into me, but I needed to feel the open air. Every time I so much as blinked, all I could see was concrete. And the painful toll of my runes still ablaze on my arm only made the nightmare all the more real.
Reese reached out to me, but he suddenly cowered back, cursing under his breath as an unruly tendril of my power slammed down on his hand. I sobbed, dignity be damned, letting my body slowly sink to the floor. Everything around me rattled and vibrated, no doubt from my runes that only burned brighter. The lights overhead surged with electricity before the bulbs blew out. I couldn’t contain the energy—
A warm embrace suddenly cradled around me despite my sopping wet frame. “You’re
okay.”
And he was right. The moment his arms held me, the pain vanished, along with the pale blue lights burning up my arm. But I couldn’t stop shaking my head. I couldn’t stop sobbing.
“You’re okay.”
I could feel the energy resurging in me, the lights on my arm humming back to life, and blind panic seized me once more.
“Look at it.” Blaine’s fingers gently stroked over my omen rune. “It’s not lit.”
Again, he was right.
All the runes around it glowed so brightly, they illuminated the entire corridor, but the one in question remained as nothing more than metallic black ink.
“You’re safe,” he whispered.
***
The effects of the Devil’s Pod had apparently worn off a lot faster than Val had predicted, because a half hour later my runes were raging worse than ever, still threatening to fry every electronic in the building the moment Blaine let go of me. He had to stand right outside the bathroom when I finally regained enough composure to wipe myself off and change into my clothes. We kept the door cracked open, allowing his hand to poke through just in case I needed to grab it.
Which I sadly did—a lot.
I couldn’t make it more than ten seconds away from his touch without my runes reigniting, begging for sweet release. At least I didn’t have to use the bathroom. Things were awkward enough as they were, especially with me fumbling about in the compact space, attempting to keep my newly found claustrophobia in check as I threw my clothes on behind the door. Last thing I needed was another freak-out, especially when I wasn’t wearing anything.
Oh God.
Blaine had been holding me—and I’d been in nothing more than a towel! He’d even carried me back into Reese’s room, his one hand clasped under my exposed thighs. The very same hand now sticking through the door. Could somebody die from humiliation?
Covetous: An Urban Fantasy Romance (The Marked Mage Chronicles, Book 2) Page 20
