Wanted (The Un #2)

11. Raphael

ELEVEN

RAPHAEL

My consciousness is slapped back to reality when my body slams into the basement wall.

That fucking bastard that appeared somehow physically pushed my body away from Alena and out of her dream.

“Asher! Get the fuck down here!” I bellow at the top of my lungs.

There’s no fucking way I’m going to allow that cunt force me away from my bonded.

Not today, not tomorrow.

Not fucking ever.

Forcing my aching body to slide back up the wall I just slid down, I feel my fangs ripping deep into my lips.

Alena needs to get out of there and back to our world.

Through the bond I sense that every second she’s in trapped in the dream, he’s torturing her.

“Andrei!” I roar.

I want to know what that sick fuck did to me and do it right back to him.

Something’s changed inside of me. I’ve never been one to wallow in self-pity.

Never .

Never have I done so much fucking bellyaching.

It’s like this shroud of all my worst insecurities was suppressing me.

Those feelings are gone now.

And now I’m just really fucking pissed.

Furious enough that the rage inside me is threatening to release the beast.

Asher’s the first to arrive, practically ripping the door off the hinges.

“What is it?” he asks as he takes in the scene around him.

Andrei’s next to enter. He does a quick survey of the room before swiftly moving toward Alena.

“Something’s wrong,” I growl, and my hand reaches up to my head as an electrical ache crawls through my brain. “Whatever this twat she called the prophet is, he’s fucking dug into her head. He’s inside our bond.”

“What?” Chloe asks when she appears out of thin air.

“I… I don’t know,” I grunt and grimace.

My head hurts so fucking bad, I can’t think straight.

I’ve never experienced a pain like this. Not in all my years.

Stumbling over to my beloved’s side, the whole room tilts on its side.

The violent urge to vomit everywhere twists my guts.

There’s so much blood sloshing around in my stomach, I’m afraid I’m going to lose it all on the floor.

I can’t let a drop go to waste. This blood is meant for Alena. She’ll need it when I can turn her.

Trying to push into the bond, I meet resistance, but it’s not Alena’s wall. It’s something else entirely. Something sick and insidious clinging to the threads that bind us.

Tainting our connection… like Alena’s blood.

That evil bastard somehow attached something to our bond. Like a fucking parasite.

How the fuck?

The soul bond exists only between the vampire and their soulmarked.

Period.

No hitchhikers get to join.

Touching Alena’s face, I lean down and kiss her cheek. It’s so soft and warm… I can barely stand the joy it brings me to know my soulmarked is here, right before me.

I just need to fix this shit so that she can truly be mine.

Moving my lips to her ear, I whisper, “Come back to me, Alena.”

I want to push hard on our bond and make her obey. I want to force the other presence out of her. But I fear the bond might sever completely.

It’s been weak from the very beginning…

“She’s not waking,” Andrei mutters. His fingers pinch Alena’s arm hard. “It’s like she’s in a coma.”

A sudden shock of electricity jolts through my body and causes me to collapse to my knees. Every nerve and every synapse I possess is blazing as if they went up in flames.

“He’s hurting her!” I scream through the pain.

“Who?” Asher tries to take hold of me, but my arms push him away.

His touch causing me even more misery.

The pain quickly fades away, but a gnawing sadness grows inside me.

It’s the bond… All the pain is coming from the bond. Not from a direct attack on me.

Whatever my poor Alena is being put through, I can’t even imagine.

No, actually I can.

If I’m sharing this burden with her, then whatever she’s going through must be much worse.

“Fucker,” I snap.

Blood flies from my lips and lands on Alena’s arm.

Punching hard into the floor, my bones grind hard against the cement.

This motherfucker is torturing Alena.

“It’s through the bond?” Chloe asks as she moves to my side. “Isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I answer, my teeth clenching together. “It’s through the bond. He’s inside her. I can feel it. But he’s pushed me out of our shared world.”

