“What about the fae?” Elena asked. “They have magic. They must have a way to heal him. Their magick is very powerful.”
“You haven’t had enough of the fair folk tonight then, have you, my lady?”
“I haven’t if they can help him.” Elena was begging. I wanted to soothe her, but I couldn’t find the energy to move. I settled for her touches, her kisses, and her closeness.
If Alaric noticed, he didn’t comment, which showed great restraint on his part. “Well they can’t, even if you could survive another encounter. They’d bleed you dry just for suggesting they help one of shifter blood. Especially Rhysander.”
“And how would you know?” Elena hissed, clearly fed up with his unwillingness to help.
“They’re my people. If I thought they would help I would move heaven and earth to save him.”
Elena sighed. Then said, “Maybe my brother—”
“I’ll not be trusting your brother with anything,” Alaric spat with barely contained contempt.
“Do you have any ideas, then? Instead of dismissing all of mine, you might try to help.”
“If I did it wouldn’t be trusting the fae or your brother.” Alaric laughed without humor. “You might as well be asking the bloodsuckers for help.”
Elena paused, and I thought she might have given up on me. I wouldn’t have minded. She’d thought of everything. She tried. That was all that mattered to me.
“What about fampires?” Alaric must have laughed when I drifted out, because Elena sat up and her voice was no nonsense. “No, I’m serious. I’ve heard rumors that they can heal the sick. How is this any different? Couldn’t one suck the infected blood out?”
“If by heal the sick you mean turn them into the undead, then yes, by all bloody means why don’t we invite one over for some tea and dragon blood?”
“Listen to me! You said if there wasn’t enough blood infected with the poison that he may be able to recover. What’s stopping us from removing the blood altogether to prevent the infection? What have we got to lose, Alaric? It’s our only chance to save him.”
Alaric must have agreed because when I woke up, I knew Soren was there. His acidic voice filled my ears.
“If you think I’m going to drink from him, you’re very well demented. The last thing I need is for the Dragon Lord to take offense and extend my punishment. I’ve already been all over the Northlands today doing his damned bidding.”
“You’ll do as I ask or I’ll figure out a way to make your punishment permanent,” Alaric warned.
Soren crossed the room with hesitant steps and towered over the side of the bed. “I can’t promise that I’ll be of any use to you. He could be too far gone for this to do any good.”
“Then get on with it,” Elena ordered. “If he dies because you couldn’t stop yammering about, I’ll kill you myself.”
Alaric murmured appreciatively, Elena hovered over me protectively. Soren tilted my neck to the side and wet his lips and in the next moment his teeth lengthened into deadly points and he latched himself to my bared flesh.
I shuddered underneath Elena’s hands and I hoped to Goddess she made the right decision. Soren motioned with a hand for the bowl and Elena gave it to him. He spat out blackened blood with a look of disgust, but returned again and again.
This went on until my feeble attempts at fighting Soren’s embrace slackened and the grip I had on Elena’s hand released. I didn’t know if I was better or worse. I was spiraling into darkness.
Soren spat one final time into the bowl and wiped his mouth. “That’s the last of it,” he said. “You’ll want to keep an eye on him when he wakes up. He’s going to have a bitch of a headache and will probably feel sick to his stomach as well. Provided that the dragon’s bane didn’t reach his heart, he should make a full recovery. If he’s lucky.”
“Have you always been able to heal them like this?”
“From dragon’s bane?” Soren said offhandedly, as he searched the room for something.
“Yes,” Elena answered between gritted teeth.
He lifted the goblet of water next to the bed and peered inside it. He scowled and moved to the chest of drawers. “I’ve never done it before, so I can’t tell you for sure.”
“Then why would you…I mean what do you—”
Soren grinned. “What do I get in return?”
“Of course. We can take you anywhere you need to go. Alaric has transp—”
He waved a hand. “I’ll not be needing a carriage, my lady.”
