By The Moon (Live By Night #3)

Chapter Thirteen

“ N o, he’s mine.” Louis lunged at Skylar and punched him in the face hard enough to knock Skylar on his ass. Kelvin rushed forward and grabbed Skylar, pulling his hands behind his back and handcuffing him. “And now you’re not going anywhere.”

“Fuck you.” Skylar spat at Louis, who slapped him across the face. Louis shook his head and turned away, going over to Jerome, who lay naked on the floor. Pulling his coat off, he draped it over Jerome and pulled him up off the ground and into his arms.

“Louis,” Jerome whispered his name, his body trembling in Louis’ arms.

“I’m sorry it took so long. I never thought this would happen to you.” Louis leaned back, framed Jerome’s face in his hands and kissed him softly. “Did he hurt you? Did he touch you in any way at all?” That was his fear. That Skylar had raped his mate.

“No. He told me he was going to and then he was going to kill me. He wants you to himself. I think he loves you or he thinks he loves you and I got in the way.”

Louis stared over his shoulder at Skylar. “You were going to rape him then kill him?”

“He’s human!” Skylar’s face reddened. He narrowed his eyes and glared at Louis and Jerome. “We deserve better than that. Look at him, all weak and pathetic. What kind of mate can a human be?”

“That’s a dangerous thing to say considering all of us here have humans for mates. I’m sure I could accidently drop you into the sea and forget where you were.” Kelvin growled at Skylar. “My mate means everything to me and you just insulted him.”

“Like I give a fuck about the human you’re stuck with. We are better than them. They should be bowing at our feet, worshipping us like the gods we are.”

Gray circled his finger at the side of his head. “You’re nuts. You need a full psych eval when we get back.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you and you can’t make me.”

“Really?” Gray folded his arms across his chest. “And just how are you going to escape? You can’t ‘port because you have the cuffs on, and there is no one here to save you, so just how are you going to get away from us?”

“Maxim will come for me.”

“Maxim?” Kelvin yanked the cuffs up, forcing Skylar to bend over as his arms were raised high. “That vampire put his hands on my mate. I hope he does come for you. I really do.”

Skylar cried out and tried to move away from Kelvin. “Let my arms go, you bastard.”

“Now, now. Less of the language. We have humans around and you know how weak they are.” Gray rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Louis. Take your mate to the hospital and get him treated. I’ll deal with the council for now, but you’ll have to see them too.”

“Understood.” Louis took Jerome in his arms and thought of home. Once he was there, he grabbed some sweats for Jerome and helped him put them on. “Hospital now.”

“You didn’t want them to see me naked.”

“No, not really.” Louis held Jerome again and appeared outside the hospital. Walking inside, they were met by one of the nurses on duty. “He needs help.”

“Gray’s called and informed us. Let’s get you through to one of the rooms so we can examine you.” The blonde haired vampire pointed down a corridor and walked ahead of them.

“I’m sorry. I don’t want to be a bother to you.”

“No bother at all and I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with that. Skylar of all people.” Shaking her head, she looked Jerome up and down. “You have a few bruises so let me get one of the doctors to examine you. I’m Shirley, by the way.” Opening the door to an exam room, she waited for them to enter before closing it behind her. “Get on the bed, Jerome. It is Jerome, isn’t it?”

“It is.” Louis helped Jerome onto the bed then pulled a chair closer and sat next to him, holding Jerome’s hand in his own.

“Good. Stay here and I’ll let the doctor on duty know where you are. It should only be a few minutes.”

Shirley left the room and Louis squeezed Jerome’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

“What for? It wasn’t your fault. I take it this Skylar works for one of the bad vampires?”

Louis winced but nodded. “By the sounds of it.”

“That must be difficult for you. It seems you’ve known him for a long time and now you find out he’s been betraying you.”

Louis stared at Jerome and wondered again how he could be so lucky to have a mate like him. He’d been kidnapped and hurt, but he was showing concern for Jerome. “What matters to me is what happened to you. I should have spotted something and I didn’t. I failed you.”

“Stop.” Jerome squeezed Louis’ hand. “How could you have possibly known he’d do something like this? Has he ever made you think he was anything other than your friend?”

“No, but—”

“No buts, Louis. I met him for the first time at our party and he was nice to me. He never made me feel like I was in the way. I never felt like I had to be careful around him. Now Gray clearly has issues with humans and he told me he was working on them, which I appreciated, but Skylar? No idea at all.”

“I’ve known him for decades. I should have picked something up.”

“Are we doing the blame game?” A male vampire entered the room holding a tablet in one hand. “I take it you’re Jerome, Louis’ mate. It’s nice to meet you. I’d hoped it would be under better circumstances but here we are.”

“Steve.” Louis felt most of his tension drain away when he recognized Steve.