Andrei practically leaps across the bed. His big hands grab me by the shoulders and lift me up to face him. “What shared world?”

I’m normally never weak, but what Alena and I are going through must be affecting me because I can barely budge his hands.

“Where we dream,” I grunt. “We can be with each other there.”

“And he’s inside of it with her?” Andrei asks.

“Yes! Didn’t I just fucking say that?!” I snap and try again to push him away from me.

Eyes lighting up, Andrei begins to smile. “Whoever this prophet is, he’s inside her.”

“Is there a fucking echo in this room?” I turn to look at Asher. “Because it feels like all I’m fucking doing is repeating myself!”

Letting go of me before Asher can respond, Andrei grabs hold of Chloe’s hand. “I need to get to my room.”

One second Andrei is holding on to Chloe’s hand and the next they’re both simply gone.

His face full of concern, Asher asks, “How bad is it inside her?”

I wince, my entire body throbbing with the echoes of her agony. “It’s hell. She’s being tortured by whatever that fucker is.”

Making my limbs obey my will, regardless of how much it hurts, I gently sit down beside Alena.

Feelings of guilt flood through me as I remember the pain she used as a barrier. A barrier to keep the outside world away.

That barrier is gone, though, and all the pain she’s kept locked up is tearing through her like a maelstrom of misery.

Wanting to wipe away some of the ugliness I accidentally spilled on her, I look for my blood on her porcelain skin.

“Asher…” I say.

My eyes keep searching her arm but I can’t find it.

“Yeah?” he says, as if he’s distracted. “They’ll be back soon. I can feel Chloe rushing Andrei.”

“Ash!” I snap at him. “Where’s my blood?”

“What?” Asher’s attention focuses back on me. “What blood?”

“My blood, you fuck. Where did my blood go?” I point to exactly where my bloody spit hit Alena’s arm.

Looking at what I’m pointing at, Asher moves closer. “I don’t see anything. Maybe you were imagining it? You’re under a lot of stress.”

“No.” I motion to the spot on her arm. “It was right fucking there.”

“I don’t know…” Asher says quietly. “Do it again.”

There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that my blood hit her arm. I saw it happen. Vampires don’t simply forget or imagine things.

Lifting my hand to my mouth, I bite down on it. I’m so fucking full of blood that losing a little right now won’t affect me.

Moving my hand to her bare arm, I let the blood trickle onto her skin.

“Well fuck,” I grumble as the blood slowly dribbles off her arm and onto the sheet.

Asher starts to say, “Maybe—”

But falls silent at what happens before our very eyes.

The blood that remained on Alena’s arm slowly absorbs into her skin.

Asher shakes his head in disbelief.

Pointing at the bloody tracks still on her flesh, I say, “Look, it’s disappearing.”

I’ve never in my life seen this happen before. Blood doesn’t get absorbed by someone’s skin. Not even vampires.

Asher bites his own wrist and drips his blood on her hand. But we’re torn away from our discovery when Andrei and Chloe reappear out of thin air.

“What are you two doing?” Andrei asks, watching as Asher drips blood onto Alena.

“She’s absorbing blood,” Asher explains, and points at the blood on her hand.

“Impossible,” Andrei says, moving closer to observe.

We watch Asher’s blood do absolutely nothing. It only pools on Alena’s hand and drips down her fingers.

“What the fuck?” I growl in annoyance. “Watch.”

I bite down hard on my palm. Squeezing my hand into a fist, my blood streams onto her arm. My blood doesn’t instantly disappear, but it absorbs faster.

“Gods below,” Andrei murmurs quietly, and bends so close to Alena’s arm, he almost gets blood on his nose. “She’s absorbing it.”

“Does this fit with what you said upstairs?” Chloe asks.

“What is she talking about?” I ask Andrei.

Still hunched over Alena, he answers, “Alena wouldn’t let me take her blood to analyze, so I got what little I could from the chunk of wood.”