Elena tensed beside me. “Then, what do you need?”
“What I was promised.”
“And what was that?”
“In exchange for services rendered, the good man here bargained for blood. Yours,” he elaborated.
I wanted to shout my disapproval, but I was fading fast.
The last thing I heard was, “Very well,” Elena said. “Forgive me, but until I know for sure that my mate will survive, you won’t be getting anything. Come morning, if he’s still alive, you’ll get what you were promised.”
“I look forward to it.”
21
Elena
The sun rose and Rhys slept peacefully.
I didn’t sleep a wink for fear I would wake and find him as lifeless and cold as the stone surrounding us. So when the first rays of morning light filtered through the bedroom drapes and illuminated his chest still rising and falling, a bone-deep weariness spread through me from top to toe.
My wounded thigh and mangled feet ached something fierce, but the pain was shadowed by the relief that he made it through the night. That we made it. I wasn’t sure where we went from here, how we would deal with yet another threat, but I knew I couldn’t lose him. I could face my own death, but I couldn’t face his.
Even faced with the prospect of submitting to the vampire did little to dampen my spirits. When a knock came at the door and Soren peered in, a satisfied smile on his face, my relief turned to dread.
“Not one to waste any time, are you?” I commented. I wrapped my blanket around Rhys’s waist and shifted down to the foot of the bed.
Soren’s smile was feral, made even more so by his elongated canines. “I’ve thought of nothing else since I saw you. I do believe you will taste delicious. Certainly much better than your mate.”
I refused to show weakness, even though I had to be trembling. “Glad to hear it. Do you mind if we get along with it? I’d like to get back to him as soon as possible.”
“So eager,” Soren drawled as he grew near.
“Eager to be done,” I corrected.
Soren sat next to me on the foot of the bed. “Don’t be so rash, love. You may find that you like it.”
“Doubtful. And don’t call me that.” I resisted the urge to shrug away as he brushed hair away from my shoulder. He leaned forward, caressing my shoulder with his lips and I couldn’t help but shudder.
In one swift movement, he jerked me sideways over his lap until he cradled me in his arms. Compared to Rhys, Soren was more lithe, but if the effortless way he bore my weight was any sign, he was not to be mistaken for weak.
His arms contracted, and he pulled me close to his chest. My hands rested on his shoulders and I squeezed my eyes shut. Being wrapped in another man’s arms felt strange, forbidden, and unnatural. Soren was strange, forbidden and unnatural. When his cool lips touched my neck, I couldn’t contain the shiver.
Then his mouth parted and his tongue lashed out to wet the skin. From what Alaric explained after he gave me to Soren as a reward for saving Rhys, it produced a numbing agent to make giving blood more enjoyable. In the moment before his fangs pierced my skin, I wondered how that could possibly be.
Then his teeth punctured my neck and my fingers gripped the material of his shirt to keep from falling into a boneless heap on the floor. Liquid pleasure raced across my nerve endings and I had to bite my tongue to swallow the moan that surface. Soren did little more than suckle at my neck, but I felt it everywhere
.
I sensed myself becoming weak, though I couldn’t discern if it was due to the blood loss or the state of euphoria. Someone spoke my name, but I didn’t pay it any mind. I couldn’t hear over the ringing in my ears anyway.
“Elena,” the voice said. I remembered enough for joy to spread throughout me, but I didn’t understand why until it repeated the word.
“Rhys?” I wasn’t sure if I said it aloud or thought it.
I blinked rapidly against the growing weariness. Soren still drew at my neck, but Rhys’s voice pulled me away from the drunken stupor. I glanced back up at his body, finding him restless in sleep. A thin sheen of sweat covered his chest and his limbs twitched. His lips pulled down in a frown and his head lashed from side to side. Was he dreaming? I must have been imagining it. I’d give anything to hear his voice again. A part of me was certain I never would.
