5. Finley #4
Rathal closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and raised a hand to my temple.
Knowing what he wanted, I pulled down my shield, allowing him to see my thoughts and emotions.
I wouldn’t lie to him, never to him, or Finley now that she was a part of my soul.
This was her family, and that made it mine, which I would protect from everything, including myself.
“Ven,” Rathal said before pulling me into a hug.
“I would be lying to you if I didn’t tell you that I’ve missed you, my friend.
” He pulled back, dropping his arms back to his side.
“When I saw them bring you into the holding area for the action, I couldn’t believe it.
I thought about making sure you got out, but it was too dangerous for Finley, and she is forever going to be my first priority. ”
“As she should be,” I agreed. “Even if she wasn’t my Blood Bond, she is one amazing woman whose side I wanted to be on in this fight.
I already told her this, but whatever is mine to rule or that I own is now hers as well.
If she wants the whole Nistor army, then she shall have it, Father be damned. ”
“Have you spoken to him at all?” Rathal asked.
I shook my head. “No, I was arrogant and wanted my pound of flesh, fat lot of good that did me.”
“It brought you here,” he offered, giving me a glimmer of hope our friendship could be renewed. “Go get cleaned up. You look like a caveman. Finley might have brought you back to life, but you need to pull it all together.”
With a clap on the shoulder, he left me to enjoy, for the first time in what felt like forever, a hot shower with no fear of what might come after.
After I’d washed all the filth off my body, I rummaged through the drawers until I found a decent pair of jeans and a simple black T-shirt.
It wasn’t at all my taste, but as Rathal said, there would be plenty of time for me to acquire what I needed.
Leaving the shirt off, I looked at my face in the mirror, and he wasn’t wrong.
I did look like a caveman with shaggy hair and a beard that many would be envious of with how full it was.
Too bad I wasn’t a fan of facial hair at all, so I shaved it down and found a razor to make my skin smooth as silk.
Whatever Finley had done to me was remarkable.
Seeing my human eyes took some getting used to, but it was a pleasant adjustment to make.
For my hair, I took the sides short and left the top longer so I could style it back away from my face.
It wasn’t the best haircut in the world, but it was better than looking like Cousin It.
Finally feeling like a free man for once in my life, I cleaned everything up and returned downstairs to find Finley digging into the omelet I had made her.
One of the twins was eating the mushrooms that ended up on the side and made a mental note not to use them again.
They both looked up as I reached the kitchen and she gave me a soft smile.
Everything about her glowed with the just fucked look. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I felt her eyes drift over me, probably thankful I was a rather attractive man under all that hair and filth.
“Not a fan of mushrooms, I see,” I commented, nodding to the plate.
She looked down as if she didn’t know one of her mates was eating off her plate. “Mason, if you wanted them, you just had to ask.”
“Why would I do that when this is much more fun? I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take you to notice,” he teased, kissing the side of her head. “We wore you out good, didn’t we?”
“Hmm,” she sighed, nuzzling into the beta’s neck before pressing a kiss to his skin. “I can have a nap after eating, right?”
“Babe, if you can hold out a little longer, we are gonna pack some stuff up and load it into one of the trucks. When we get back to the main house, we can tuck you into your nest while we deal with things,” Noah, the other half of the twins, said, coming into the kitchen, pulling on a shirt.
Finley nodded her head but didn’t pick it back up from Mason’s shoulder. “Come on, snuggles, you need to eat. I know you’re tired, but it’s really not good for you to get too hungry. It doesn’t go over well with your wolf.”
“I’ll sit with her while you collect what you need,” I offered.
The brothers looked at each other and I could feel the hum of them talking to each other mentally.
I knew this could happen with twins, but I’d felt it between all of them at one point.
As a vampire, all forms of mind control, speaking, and manipulation were standard.
Being as old as I was, I was quite skilled in many areas.
Currently, I only had the ability to mentality speak to Finley, being my bond.
“You might want to move into one of the bedrooms since we’ll be opening the door. We wouldn’t want you to get extra crispy,” Mason suggested.
I smiled and nodded my head. “Thank you for your concern, but it seems what Finley did to me has made me more resistant to the sun. It’s still uncomfortable to be in it, but I don’t start to smoke either.”
They both looked at me, surprised, and this information seemed to pull Finley’s attention as well. “I knew I did too much when I healed you.”
“Too much?” I asked, not understanding.
She nodded, looking me dead in the eye when she said something I never knew was possible. “I can heal a person from vampirism and return them to being human.”
“You know this for a fact?” I blurted.
“I’ve done it once by accident,” she shared. “When I was healing you, I tried to keep my magic in check and only heal what was damaged, to restore what was original without making you human. Seems I left you somewhere in between.”