Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
T he darkness slowly receded as Kade regained consciousness. Every fiber of his being ached. It was the main reason he believed he was alive. Surely being dead couldn’t be this painful. Just the thought of moving hurt; his limbs felt steamrolled into the mattress. But he didn’t care. He sensed Liam in his mind, smelled his scent, and as he surfaced closer to waking, he heard him too.
“‘She stared in horrified fascination as her big, fluffy sweater began to glow, a radiant light spilling forth as it lifted up from her bed and into the air, hanging there like a shining angel from heaven. And then it transformed. Its soft, luxurious fabric magically changing, shifting , into smooth, hard muscle until it was no longer a sweater, but a man. Every inch of his body was chiseled like it came from stone, not cotton. A Greek god hewn from marble, so unlike her favorite sweater, the one she had worn so many times.’”
Liam sounded as if he’d been talking nonstop for days, but he continued. “‘She shrieked, and in her surprise, her hands flew up, dropping the towel she’d wrapped around herself as she’d gotten out of the shower, leaving her bare in front of this naked man, this naked sweater .’” Liam started laughing. “Oh my god, Kade. I don’t think I can do this. Next, is she going to run away and he chases her and somehow they both fall on top of each other?”
“No,” Kade said, his voice jagged from disuse. “That’s book five, Slipped on by the Robe Shifter . And book eleven, Stretched by the Pantyhose Shifter .”
Relief and shock rushed through their bond. “You’re awake!” Liam’s hand found his arm, and he squeezed. Kade hissed, and Liam jerked his hand away. “Sorry.”
Kade cracked his eyes open. Fuck, how was it possible for eyelids to hurt? The room was dim, only lit by the lamp on Liam’s side of the bed, but that alone was searingly bright.
Kade’s mouth was dry, his throat raw, but he took in Liam’s appearance—the dark circles and pinched, exhausted expression.
“You okay?” he croaked out.
“Am I okay? Jesus fucking Christ, Kade. I’m fine. You’re the one who almost died. Are you okay?”
“I’m alive. I’ll take it. How’s everyone else?”
Liam’s face twisted with worry. “It’s been two days. We’re alright, but we haven’t heard anything about Aran.”
“What’s the plan?”
“We think Elijah will have to break through the wards.”
Kade knew how that would play out. Niall’s pack would be there by the time Elijah got through. There’d be no avoiding a fight.
“We’ll get him back,” Kade vowed. “Before the full moon. Whatever it takes. When are we doing it?”
“You’re doing nothing until you’re fully healed.”
“Another couple days and I’ll be good as new. He’s my friend. I’m not leaving him behind. I’m not going to let Niall bond him against his will.”
That had to be why Niall had abducted him. He’d said as much to Victor.
Liam gave him a concerned look.
“Are you okay?” Kade asked again. Liam opened his mouth to speak, but Kade cut him off. “You know you don’t have to be fine, right? Your friend was abducted, and it feels like you haven’t slept properly in days. It’s okay if you aren’t fine. You don’t need to put on a brave face for me.”
Liam deflated. He pressed his eyes shut. “I’m not fine.”
Kade forced his arm to move until his hand was brushing Liam’s. His skin still hurt, but his need for a physical connection with Liam was greater than the pain. “That’s okay. This situation is fucked up, but we’ll fix it. Together.”
Liam nodded. “Yeah. We will.”
“So,” Kade said, trying to distract him. “Why are you reading trashy books on my Kindle?”
Liam’s cheeks took on the faintest of pink glows. “Because there’s nothing else on your Kindle?”
“But the sweater shifters? Really? That’s not entry-level PNR right there.”
“You said they were good. Good did not mentally prepare me for a page-long description of how turned-on she gets whenever she’s wearing only the sweater. I mean, an entire paragraph dedicated to the delicious friction of the chunky weave against her nipples?”
“I said they were addictive, not good. Those are two separate things. But seriously, there are well-written books on there.”
“Like Howling Hearts ?”
“Yeah.”
“I, uh, already read the trilogy. It was… not bad.”
“The whole trilogy? Did you read them out loud? To me? When I couldn’t hear them?”
Liam made a noncommittal noise.
“What did you think of chapter seventeen in Shattered Souls and Secret Scents ?”
The pink tint to Liam’s cheeks grew darker.
“Read it to me?”
Liam swallowed. “Maybe not while you can’t do anything about it.”
Kade groaned, then whined, “Fucking wolfsbane. But when this is over, we are doing that. What else did you read?”
“A few things in your All-Time Faves collection. Though, I have to say, I wanted to punch the wolf shifter in The Wrong Wolf for what he did to the human character. Pretending to be his twin brother to bond him? That asshole.”
“You and everyone who reads it.” Kade’s words were starting to slur, his eyelids too heavy to keep open. “Read me to sleep? You haven’t gotten to the second part of the tagline yet. ‘Usually, she wears him. Tonight, he wears her.’”
“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Warm, fond amusement threaded through their bond, and Liam began to read again. “‘His gaze slid down her body, a caress as gentle as the cycle she used whenever she washed him.’ Kade . No. I can’t do this.”
Grinning to himself, Kade drifted off as Liam continued to read.
Kade managed to stay awake for longer periods over the next day. He felt tired, but more like himself, and Liam got some food into him, though Kade couldn’t handle much more than broth. Even chewing seemed to exhaust him.
That evening, Victor and Elijah came to the room. Their relief when they saw him sitting up in bed was clear.
“You’ve been unconscious too much lately,” Victor said. “Could you stop that?”
“Is that an order?”
“Yes,” Liam snapped.
Victor snorted. “Exactly. Don’t do stupid shit like that again. But thank you.”
Elijah leveled a look at Kade. “For the record, I kind of love you for what you did. You can tell me as many dick jokes as you want for the rest of your life, and I won’t complain about them. I’ll even try to phrase things in ways that absolutely call for ‘that’s what he said’ jokes and thinly veiled innuendos.”
Kade grinned, but the mood in the room sobered quickly.
“Miles sent a message,” Elijah said. “The stone has locked onto the shifter we’re searching for.”
Liam sucked in a breath. “Where are they?”
“It seems they’re hiding in a nearby ghost town.”
“Do we go check it out?” Liam asked, but Elijah shook his head.
“Let’s get Aran back first.”
Victor grimaced. “I contacted my father yesterday. We’re meeting tomorrow. I’ll try to get some information out of him.”
That had to have cost Victor. It wouldn’t be a pleasant reunion.
After confirming their plans, Victor and Elijah left the room.
Kade sensed Liam’s brain churning with worry and doubt, and as much as he’d have liked to turn it off in more pleasurable ways, propping himself up against the headboard was about the extent of his physical abilities at the moment. So instead, he asked a question.
“East or west?”
Liam didn’t hesitate before answering. “East.”
Kade laced their hands together. “First, I want you to meet my parents.”
Liam smiled softly. “I’d love that. The final stop can be you meeting mine.”
And then they were off on another trip around the world, just as perfect as the others they’d planned.
They couldn’t leave yet. They still had to save Aran and help Niall’s pack, then defeat the people behind the spirits. But Kade knew without a doubt that they’d go on these trips. Their future held hundreds of destinations for them to explore, and he couldn’t wait to see where they went.