The tide of pleasure beckoned. My eyes drifted closed again when Rhys bolted straight up, his chest heaving and eyes bloodshot. A thrill shot through me and I clutched Soren, who hadn’t seemed to notice.
“Stop.”
Soren didn’t heed his command, or maybe he didn’t hear it. Rhys threw the sheets away and I struggled more insistently against the vampire’s steel-like hold. The last thing Rhys needed was a fight with a vampire so soon after being injured.
“Get your hands off my mate,” Rhys commanded. Even weak and near death, his dominance was absolute.
My hands repeatedly hitting his chest seemed to get Soren’s attention, and he released, looking down at me quizzically. When Soren noticed my gaze elsewhere, he peered up and came face-to-face with Rhys.
“Ah, so it did work.” Faced with an angry Rhys, Soren showed little to no change in his expression.
I wiggled out of his hold but my injured leg finally gave out and I crumpled to the floor like a horse new to its limbs.
“Leave us,” Rhys said, his eyes on me. The bedsheets pooled around his waist and even though he still looked white beneath his tan, he no longer seemed like he was seconds away from death.
Blood trickled down the side of my neck in a warm, wet slide and I couldn’t bear to look at my mate as I remembered Soren’s hands on my body. Warmth filled my cheeks, and I kept my eyes on my lacerated feet.
Soren backed away with a silky smile. “It’s been a pleasure,” he said before closing the door behind him.
The click of the lock echoed with finality. I kept my eyes on my feet, wishing very much that I’d been the one lost to sweet oblivion. It was my fault they hurt him. I shouldn’t have been so careless. Despair mixed with regret. I hadn’t been here a week, and I’d already caused so much trouble.
“I’ve never met anyone with such a disregard for their own safety.” Rhys sighed, his forearms resting on his knees. “Protecting you has proven to be more work than twenty years of guarding the entirety of Acasia.”
I was so sure!
Had I the energy I would have taken grave offense to that statement. “I’m too tired to argue with you,” I said instead, eyelids drooping even as my words trailed off. “We can argue later.”
He leaned down to offer a hand and I crawled toward him, gratefully. There may be a lot for us to talk about, a lot for us to work through, but I needed the reassurance of his body against mine, if only for a short while. He hefted me up and over his body on the other side of the bed. I crawled underneath the reassuring weight of the furs and toward the heat of his body. As we’d done a thousand other times it felt like, my head came to rest on his shoulder. It was difficult to resist the call to be close to my mate.
“I want to… thank you,” he said carefully. “For saving my life.”
I yawned, the reassuring beat of his heart steady in my ear. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
He shifted beside me and a hand came to push the hair away from my face. I wished I had the energy to look up at him, to discern the meaning behind his tone, but my eyes simply wouldn’t obey my commands. “When I’ve regained my strength, you’ll get the punishment you deserve for putting yourself in danger in the first place.”
I swallowed thickly, but held my tongue. Frankly, I felt like I deserved whatever punishment he levied, considering what I put him through, what I risked. Seeing him hovering so close to death wasn’t a memory I was likely to forget, but was not punishment enough, I was certain.
“Did a healer look at your wounds?” Rhys asked, noting the blood staining my dress. I managed to pry my eyes open and glance down.
“No,” I replied through another yawn, then snuggled closer. “We were more concerned about the dragon’s bane than anything else. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Rhys cursed and shouted for the maids, who were no doubt hovering in the hallway awaiting his orders. “Bring the healer. Send for hot water and towels. Now,” he barked when the maids stared at him wide-eyed, no doubt shocked by their master’s sudden resurrection.
“Tell Alaric he’s awake,” I added more politely, remembering to add a ‘please’ at the end.
“Healer first,” Rhys instructed, voice firm. “Her wounds need to be tended as soon as possible.”
I inched closer to his warmth. “It’s all right, Rhys. I barely feel it anymore.” It was true. The anesthetic in Soren’s bite washed away most of the pain. Or maybe it was the exhaustion. Either way, my injuries had ceased throbbing.
