2. Nothing but Time
CHAPTER 2
Nothing but Time
Lynx
R ez yells, and I jerk away from my mother.
“No, wait,” she pleads, grabbing for my hand again. Torn, I panic slightly, wanting to go to my mate but also wanting to be here with my mother who I haven’t seen in years. But seeing the state of things, my decision is made. I’m here, and my parents aren’t going anywhere. My woman and my family need me first.
“I’ll be back. Rez needs me,” I explain, and she looks up and notices my friends for the first time. I don’t wait, though. I run back to where I had laid down Knots and take in his prone form.
A curse flies from my lips as I see the blood pooling under his head and Reaper standing in it, licking at Knot’s face. Was he attacked while I was going against Dad? Maybe I should have had someone take over for me instead of sitting him down. Fuck, this is my fault.
“What happened?” Levi asks before conjuring material and applying it to Knot’s head.
“I don’t know. Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying attention to him,” JP says in a rush while helping Levi check him over.
“Look, there’s blood on that rock,” Ryker points out. “Do you think he dropped when we all did from that sound and landed on it, knocking himself out?”
“It’s a possibility,” Knox answers, moving to take a closer look at the possible weapon and grabbing Reaper in the process.
A slight thud grabs my attention, and I notice Zeke physically pressing himself into the stone wall across the tunnel with his hand covering his mouth. His pupils shrink to pinpricks as the whites of his eyes widen.
What’s…going…
Within seconds, the click of fangs registers, and Zeke’s eyes flick from his normal green to pitch black. Noticing the bigger problem in the room, I head in Zeke’s direction, confident the guys are handling Knots’ condition.
“Zeke!” Grabbing his shoulders, I push him down and into the wall to help ground him. I try to take up his full field of view because I can’t imagine seeing all the blood is helping him. Thinking back, I didn’t see him taking any blood this morning, and with him exerting himself during our fighting in the tunnels, it probably hasn’t helped any. “Hey, buddy. I need you to focus on me,” I demand, but Zeke’s breathing is erratic, and his eyes do everything but focus on me.
‘ JP! Could use your help over here,’ I call out in my head as loud as possible so I know he can’t ignore me. I pick up his frustration before he even answers back.
“A little busy if you haven’t noticed,” he huffs back under his breath as he tries to prop Knots up, but I hear him with my enhanced hearing.
‘Fine. If you want your boyfriend to eat our Door Knight, it’s no fur off my back,’ I scoff, rolling my eyes.
“What?” JP snaps, and I hear him excuse himself before joining me. “Zeke!” JP calls, grabbing his boyfriend’s cheeks and forcing him to look at him. “ Mon amoureux , I need you to breathe out of your mouth, not your nose. Look at me. Focus on my eyes.”
“You’d have better luck herding cats than getting him to follow instructions right now,” I murmur, and JP throws a glare in my direction.
“What the fuck does that mean?” he snaps, baring his teeth.
“Have you ever tried to herd cats?” I ask with the most innocent look possible. “It’s a nightmare.”
JP turns back to Zeke, his panic obvious on his face when Zeke starts to push past us.
“I’ve always been able to get him to focus on me before,” JP admits.
“Oh, so this happens regularly then.” I can’t help my sarcasm. This is the worst time for this to be happening. It’s just our luck that there are numerous vibrations filtering through the ground, and if I focus enough, I can hear growls in the distance. I only assume it’s more demons, and they’ve found a way to get past our fucking trap.
“No, not really. Only when he’s gone without blood for a long time.”
“Well, that’s peachy. That’s what we obviously need right now. A blood thirsty vamped out Zeke with a bloodied Angel and a mob coming our way,” I point out.
My words get Knox’s attention as he turns, and his jaw drops. It wobbles for a few moments in shock as he takes in the sight on either side of him. His gaze swings between JP struggling against Zeke and the bloody angel causing the drama. It would almost be comical if I wasn’t in the middle of this shit.
“What do you expect me to do?” JP growls out, pulling my attention back to him.
Oh my god. Does my furry ass have to think of everything with these numbnuts? What does Rez see in these guys?
With one hand, I smack Zeke’s hand away from his mouth, and with the other, I push JP’s head toward the zoned-out vamp. As soon as their lips connect, Zeke instantly relaxes his stance, and instead of pushing against us, he pulls JP against his hard body. As their quick make out turns into a quick grope, Zeke pulls away and sinks his teeth into JP’s neck. JP lets out an erotic groan that even makes me need to adjust myself.