“And?” I press as I fight down another burst of nausea.

Pulling away from Alena, Andrei scratches the back of his head. “It’s not possible.”

“What’s not possible?” Asher and I ask at the same time.

Sighing, Andrei turns to us. “I triple-checked it, and if I want an absolute confirmation, I need to take her blood. But from what I’ve analyzed so far, she has two types of blood warring inside of her. Hers and another vampire’s.”

“I haven’t given…” my words trail off.

I haven’t given any blood to her. I know it for a fact.

None of my brothers have, either.

“This so-called prophet,” Asher says, and then his face is furious. “Are you saying the Order has a vampire working for them?”

Andrei paces away from the bed. His agitation showing as he roughly rubs his eyes.

“I don’t want to believe it, either,” Andrei says. “But given what we know, it looks like it.”

“This is all fucking conjecture at this point!” I grit out between my teeth. The pain is coming again in another powerful blast. “We need to wake her, and she needs to be turned right away. Whatever’s inside her is killing her.”

“How do we wake her?” Asher asks.

“She absorbed your blood, Raphael,” Chloe says. “Why not Asher’s?”

The realization smacks me in the head.

Because she’s my soulmarked.

She’s mine , and no one else can claim her.

“Mother, stay with me, please.” I turn to face everyone. “Asher, Andrei, leave. Keep the hallways clear.”

“What are you planning?” Asher asks me.

“I’m going to flood Alena with me . The blood in her system that’s still hers will respond to mine,” I say calmly, but I fear this could kill us both. “Alena and I are going to war. But I need you to get me something first.”

“Anything,” Asher says, his eyes filled with worry. “But why do you need Chloe?”

“To protect Alena’s modesty,” I explain curtly. “Bring me a knife.”

In a flurry of movements, a sharp knife is placed in my hand. And it will serve just fine for what I’m about to ask Chloe to do.

The door to the room shuts shortly after I sit down on the bed beside Alena.

“Chloe…” I start, and for a moment I doubt this will work.

But I have no other options.

Chloe’s gentle voice helps soothe my nerves. “What is it, Raphael?”

“I can only open up one wrist at a time,” I say.

Another wave of nausea almost overwhelms my composure.

Chloe peers at the knife I hold in my right hand with a frown.

Offering the knife to Chloe, I explain, “I need you to slit my wrist. The one that will be directly over her mark. My wounds will close quickly because I’m so full of blood. So you’ll have to do it… often.”

She tentatively accepts the knife. “What will you be doing?”

I grimace at the decision I’m making for Alena. “I’ll be biting my other wrist and feeding her as much as I can.”

There’s a very real possibility this could break the bond and kill us both, but do I really have a choice?

Ripping open Alena’s shirt, I expose the beautiful mark between her breasts. Placed directly over her heart.

Is it wrong that even now my eyes want to focus on her chest? And the way her hard nipples poke through her bra?

Am I fixating on her body because it’s perfection? Or simply because I want to see what has been held away from me?

“Tell me when you’re ready, Raphael,” Chloe says gently.

I know what I’m asking of her won’t be easy. There will be a lot of blood, shiny metal, and open wounds.

And she, herself, was only turned days ago.

Shiny stuff and newborn vampires don’t mix well. When we’re first turned and adjusting to our enhanced senses, we can easily get stuck staring at the things that draw our gaze.

It’s a human trait we carry over with us when we’re reborn.

Humans are attracted to shiny objects because they resemble light reflecting off of water.

“Do not become captivated by what you see, Chloe. Whatever you do, don’t fixate on any of this. Especially the knife.” I hold my arm out. “Slice down my arm against the veins and try to position the flow over her mark. I’ll start first.”

Without wasting another second, I dig into my wrist with my fangs.

And I’m not careful when tearing the flesh open.

I need to bleed freely.

Forcing Alena’s mouth open with my bloody wrist, I can feel the blood rushing through my veins.