His arms tightened around me. “You’re going to be the death of me,” he muttered into my hair. The shifter inside of me reveled in his presence.
Then his words penetrated and I frowned. “That’s not amusing.”
“Quiet,” he said.
My response was muffled against his chest as I slipped back into unconsciousness. Through the haze of half-sleep, I heard the deep tones of Rhys’s voice against my cheek. A flurry of activity commenced around me, but the only thing I cared about was the comforting circle of his arms.
“Come on now, Elena,” he said. I batted him away with a hand and he sighed. “Wake up for me, baby.” He lifted me up and my head lolled backward. I shied away from the bright candlelight, but Rhys shook me a little, forcing me to glare at him. “Come on now, you have to drink this.”
I pushed the mug away. “I can’t. I’m too tired.”
“I know you are, love, but if you don’t, that wound will fester and much as I enjoy your stubbornness, I enjoy your legs even more.”
Rhys tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and I blinked up at him. He was leaning over me with one hand underneath my shoulders for support. He used his free hand to lift the mug to my lips. I managed to sip some of the bitter concoction and winced as the slimy brew slid down my throat.
“That’s my girl.” He sat the mug on the bedside table. “Now I’m going to get you out of those clothes so we can get you cleaned up.”
Confused, I pulled away, glancing at the other people in the room. “Not now, Rhys. I’m tired.”
He chuckled. “Much as that would stroke my ego, we’re only going to tend to your leg and feet.” He leaned close and kissed my cheek. “We’ll save the rest for a time when we don’t have a captive audience.”
The strings of my corset loosened. Deft fingers worked the dress off my arms and over my hips. Left only in my chemise, I reclined back on the furs and tried to stay awake. Sharp pin pricks shot up and down my legs as Rhys and the healer began working on my feet.
“How did you know where to find me?” I asked, mostly to distract myself from the pain that had returned triple-fold.
“Even if you weren’t bound to me, I had Alaric keep close. I knew the moment you stepped of castle grounds. I could find you anywhere.”
Not wanting his staff or Alaric to overhear the conversation, I thought my response instead. One day I’d be able to speak to him, like he did to me. “I should have been more careful. I thought we would be safe since the orchards were near the castle. I won’t make the same mistake again.”
Rhys shook his head. “It’s not your fault. Someone wants yo
u dead. I should have never let you leave the castle unprotected. These wounds are on me,” he said with his eyes on the healer as they cleaned and dressed my legs and feet.
“As yours are on me.”
His hands tightened around me and it was a long time before he spoke, so long I’d started drifting off. “Sleep.”
He leaned in to let his lips play lightly over mine. My hands lifted to hold on to his wrists and I made a panicked, delighted squeak of surprise.
The relief that flooded me was overwhelming. So much so, that I couldn’t move as his mouth rubbed, as his teeth nibbled, and his tongue teased. I was frozen underneath him as pleasure and pain warred for dominance throughout my battered body. Noticing my response, Rhys tapered off and finished with his forehead pressed against mine.
“I understand, sweet. You must be dead tired. We’ll talk about everything more later, when you’re feeling better.”
The healer finished patching up my feet and moved to the arrow wound in my thigh. I winced as he began to prod, but forced myself to focus on Rhys’s face. “Stay with me?”
“Always,” he said.
22
Elena
We spent the following days in bed together, healing. If it weren’t for the fear of losing him, I would have said they were some of the best days in my life. We talked about everything. I told him about my conversation with Leisha and how I had to dance for the fae. He told me when he realized something was wrong, and how he’d never flown so fast. The only thing we hadn’t talked about...was his first mate. But I would not push him. Now more than ever, I believed he’d tell me about her when he was ready.
“What’s this?” I asked, when Merry came in with a tray filled with food.
Rhys smiled devilishly. “It’s for you.”
Deal with the Dragon (Immortals Ever After Book 1) Page 16
