Chapter 28 JERICHO
JERICHO
“EVAN!” A roar erupts from deep within.
My heart leaps to my throat as Evan disappears across the field in Kaine’s arms. It happens so fast, so unexpectedly, that I barely have time to react.
Kaine turns him around in his arms, using him as a shield against us. It ignites a fire in me like I’ve never known. Every cell in my being burns, and I can only think of one thing: Protect.
Leaping through the air, I prepare to knock Kaine to the ground with a sideways blow.
The trees blur as I fly toward them, but without warning, a thin rope of water ties around my feet and throws me to the side in a violent snap.
I crash on the ground, rolling a dozen times before coming to a stop.
Pain lances up my arm, and I smell blood.
I can feel it oozing from a cut on my shoulder.
Asshole. I liked this sweatshirt, and now it’s sliced into pieces.
“I won’t hurt him!” Kaine says. “I just want your word—”
“You really think this is going to convince us that you’re on our side?” Grant shouts, his voice hot with anger. The two wolves nearest him snap their jaws, ready to pounce. “That’s one of our pack mates! Release him now or—”
“Or what? You’ll come at me?” Kaine taunts. “Go ahead and try, wolf. I’ll just throw you aside too.”
“Fucking asshole!” Evan shouts, his face red. He attempts to kick Kaine, but the vamp’s hold is too strong for him. He can barely move.
Why doesn’t he shoot Kaine?
Shit, where’s his gun?
I look across the field, my stomach sinking when I see the silver handgun glinting in the grass.
Evan is so helpless right now. So mortal. Fear clenches me, making me see red. If Kaine does anything, I will rip his head off.
Grant shifts back into a wolf and takes off toward Kaine, the other wolves follow close on his heels.
I watch in disbelief as Kaine creates a rope of water across the ground that trips all four of them.
Sage falls with a loud ooft, crashing into a tree fifteen feet from me.
Jasmine shakes her head, as if to clear it. Did she hit it on something?
For a hot second, I am frozen in place, stunned by what Kaine can do, yet confused too. How is he controlling the water like that? It’s something I’ve only ever seen in movies or on TV. Never in real life.
Can I control the fire the same way?
Grant leaps for Kaine again, but Kaine dodges him, taking Evan another twenty feet back. Thirty more and they’ll be at the edge of the clearing.
Has this man deceived us? He’d arrived under the impression that he was going to fight Foxx with us.
But the closer he gets to the edge of the trees, the less certain I am that I believe him.
Has this guy really come for Evan? Foxx has already proven he’s willing to hurt the ones I care about to get to me.
If Kaine is one of his, he could be using Evan to get me to follow. Lead me into a trap.
I can’t let that happen.
Without thinking, I cast a wall of fire behind Kaine. He turns and sends a wave of water at it, instantly dousing it.
“Let him go!” I roar.
Kaine simply shakes his head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that yet.”
Rage blinding me, I leap through the air, my hands ablaze and aimed at the vampire’s head. Kaine veers to the right just as I am about to make impact, sending me crashing into a tree. Several branches erupt into flames under my touch. Kaine extinguishes them with a quick splash of water.
He disappears again, reappearing fifteen feet away.
Evan grunts, still kicking. As Kaine tightens his hold, Evan suddenly bends forward, forcing them into a somersault.
For one brief moment, Kaine lets go. It gives me just enough time to cast another fireball at him, singeing his hair before igniting a bush.
Kaine roars, creating a cyclone of water and dirt. The trees stir, and we all duck to avoid getting wet as an arm of the hurricane sweeps across the clearing. Evan tries to make a run for it, but Kaine twists his fingers in his direction, creating a cage around himself and Evan.
I leap again, landing directly in front of them. Kaine takes two steps back but doesn’t try to run. His sad blue eyes never leave me. The ribbons of water still swirl around them like a protective shield, rendering my gift useless. Anything I throw at him will be put out in seconds.
Maybe I can hurt him without fire? I try to reach for Kaine, but the water responds immediately, becoming a thick, impenetrable wall that doesn’t budge under my touch.
Evan shouts something I can’t hear through the water before he shoves Kaine, landing a solid punch on the vampire’s cheek. It makes my blood run cold when Kaine turns to Evan, and for a terrible second, I think he’s going to hurt him. Instead, he binds his hands and legs with ropes of water.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he says, loud enough that I can hear.