I’ve got a shit ton of blood in me right now from gorging myself at the church. I should be able to make it through this.

Hopefully.

A searing pain shoots down my wrist when Chloe slices my arm. Cutting through the artery.

“Raphael,” Chloe whispers, “are you trying to commit suicide?”

“I’m trying to save her,” I grunt, and pull my wrist away from Alena’s mouth.

Opening a new wound on my wrist, I shove it back against Alena’s lips.

If Alena was actively drinking from me, the wound wouldn’t close so damn fast.

Chloe’s voice quivers. “Why do you want me doing this?”

“You’ll allow me to sacrifice myself for her,” I say with certainty.

“How do you know that?” she asks angrily.

“Because you know what the Order will do to her,” I answer just as angrily.

Nothing happens to Alena. She doesn’t suddenly open her eyes or show any sign of life.

There’s only my repeated agony as I attempt to bleed myself dry.

“Is it working?” Chloe huffs as she slices me again.

The bond between Alena and me still feels firm and open, but that sickly taint persists.

“Maybe… I don’t know,” I admit. “The bond is still tainted. But… I can feel the slightest of changes.”

I want to peek deeper into the bond and follow it back into her dream.

But I can’t save her there.

So I force myself to remain in this reality.

“Tell me about the bond,” Chloe says.

Ripping my wrist open again, I force more blood into Alena.

So far, I’m holding up well. Given how much blood pours out of me and into her.

But I still fear I won’t have enough.

I’m in uncharted territory.

“Imagine the bond between you and Asher,” I tell Chloe. “How beautiful and pure it is. Like a thick living cord stretched between you both.”

“Okay.” Chloe nods. “I understand that.”

“Well, the one between Alena and I is similar…” I struggle to put it in words. “Now that her wall is no longer blocking me, it’s a thick cord connecting us. But it’s covered in a tainted rot slowly growing across it. A tainted rot trying to destroy it.”

We go through another round of slicing and biting.

“Not to take away from what we’re doing,” Chloe says, “but if you asked me to do this before I was turned, I might have thrown up everywhere.”

I want to chuckle at that because I don’t doubt it.

This isn’t exactly a normal vampire practice, either.

A warm pulse hits me unexpectedly right as I’m about to respond to Chloe.

Like an electrical jolt straight through my chest.

What the fuck?

“Whoa! Shit!” Chloe exclaims.

And I’m forced to look over at her.

All the blood flowing onto the mark is being completely absorbed now. Not a drop is going to waste.

“How long has it been doing that?” I ask, and feel my wrist closing up again.

“Only a few seconds,” Chloe says.

Using the knife, she slices my arm open wider.

Quickly biting my wrist, I press it hard against Alena’s mouth.

The sickness living inside of Alena’s blood is a cancerous cell. And I can sense her body trying to repel it.

Whatever the prophet truly is, he wants Alena as his own.

I know it in my bones.

That’s the prophet’s endgame.

He wants to bond with her.

That’s too fucking bad.

She’s mine! I scream across the bond to him.

“Bleed me fucking dry,” I snarl at Chloe. “I want my blood to flood so hard, the gates of Hell won’t be able to stop the flow.”

Chloe starts severing all the tendons and arteries in my arm with her slices.

With fucking hope, she doesn’t cut my arm off completely.

“Don’t you fucking die on me, Raph. Alena needs you just like I need Asher,” Chloe begs in a panicked voice.

I’m growing more sluggish by the second. Vampires, even with our heightened regeneration, can only handle so much.

Forcing my mind to settle itself, the berserker begs to be freed, but this isn’t the time.

Tugging on the bond, I slowly pull it closer and closer to myself.

The rot is receding.

And I know it’s because of all the blood I’ve given her.

It’s the very essence of my life, and I’ll willingly trade everything for her.

There’s never been a doubt in my mind that we belong together, here and in eternity…

But if I have to die for her to live, then so be it.

