35. Finley #2
I didn't have to look back to know that Rathal was right on my heels as I headed back into the study.
My first priority was to make sure Sutton was dead so the Senate didn't have anything to hold over me.
Entering the bedroom, I found him slumped forward, a large puddle of blood pooling under the chair.
I couldn't hear his heartbeat or any blood flowing through his body—he was dead.
Hands grabbed my shoulders, and I acted.
Ducking low under the arms, I stepped to the side, sweeping a leg out as I grabbed an arm and yanked the person forward.
Rathal went flying across the room, rolling into the toss, then popped up onto his feet, quickly and smoothly, before he stalked over to me.
"Why did you do that?" he demanded.
"You shouldn't have surprised me like that when I'm in the middle of a job," I growled, baring my teeth in irritation.
He narrowed his eyes at me and seemed to look at me critically for the first time. "You're not just an elf…"
"No, I'm an omega werewolf who's also an assassin," I shared.
Stepping right into my personal space, he cupped my face and moved my head to the side so he could see it better. "You have a mate already?"
"Six, actually, but only three have been claimed. My elf nature hadn't shown itself until tonight when I met you."
I had no idea why I was telling him this, but with his touch on my skin, I could feel that connection he talked about humming through my body. Without realizing it, I was nuzzling into his hands, sighing at the contact just like I would if it was one of my wolf mates holding me.
"So your body does recognize me even if your brain hasn't quite caught up," Rathal mused as his thumb stroked my cheek. "To be so young and still call so many to you before your powers had manifested is astounding. You, my mate, are something special indeed."
Tilting my face up, he dropped his head, and as our lips fused together, I moaned at how perfect it was.
It felt like I was returning home to someone I'd been away from for years and missed dearly.
Everything was new and exciting as much as it was familiar, such was the duality of connection.
The sound of a shotgun being loaded had me shoving Rathal away from me before ducking and charging in the direction of the sound.
My nails extended into claws as I whipped my hand out, slicing into the soft skin of the belly, making our attacker curse as the shotgun went off.
Apparently, the Senate wasn't happy with the job, seeing as Blakely was trying to put a shotgun shell in my brain.
"Didn't anyone tell you it's bad business to double cross an assassin?" I snarled down at the man sprawled out on the floor. "Was this the plan all along?"
"You weren't supposed to be able to finish the job," he croaked. "They were supposed to catch you and sell you off with the rest of them."
"The Senate is working with the Dark Ring?" I demanded, confused.
"You'll have to find that out for yourself," Blakely said with a grin as foam started to froth out of his mouth.
Fucking hell, the bastard killed himself! Tossing him away from me, I looked over my shoulder to see Rathal sitting up with a huge bloody spot growing on his chest. Terror hit me at the thought of losing him, and I scrambled over to his side, catching him when he started to fall back to the floor.
"What do I do? Please tell me there is something I can do about this," I pleaded, the panic I was feeling not at all matching up to the fact that I'd just met him.
Rathal started to cough, causing blood to spill from his mouth as he looked up at me. "I can't heal myself but you could… Trust your power…it will guide you."
"No—no, no, no. You can't just tell me something like that. That's not how I work! I train, and I practice. I don't do things off of instinct. Ask my wolves," I countered, but Rathal wasn't going to argue with me seeing as he passed out.
Laying him on the ground, I pulled up his shirt and saw where the pellets entered him, all centered in his chest hitting both lungs.
There was no chance I could save him… right?
That was just crazy talk! Magic like he was talking about didn't exist. No matter how crazy this world got, it just didn't happen.
Taking in the sight of his beautiful face pinched with pain as he gasped and struggled to breathe, blood leaking out of the side of his mouth, nearly broke my heart.
He was going to die if I didn't do something, so what did it matter if I fucked up? Closing my eyes, I centered myself just like they’d taught us day after day, letting my lungs fill all the way up then empty, pushing out every ounce of air that I could.
Feeling slightly calmer, I placed my hands on his chest, one hand over each lung, and did the breathing exercise again while willing Rathal chest to do the same.
I visualized the pellets lifting from this body, leaving the same way they’d entered, and the tissue damaged being repaired as they were removed.
Breath after breath, I poured my will into my actions, having no idea if what I was doing would work, but he kept breathing and the coughing lessened, so I didn't stop.
Then, as the end of another breath, hands covered mine, and my eyes snapped open to see Rathal's seafoam green eyes looking back at me, clear of pain.
"You did it, heart of my heart, you healed me," he whispered.
Then he pulled me down into a kiss that took the air right out of my lungs, but I would gladly give it to him if it meant he didn't leave me.
Breaking the kiss, I looked down at him, running my hands over his chest to see a strange mark had bloomed there, a mass of swirling lines that made the shape of a heart.
"Seems you claimed me, mate of mine. My heart now beats for you, my soul is tied to yours forever, and my life after a hundred years is just beginning as your Guide."
His words echoed through me, and I knew that they had power to them, but as he’d said— we had the rest of our lives to learn what this meant.
If we survived long enough now that both the Dark Ring and people within the Senate were coming after me. Not to mention that the world was going to know that elves weren't as extinct as they’d thought they were…
The end!
To be continued in book two: Hidden Nature