“You call this not hurting someone?” I shout.
Slowly, the wall morphs back into thin strands again, swirling at an angle around them.
Frustrated, I aim another fireball at Kaine’s feet, but it’s useless.
He pulls more water up from the ground to block me.
Instead of falling back down, the water lifts skyward, thinning out to form another set of rope.
It’s unnerving to watch, the way they twist and move, some even weaving themselves into braids.
I try to grab one of the ropes, but this time, instead of hitting a solid surface, my hand slips right through it, as though the liquid was falling from a faucet. Encouraged, I reach further, attempting to grab Evan, but the water tightens around my wrist like a knot.
I try to pull my hand away.
“Jericho!” Evan shouts.
After a moment, Kaine releases me. I step back, glaring at the vampire.
“Release my mate,” I demand.
“Not until you say I’m in this,” Kaine replies.
“We already have,” Evan says through his teeth.
“No,” Kaine replies, shoving a finger toward Evan. “Your mate here hasn’t agreed to anything.”
Kaine turns back to me with a weird smile on his face. I didn’t even realize I’d called Evan that, yet it’s how I see him. How I’ve always seen him. My soul mate. Evan is the only one I’ve ever loved. He’s who I want to spend my life with.
And now Kaine knows what he means to me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Evelyn enter the clearing and reach for the gun. Hope rises. I pray those years hanging around supes taught her some aim.
“Let. Evan. Go.”
Kaine meets my wrath. “Not until you give me what I want.” He yanks Evan to his chest again. With horror, I realize the cage is becoming tighter, the cold water splashing against Evan’s arms and face. He tries to turn away, but there’s nowhere to go.
Fury explodes like a bomb within me. Channeling my power, I let the heat sear the entire length of my arm before shoving it through the tendrils of water to get to Evan.
The moment the heat makes contact, steam erupts like a geyser, popping and sizzling in every direction.
Evan curses, moving away even more frantically, the hot liquid scalding his skin.
Kaine doesn’t let go.
The chords of water twist around my arm like a vice, snaking up to my throat. Realizing his intent, I try to pull away, but too late. The water follows me, clinging to me. As it reaches my throat, it tightens its hold, forcing me to my knees as I gasp for air.
Evan kicks and twists in Kaine’s hold, doing everything in his power to break free or break Kaine’s concentration.
Kaine tilts his head at me, fangs bared. “All you need to do is help me get to Foxx,” he says coldly.
“Just let my mate go,” I rasp, trying to grab the chord, but my fingers slip right through. How the fuck is he doing this?
“Jericho,” Evan cries. “Fuck. Just stop! Please! Stop!”
A gunshot cracks through the clearing like a firecracker, and a split second later, Kaine roars.
Instantly, the vice around my throat loosens, and the cage of water crashes to the ground, completely dousing me. I slump forward, holding my throat and trying to pull in air.
Jasmine and Red lunge for Kaine, pulling him to the ground and clamping their jaws around his arms. Blood from a shoulder wound pools in the water as he thrashes.
“Take him to the cellar,” Forest says from somewhere behind me. “We need to talk to him again.”
Evan gets on his knees in front of me, eyes wide with alarm. “Jer? Babe, are you okay?”
I slowly nod, still rubbing my throat. Never thought water could kill a person in any way but drowning, but Kaine’s gift proves me wrong.
“Are you?” I rasp, noticing his face is riddled with red patches.
“Fine,” he mutters as he hugs me, being careful around my throat. “Jesus Christ. I’m so sick of vampires.”
I crack a smile, despite everything. “Forget you’re dating one?”
He laughs, pulling back. Looking me in the eyes, he cups my cheeks and kisses me. “You’re the only sane one I know.”
Evelyn approaches us, eyes wild. “Are you guys okay?”
We both nod and get to our feet. Now that the fight is over, the cold is hitting me. I’m surprised Kaine was even able to draw that much water from the ground, considering how cold it is. This field will likely be an ice rink in the morning, thanks to him.
“Nice shot.” Evan gestures to the gun in his mom’s hand.
Evelyn grins, lifting the gun while keeping it aimed at the ground.
“Just like riding a bike.” At Evan’s confused expression, Evelyn laughs.