The beast breaks free of his chains, and I’m unable to stop him.

Flying from my side of the bond, he attacks the poison tainting her blood.

He lashes, bites, claws, and tears into what’s sickening her. Doing everything I couldn’t do alone.

Nothing but pure rage burns in my soul.

Then my eyes are blinded by an explosion on her side.

Every single nerve in my body alights with a radiant euphoria.

Following the source of my bliss, I race into the bond only to find Alena curled up inside me .

I watch as dark smoke swirls around her.

For the briefest of moments, I fear the prophet has followed her into my soul.

But it’s not the prophet. It’s something far stronger than that bitch.

My inner beast.

This is what I should have permitted all along.

My berserker howls with joy. Finally demonstrating his true purpose.

To protect Alena and the bond.

Pulling myself out of the bond, I turn to Chloe and find she’s still savagely hacking at my arm like some half-crazed lumberjack.

Alena is safe inside me. Protected by the berserker I’ve hated for so long.

I’ve cursed him. I’ve hated and tried to destroy him.

But this was always his true purpose.

To be my beloved’s protector.

“Mother,” I grunt, “you can stop now.”

Only Chloe doesn’t stop. Her hand swings down again against my wrist.

“Chloe,” I say more firmly, trying to get through to her. “It’s okay. Alena’s safe.”

My efforts are hopeless, though. Holding my hand in a death grip, Chloe continues to slice into me.

The blood flowing from me is no longer being absorbed by Alena. It’s just uselessly falling to the bed.

Chloe’s fixated on the blood and the flashing of the knife.

She can’t stop herself.

“Asher,” I gasp. “Help…”

This crazy mother of mine is going to bleed me to death, and I can’t stop her because I have to focus on holding Alena.

Once again, my bedroom door explodes open. Only this time the hinges aren’t up to snuff. Flying from the frame, the door slams into the dresser near the bed.

Asher only stares at us for a moment before he flashes across the room to sweep Chloe into his arms.

When he turns Chloe away from me, I watch as she keeps slashing at the air with the knife.

“What the fuck did you have Chloe doing?” Asher snarls at me.

I exhale deeply. “What only she could do.”

Fuck, this was bad. There’s blood everywhere…

Alena looks like she’s been bathed in it, and I know I don’t look much better.

“Where do we stand?” Asher asks me quietly as the Slicing Beauty in his arms starts hacking away at his forearm.

I give him a tired grin and point at my chest. “I have Alena. He’s protecting her and our bond.”

Asher gives me a quizzical look. “Your beast? How is that possible?”

“He took over. Got tired of me fucking around.” I wince. “He destroyed the other link and saved her.”

I feel Alena stirring inside my soul.

“Fucking weird, bro,” Asher winks at me. “Let me get Chloe out of here. Do you need anything?”

Tapping into my body, I sense I still have a good amount of blood left, but it’s better to be certain.

“Bring me a couple blood of bags. I’ll need to fill back up. Slicing Beauty there went a bit too far.”

Laughing loudly, he hefts Chloe higher up. “She’s going to murder you if she hears you call her that. I’ll get Andrei to bring the blood bags in.”

Nodding my head, I say, “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve died.”

Asher leaves the room as I pull Alena’s empty body into my arms. Hugging her as hard as I dare to me.

Closing my eyes, I carefully drift into my soul. I probably should have pulled her into it from the very fucking start.

My soul is an empty, dark space.

Alena doesn’t seem to mind, though.

Because resting in her lap is my beast’s head.

Her hand gently strokes the dragon as if he’s a pet.

“Raphael?” she asks quietly, then looks up at me. “Is it really you?”

Nodding my head, I still can’t believe she’s petting my demon like a fucking puppy.

“We need to leave here, Alena,” I say gently. “You’re safe now. Fred and I made sure of it.”

“Fred?” she asks, confused.

Pointing at the smoky dragon head in her lap, I explain, “That’s the name I gave my beast.”