Damn, never thought of myself as bi, but who knows. Don’t knock it unless you try it, huh?
“Is he hurt?” My father’s booming voice pulls me out of my musings of possible bisexuality.
“Yes,” Levi offers.
“Let me. We’re about to have company, and I don’t think you’re in any shape to face them,” Dad says as he walks over and easily picks up Knots, being careful of his injury, before facing my friends. “Come inside where it’s safe, and I can help him.” I watch him lead everyone inside the door and disappear, leaving us three musketeers.
I take in the couple in front of me and realize they might not be happy with my interruption. I finally experienced what it’s like to be cockblocked recently, and given the frenzied state they’re in, I don’t think they’re going to react as pleasantly as I did. JP is frantically dry humping Zeke’s thigh and moaning as Zeke treats him like a slurpee in the process. Looking at the complete bliss on JP’s face, I can only imagine how good he’s feeling.
Fuck. Please don’t kill me for trying to keep you alive. And I’d really enjoy keeping my dick attached.
“Hey, big guy, let’s go,” I say, squeezing JP’s shoulder. He lets out a guttural moan, shudders, and leans back into my body.
I glance down at the front of him and notice the wet spot on his crotch. Well, it’s nice to know I have the magic touch. I’m so taking the credit. This had nothing to do with the euphoria of Zeke’s bite.
I grab JP’s arm and swing it over my shoulder, and Zeke’s eyes pop open before hissing at me.
“Bad Zeke,” I say, bopping him on the nose. “I’m not taking away your man. I’m just guiding you to safety. So follow me,” I say, slowly walking backward after he seals his wound and follows us. His eyes track every muscle like I’m prey.
‘Hey, Rezzi-bear. Just a heads up. We have a post-blitz JP with possible blood loss, and a crazed-out Vamp coming in. Think you and the guys can help?’
‘What?’ Her worry blasts through our connection, and she meets me at the door as we come through with a flash of light.
“Shit! Zeke, come here,” she says, grabbing his attention and sitting him down on a small sofa before offering her wrist, which he takes hungrily.
Knox and Ryker come over to take JP from me, guiding him over to the table and chairs across the room.
“What happened?” Levi asks, looking JP over.
“Euphoria is my guess,” I absently say, finally taking a look around the room. It’s not at all like the home I grew up in. For starters, we didn’t live in Hell, and two, I grew up with a small cropping of hills and mountains in my backyard.
We’ve walked into what looks like a small sitting room with our bags tossed around various places in the estranged room. On the right-hand wall, there looks to be a closet and a mirror. Hopefully the mirror isn’t an heirloom because Reaper is chewing on the bottom corner of it. On the left side of the room is a small table and chairs where Levi and Ryker are attending to JP. There is a small sofa where Rez feeds Zeke, and Knox runs his fingers through his hair nervously as he paces the length of the sofa. Moni and Chester are sprawled out on the floor, looking as if they are about to doze off, and on the back wall, I notice a simple wooden door and an archway leading into a hallway.
“No. I mean, what set him off?” Levi clarifies.
“Oh! Knots’ blood, I think,” I answer truthfully. “Speaking of the doorknob, where is the Woodpecker?”
“Your dad is patching him up in the medical room away from everyone,” my mother states, pulling our attention to her in the archway. “Is he okay?” she asks, nodding in JP’s direction.
“I believe he’s lost more blood than normal, but other than that, he’s fine,” Levi explains, looking over in Zeke’s direction.
“Oh dear.” Mom grabs at her chest and visibly recoils slightly. “Let me go get something to help,” she announces before turning to me and giving me the look. You know the one I’m talking about—the mom look. The one you know isn’t to be questioned. “Sweetie, do you mind helping?”
“Wait. Will we be okay with those demons out there?” Rez asks, her eyes wide with worry.
“Of course! This place is indestructible, plus I’m sure the tunnels will take care of it if they want to,” she answers with a smile. “Ready, Son?”
“Sure,” I answer and follow her out of the room, down the short hall into an open-concept living room and kitchen. Both rooms are decorated in the same matching light browns and creams with forest green furnishings from my childhood. I feel my body release the tension immediately, and a sense of home comes over me at the reminder of my past. As my mother heads into the kitchen, I take a few moments to glance around the room.
