Chapter 10
~Sylas~
“What is this place?” the hot little wolf demanded with that volatile fury of his, as he spun around and gazed at the space erratically.
“My home.”
He swung his head toward me. “What? Why the hell did you bring me here?”
“You are too worked up and volatile at present to return to your dorm.”
“That’s your assessment. An assessment you made after barging your way into the tail end of a situation.”
“You had let go of all control. While I’m all for punishment when its due, which I don’t deny it was for those who set upon you tonight, there is a line—a line you were at the razor’s edge of crossing.
There are some things that cannot be undone.
Some regrets that linger for an eternity.
I didn’t want your actions tonight to be one such thing.
” I stepped up to him, well aware of his breath hitching when I stopped just shy of invading his personal space.
“I told you. In fact, I warned you. You’re cracking and raging.
What happened tonight, how you handled that ambush, was more than responding in kind.
More than punishment. Everything you’ve allowed to hold you hostage, all that pent-up frustration and repression fueled your actions.
Including what happened with your Wraithqueen in The Fade. ”
“How do you know about that? Were you watching us, you fucking—”
I pressed my hand to his chest and his breath caught, enabling me to cut in, “That violent display with those fools was you detonating. But it wasn’t a safe space. Nor was it a space with what you also need to accompany that sort of freedom of letting loose.”
“What is it you think I also need to go along with that?” he bit back.
“Understanding.”
He stared at me, and I watched as recognition of the truth to my words hit down deep, cutting into all that rage and upset.
I stepped back and gestured at the couch. “Have a seat. I’ll be a moment.”
“A moment doing what?”
“Using the bathroom. If that’s okay with you?” I returned evenly.
He was deeply unsettled at being in my home, as he struggled to come down from that burst of depraved violence and bloodshed, that now there was this clear paranoia coming through as well.
“Fine,” he muttered, actually doing as I’d said and slumping down onto my small two-seater beige couch.
As I watched him settle and start to examine his bloodied state, I slipped into my bedroom and locked the door behind me.
As soon as I was through the door, I couldn’t hide it any longer and I stumbled the few steps to my nightstand, finally able to clutch at my chest like I’d been needing to do since just before I’d called Kai for assistance.
Fuck. It burned like a bitch. It was making it hard to breathe. To even think and see clearly.
I made it to my nightstand and pulled out one of my syringes nestled in the bottom drawer.
And then I eased down my tank top, grimacing at the desiccation that was spreading from my pecs all the way down to my stomach—something that had started up when I’d used high-level necromancy and a massive burst of power at that to hold several rabid vampires in the heat of battle and bloodlust at my will.
The pain was the fucking least of it.
It cut at me that I’d had to call for help, that I’d been compromised.
I was no baby necromancer. I was the fucking strongest wielder of necromantic magic across the supernatural world, so revered that I’d been tapped as a vital recruit for Arcanum Order, that people knew of my talents the world over, that the mere mention of my name carried equal parts reverence and fear.
And I’d been unable to finish what I’d started with suspending those vampires?
I cursed under my breath.
“Everything all right?”
I jolted. Of course he’d heard that. With his wolf and Ancient vampire hearing combined with his current paranoid state, he was likely aware of every little motion of even the leaves of the trees rustling outside.
“Fine. There are wipes in the small bathroom by the kitchen. How about you get cleaned up?”
I heard muttering, but then he actually followed my suggestion again and I heard the thump of his heavy footsteps, then the opening of the bathroom door.
I couldn’t take any chances, though, so I grabbed the syringe and made my way into the ensuite with shaky limbs, turning on the taps for good measure.
Then I brought the syringe to the central site of the desiccation and injected it.
I only just managed to suppress a groan as the grayish tint started to disappear, the natural state of my skin returning, and my strength along with it.
Every time the desiccation started up, it also impacted my power, forcing my magic back and making it that much harder to draw upon, creating some sort of barrier.
But as the serum got to work, my eyes rolled back in my head as what had been held at bay surged forth, rolling through my system again.
Much better.
I strode back into the bedroom with a strength that I no longer took for granted, and returned the empty syringe to the drawer.
