CHAPTER TWO #2
The older men had been in the woods acting suspiciously and then left, returning later with two younger men.
They did not appear exactly comfortable or at ease; the foursome seemed awkward.
They weren't hunting and had no intention of hunting.
That truth hit Bram squarely, and he immediately turned around and headed back in their direction.
There was an urgency growing in his heart that he didn't understand but would never question. Whatever was going on, he needed to get there and get there fast. Bram moved through the woods quickly, using all his vampire abilities to nearly fly to the last location he'd seen them.
The air suddenly thickened with alarm and a crawling dread that enveloped him. A tight focus and a sense of the environment led him to a group of trees swaying slightly in the breeze.
He listened, and he sniffed the air. The scent of sickness hit him, but there was something else there as well. Under the sickness was the aroma of sweetgrass and honey, lovely but nearly drowned out by the smell of bile. Bram moved among the trees, and then he saw him.
One of the young men from earlier was sitting at the base of a tree, and he looked asleep, but when Bram got closer, he saw the vomit, and it was obvious the man was unconscious.
Rushing over, he took his handkerchief and wiped the sweat away, cradling the man's head in his hand.
The closer he got, the clearer his urgency became.
Fate gave him this assignment, and Fate brought him to this place at this time.
Looking down into the delicate unconscious face of his beloved was a blow he had not expected.
The man was unconscious. His heart was strong, but his breathing was labored.
Bram checked him over and smelled something foreign on his breath; it was acrid and sharp, something that would have gone unnoticed by humans but was glaringly obvious to a vampire.
He had ingested something that had rendered him in a compromised condition.
"What's your name, baby?" He spoke softly, and the man stirred slightly. He pushed the hair out of his face and marveled at the tender beauty that lay in his arms. After a few minutes of trying to rouse him, the man struggled to open his eyes.
“My brother, where is Kyle?” The man reached for a water bottle in his pocket, and Bram helped him, but when he removed the cap, it reeked of something unnatural. This wasn't simply water, and suddenly the man's condition was explained. Bram dropped the bottle.
“That’s not fit to drink my love." The endearments were flowing like he'd known the man for years and not just minutes. The bond was hitting him, and the need to get his beloved out of there and to safety was becoming paramount.
“I’m Casey, my brother Kyle?" The words were spoken with a painful effort, and the fear in his beloved's eyes told him there was much more to this.
“Where is he?” He asked. “Where is your brother?”
"He went toward the road. He went for help." That was all Casey could say before blacking out once again. Bram lifted him and carried him fireman style over his right shoulder. He needed to find his brother, as before, because something in his heart demanded he find Kyle.
Kyle hadn't made it far. Bram found him about five hundred yards from where he found Casey.
Kyle was in a similar condition, and to his utter shock and slight confusion, he realized that Kyle was also his beloved.
His mind was trying to come to terms with having two beloveds and providing them with care and protection.
Their situation was unknown, although their current condition was clearly serious.
Kyle was unconscious and did not rouse when he spoke, and I rolled him over.
Like Casey, his heart was strong, but his breathing was a bit ragged.
Bram picked him up, as he had Casey, and put him over his left shoulder.
They were not large men and were easy to carry.
Bram held tight and headed to the nearby guard station.
He wanted to get them to a safe place and call in a doctor to check them over.
The fact that these two young men were his beloveds bombarded his mind, and his body reacted as well, which was no surprise.
Possibilities for their current condition were flooding his mind.
The two older men they were with were nowhere to be found, and their scent had faded.
Who would drug them, for what purpose or gain?
Was drugging and leaving them in the forest their endgame, or were there plans for them once incapacitated?
He entered the station, which was just a small cabin, basically one room with a bath.
The bed was a full-size, big enough for both of them.
Bram laid them out, removed their boots and jackets, and covered them with a thick blanket.
He then called his commander, Judah Helm, to inform him of the situation and request that a doctor be dispatched to the guard station.
Bram saved the most important information for last. “They're brothers, twins by the looks of it, and their names are Casey and Kyle, and they are my beloveds." Silence followed for a few seconds, and then Judah let loose with a round of congratulations.
“Twins, that’s amazing, Bram. I am very happy for you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I’ll have Rainey meet you to assist in whatever you need. Take care of your beloveds. Bring them home as soon as you can.” Judah was genuinely pleased, and it brought a very possessive, satisfied smile to Bram's usually stoic features.
"Yes, I will, and thank you." With that, he closed the call and turned to regard his two beautiful beloveds.
They were very fine-looking young men. They were blonde, fair, and beautiful.
What a gift and what a surprise. He sat down in a chair pulled close to their bedside and waited for the doctor to arrive.