Most of the room looks unfamiliar to me. Some of the furniture and rugs are new, but as I look at the fireplace, something catches my eye. There’s a silver framed picture of a drawing I did before I left to find Rez of my mother hanging up clothes out of my window in the meadow. I must say, it looks like shit, but I remember being so proud of it, and apparently they were too, to keep it.
“You kept my drawing?” I ask in awe of the fact.
“What d—oh! Of course.” She turns to look over at me with a smile. “We kept everything of yours.”
“Well, that’s sweet of you. I never really stopped to think of what you would do with it when I got the call,” I say as I walk over to the counter she’s working at.
I take a few moments to observe any differences I see in my mother and realize there aren’t any. Even though time has flown by, she hasn’t aged, and she’s magnificent. Seeing my parents again is kinda overwhelming in a good way. I never expected to see them so soon, let alone on this journey. I could have done without the rough start with Dad, and Mom freaking out about me being dead because I was in Hell, but I’ll take it if it gives me time with them.
Mom has already taken down two mugs and is pulling out two dark pitchers from the fridge. “Oh, I kept them so I could show them off to your mate.” She gives me a sly smile as she places the pitchers down on the counter and reaches for the dried herbs over the sink. “It’s a right of passage of sorts to show off embarrassing pics of your child to their significant other.”
A groan leaves my mouth as her meaning dawns on me.
“Ugh. I thought you loved me.”
“I do,” she says and pinches my left cheek. “Think of the positives here. Since you left so early, I don’t have much to share,” she explains as she pours the liquid into the mugs. The scent of blood hits me, and my nose wrinkles from the scent.
“What are you preparing?”
“A cocktail for the Vampire and an Iron Cocktail for the other gentleman,” she admits as she mixes the drinks.
“So you just have blood lying around in the fridge?” I ask, a little weary. Her laughter sets me at ease as she gives me a look full of love. “I’ve missed you so much, little one.” She turns back to the drinks as she continues to talk. “We’re in Hell. Just in case you missed that little tidbit, sweetie.” She winks at me. “And we can’t leave this location, so the fridge acts like a closet does in Purgatory and gives us what we need,” she explains as we walk back to my friends.
It takes me a moment to digest what she just said, and then horror hits me. “Wait. What do you mean you can’t leave?” I ask but pause momentarily as I hear a slight scuffle coming from the sitting room I left my friends in.
Mom simply gives me a slow, sad smile before walking to the waiting room. “It’s not every day that a Vampire can experience pure angel blood, I suspect,” she says to the room but gasps, stopping in her tracks. Knox and Ryker are wrestling with a feral Zeke. Spittle flies from Zeke as he tries to break free and reach for Rez’s dazed body on the sofa. How did it get this way in such a short amount of time?
“What happened?” I ask, torn between helping hold back Zeke and helping Rez even though Moni and Chester are with her.
“Rez tried to ease him off of her, saying she was getting weak, and Zeke snapped and demanded more. So, we had to manually assist,” Levi tersely explains as he helps JP sit up straighter in his chair.
“Here, open his mouth so I can get some of this down him. It will help bring him out of bloodlust,” my mother informs Knox, making my decision easy. Going to Zeke, I help the guys open the walking, talking, rabid blood sucker’s mouth while Mom pours some of the liquid in, making sure not to spill any.
Zeke’s eyes dilate briefly before grasping the cup and taking a heaping gulp. Whatever herbs Mother used are apparently doing something. It’s safe to say he’s completely engrossed as he forgets about Rez and sits down between Ryker and Knox to drink.
Mother quickly walks to JP in his chair and hands Levi the mug. “Here. This will help with the blood loss. He can use the closet for clothes, and there’s a full bath behind that door.” She looks over our crew and notices we’re all filthy from the tunnels. “How about all of you take some time and clean up while I check on your friend? Afterward, I’ll give you a quick tour and let you settle in.” She gives us a warm smile before approaching Rez. “Are you okay, dear? Would you like a tonic?”
“Thanks, but I’m okay. Do you mind if I come to check up on Knots? I need to reapply his shield,” Rez explains as I reach down and take her hand into mine.
I’ve got to hand it to my mom. She doesn’t bat an eye or question what Rez means but nods and motions for her to join us.
“Of course. This will give me a chance to get to know you,” Mom states, and my throat goes dry.
Shit! My mother is meeting my mate for the first time. I am NOT prepared for this.