“I told you son, I used to run with all kinds of supernaturals before you were born. Your father taught me how to handle a gun. It was the one good thing I got from him,” she gave him a wink, “aside from you.”
I loop an arm around Evan’s back as we make our way back to the house. The last thing I see before stepping inside is Kaine being tossed into a locked cellar at the side of the house.
“Go on upstairs to change,” Evelyn says. “I’ll get you some tea to warm up.”
“We’re fine, Mom.”
Evelyn turns a hard stare at her son. “I just witnessed you bound and gagged at the hands of that man. Let me do this!”
She stalks away.
A furnace burns wildly in my belly. All I can think about is how close I came to losing Evan.
Losing my mate.
My gums burn for a whole new reason. The need to claim what is mine.
I kiss him. Hard. “Come on.”
Evan makes no argument as I pull him in the direction of our room.
The moment the door kicks shut, I turn to him, kissing him with such passion that it knocks the air from his lungs.
Startled, he tries to pull away, but my grip is firm.
Slowly, I walk him backwards. When his calves hit the mattress, he tumbles onto his back.
I crawl on top of him, kissing my way down to his neck.
But Evan must realize something is off, because he pushes at my chest with both hands. “Jer?”
I freeze, hating that I’ve startled him. Once again, I let that inhuman part of me control what I do.
“Jericho?”
I finally lift my face.
Evan’s brows are pulled together. “You okay?”
“I need to claim you,” I say in a rush. It’s not how I wanted to have this conversation, but with Kaine’s threat on my mind, I can’t help it.
His eyes widen.
“I wanted to rip that man’s head off for hurting you,” I say with barely-controlled rage.
I force it aside, brushing a thumb over Evan’s stubbly cheeks.
“You’re mine, Evan. You’ve always been my partner, even when I didn’t think it was possible.
You’re the only one who’s ever owned my heart.
The only one who will. Let me claim you so I can protect you. It’ll—”
He puts a finger to my lips. “I know what it’ll do,” he says softly. His tone is full of awe and bewilderment.
Marking Evan as my life mate would mean no other vampire could feed from him. It’s forbidden. It would grant legal protection should his life ever be in mortal danger, which means I could kill to defend him. Including Foxx or anyone from his coven.
It’s something I’ve wanted to do ever since I was turned, but it hadn’t felt right, even after I crashed back into his life. I had no claim over Evan. No right to his heart. At least, that’s what I believed.
Now I know differently. Evan not only wants me, he loves me. He wants to be my partner, and the fight with Kaine put all of that at risk. I thought I was going to lose him. Kaine had been so consumed with his need to fight Foxx that it blinded him to anything else. Even Evan’s humanity.
Evan leans up to kiss me. “I am yours. Heart and soul.”
I relax, sliding my arms under him, and tuck my face against his neck. I didn’t realize how cold Evan was until that moment. The water had been only a few degrees above freezing, and it had soaked us the moment Kaine lost control of his gift.
Evan must notice it too because he begins tugging at my wet shirt, but it clings to me like a second skin. “Let’s get out of these clothes.”
I kiss him softly before reluctantly climbing off the bed. Peeling out of the torn sweatshirt, I toss it to the floor. When I remove my undershirt, I notice Evan staring at my crotch with so much heat in his gaze that it sears me like a branding iron.
Without saying a word, he leans forward to lick my stomach.
At the same time, he quickly unfastens my fly to push my pants and underwear down.
I freeze, both from surprise and desire.
Evan strokes the base of my shaft while licking the head and peering up at me.
Those wide, beautiful eyes reveal everything. His trust, his loyalty. His love.
“Evan,” I breathe.
He scoots to the edge of the bed, pulling me forward. I drop my head back as he sucks every inch of my long cock into his mouth. When he hollows his cheeks, I grit my teeth and bend over to tug at his shirt.
Evan stands to yank it off, then quickly lowers his pants. With his clothes gone, I wrap one hand around his shaft before stepping in close to kiss him.
Evan hums against my lips, making my heart stutter. “I want you,” he says.
I slide my arms around him. Want doesn’t even begin to describe my level of desire for Evan.
We return to the bed, and Evan offers me a bottle of lube. I’m about to ask where he got it when he pulls me in for a long, deep kiss.
“Claim me, Jericho. Make me yours.”