“Louis.” Steve approached the bed and looked Jerome over. “I need you to wear one of those lovely hospital gowns so I can do a thorough exam. I believe I heard you couldn’t communicate?” Jerome nodded. “We’ll take bloods and do a full workup. We need to know what drug you were given so we can find a counteragent. I’ll stand outside. Give me a shout when you’re ready and I’ll examine you.”

Steve left the room and Jerome quickly changed into the green hospital gown. “Sexy,” Louis murmured, earning him a small smile.

“Yeah?”

“No.” They both smiled at each other and once Jerome was back on the bed, Louis shouted for Steve.

“Much better. Let’s check you out.”

Louis sat and watched Steve perform Jerome’s exam, noting all the marks, abrasions, and bruising on his skin. “Luckily there are no broken bones. You put up a good fight. Right. I’ll get one of the nurses to come in and take your blood and leave a prescription for some pain medication.” Steve walked to the door. “I hope to see you again but under better circumstances.”

“Thanks, Steve.”

Steve left and Jerome changed back into his clothes. They waited for the nurse to take his blood, get his prescription filled, then Louis took them home. “Fancy a bath?”

Jerome groaned and nodded. “It might help me loosen up. I’m all stiff and achy.”

“Get undressed and I’ll get the bath started for you. Coffee?”

“Please.” Louis kissed Jerome and left him in their bedroom, entering the bathroom to start the bath. Once that was underway, he went into the kitchen and put the kettle on. He could hear Jerome’s soft groans and clothing rustling as he undressed.

Leaning on the counter, Louis closed his eyes. He could have lost his mate. Skylar knew they were coming and was in the process of trying to leave with Jerome. If Louis had entered the room a few seconds later, Jerome wouldn’t have been there and he might have never seen him again.

Skylar. Why him of all vampires? They’d been friends for decades. Had he been one of Maxim’s men the entire time or had he been turned at some point and hidden it from all of them? Louis would find out even if he had to tear Skylar apart. No one touched his mate.

When the kettle boiled, Louis made Jerome’s drink, picked up the pain meds and carried them through to the bathroom. Jerome was already in the bath, letting it fill around him, and smiled when he saw Louis enter the room.

“Thanks.”

“Take some pain meds now, then relax. When you’re ready I’ll help you get out and you can have something to eat and then go to bed. You need to rest and let your body heal.”

“Are you going to question him?”

Louis sat on the edge of the bath and watched Jerome before answering. “I want to be there but if you need me here then I’ll stay.”

“No. He was your friend and he betrayed your trust. You should be there when they speak to him. I’ll be fine here. This place has great security. There’s no way one of those vampires can get in here without an alarm sounding. We’d know the second they teleported inside.”

“You really don’t mind?”

“No and it’s you who should question him. It’s me he kidnapped and I’m your mate so you need to be there.” Jerome took his pills and hissed. “Hate taking them.” Leaning back in the bath, he sighed. “How long was I gone for? It felt like it was days but it can’t be that long.”

“Less than twenty-four hours. Felt like a lifetime.”

Jerome raised his hand and Louis took it, kissing the palm. “I knew you would come. I might have been scared at times but I knew you would find me. I knew you would never stop looking for me until you knew what had happened to me. I trust you.”

“I love you.” Louis bent over Jerome and kissed him softly on the lips. “I would have never stopped searching for you. Never.”

“I know,” Jerome whispered. “I love you, too. I have waited years for my mystery man, my savior, to come to me and I’m not letting you go now you’re here. You’re mine, Louis.”

“I am yours and only yours. Now and forever. Let me cook you something to eat and then I’ll go and speak to Skylar. I want this over and done with as soon as possible, then I can come home to you and we can live the rest of our lives together.”

“You say the sweetest things. I fancy waffles and bacon with syrup. Not healthy but screw it. I deserve it.”

Louis chuckled, kissed Jerome again and stood. “Waffles, bacon, and syrup it is. I’ll do it now.”

It didn’t take long for the food to cook, and by the time it was finished Jerome was in bed, tucked under the covers. Louis watched him eat, and when he’d finished, cleaned up then tucked him into bed. Trailing his fingers over Jerome’s cheek, Louis kissed him softly then left.

Walking into their security building, Louis headed toward the cells, where he knew Skylar would be held. He could already hear the screaming and winced when Skylar threatened to castrate Gray. Gray grinned and waved at Louis as he entered the cell.

“He’s having a gay old time in there.” Louis arched an eyebrow at Gray. “Gay used to mean happy in the old days. So gay old time meant happy time but now you can’t say it. I miss saying it.” Shrugging, Gray pushed away from the wall and bowed. “He’s all yours.”

“No one’s been in?”

“A doctor, to check him over. He accidently hit a few items as we put him inside. The wall, door, floor, Kelvin’s fist. You know. Everyday things.”

Louis snorted. “He’s so accident prone. I’m glad he had you and Kelvin there to help him.”

“Well, what’s a good vampire to do but to help his fellow citizen.”

“And I salute you for that.” Facing the door, Louis straightened. “Let’s see what he has to say.”