I’d fill it up later once I was alone. Fortunately, before I’d left here several days ago for Wraeven Academy, I’d spelled the area of the kitchen where the serum was constantly being made so that it couldn’t be seen or sensed by anyone, and it appeared to anyone looking in on the space as though the table and shelves actually covered with my serum-making equipment were empty.
I sucked in a breath and moved to my dresser, rummaging for a few moments before pulling out a pair of black sweatpants and a white tee.
I took them with me, then opened the bedroom door and walked back out to the living room.
Lazriel emerged in the very next moment, his clothes still covered in blood and flesh, and hell knew what else, but his skin now cleansed of it.
“Here,” I said, tossing him the clothes.
He caught them and cocked an eyebrow. “You think I’m staying here for more than a few minutes? Like staying the actual night here?”
“Can you calm down within a mere few minutes?”
He ground his jaw.
“Fear not, wolfie, I don’t intend to jump you. So feel free to relax.”
“There’s no fear.”
Lies. “Then I guess you can take comfort in having a safe place to spend the night while you calm down and have time away to process things.” I gestured to my open bedroom door. “Unless you’re in the mood to offer me a strip show, you may change in there.”
He glared at me, then stormed over there.
I grinned as I watched him slam the door behind him.
My phone buzzed in my pants pocket and I pulled it out, swiping it open to find a text.
Kai: Done. All sorted. Are you okay? Did you get to the serum in time?
Sylas: I’m good. Thanks for the help.
Kai: No worries. Enjoy your night with your fresh one.
Sylas: Stop calling him that.
Kai: Hmm. Your intention isn’t merely to play then?
Sylas: Kai.
Kai: Wolf and vampire? Just rough and hard enough for you. Don’t let him feed. A little taste beforehand would have been okay even with the necromantic blood in play. But with that infection now, it will be toxic.
Sylas: I’m aware. Thanks. End of sex advice. Unless you want me to recall in glorious graphic detail our little dalliance a few years back?
Kai: Gotta go. Pool fun with Ari.
I smiled to myself. That was about right.
I pocketed my phone with fingers tingling faintly from the serum’s aftershock.
Thankfully, the intense head rushes didn’t happen anymore. You’d think it would be a good thing, but it was actually my body developing an increasing resistance to the medication.
The bedroom door opened again and I looked to see Lazriel emerging, already changed in my clean clothes.
My clothes.
He was wearing my clothes.
Fuck. Me.
My shirt clung to him, a little small on his broad, highly-toned frame, all that muscle straining against the fabric of the white tee. The sweatpants sat low on his hips, showcasing more than I needed to see right now.
I really hadn’t thought through how it would hit, seeing him wrapped in me like that.
I swallowed hard.
“Problem?” he asked, jolting me from my thoughts. “Did the Academy figure out we’re not in for the night?”
“No. And they won’t. I’ve seen to it. That was Kai confirming things are taken care of.”
“They won’t? Why is that? What did you do?”
“I need to be able to come and go as I please, so I put a spell in place to facilitate that. I merely allowed that to encompass you also for tonight.”
“How?”
“Excuse me?”
“You think because I don’t wield magic that I don’t understand how it works?” He scoffed. “I’m well aware that you would have needed something of mine to bind me to this spell of yours.”
I lifted a shoulder. “A few strands of your hair.”
“What? How did you—”
“During our delightful encounter when you slammed me up against that tree and were all over me.”
“Shit, you’re something else.”
“That I am.”
He scrubbed his hand over his face. “Do you have anything to drink? Something to take the edge off and hasten me calming down?”
“Hasten it so that you can take your leave of me?”
Instead of addressing my question, he pushed, “Well, do you? I’m figuring it’s gonna be some fancy wine shit.” He looked around the space, frowning. “Although, that whole fancy edge has been called into question with this hovel being your home.”
“Hovel is a little harsh. It’s off the radar. That’s what matters.” I pushed away. “I used to drink Scotch, but it’s been a while, and I don’t have any here,” I said, making my way toward the kitchen. “I’ll make you some blackcurrant tea. It possesses soothing properties.”
“Can’t you just conjure the Scotch?”
It was my turn to deflect. “The tea will suffice.” I added over my shoulder, “Would you like to talk about what happened tonight—both situations?”
I was just about to step into the kitchen when a rush of air had me spinning around, just a second before I was slammed up against the adjacent wall, Lazriel growling and pinning my arms down at my sides.