CHAPTER 7
Rue
Now that the initial rush of strength and euphoria has passed, I’m exhausted. My body feels like it’s a hundred degrees hotter than it should be. My wrist is throbbing in some smudged up rhythm to the beat of my heart. My head feels seconds away from exploding like a popcorn kernel in the microwave. Or like a potion spell mixed wrong that explodes in your face. That’s happened before and it’s not fun cleaning up the mess or getting it out of your hair.
The good news is the venom is slowly burning from my veins. The bad news is I have a lot of injuries the shifter enzymes won’t heal, and I’m completely at the mercy of these three men. My brain should revolt at the thought, not tell me to sink deeper into Rhys’ embrace as he helps me up and we begin to walk.
After the second time I trip, he wordlessly scoops me into his arms bridal style and carries me. The movement jostles my wrist, but I bite my tongue to keep from crying out. I’ve done enough of that tonight. “Where are we going?” I murmur, or at least that’s what I think it was. It could’ve been complete gibberish at this point. It’s as if every muscle in my body has turned to jelly and I’m only along for the ride. Alongside my tongue.
“Shh, you’re all right, vixen. I’ve got you. We’re taking you somewhere safe.”
“Mmm, somewhere safe. That sounds nice.”
I turn my head to watch the other two shifters and keep an eye on the vampire who attacked me, trusting they’ll know what to do with him. Caylix’s golden eyes are fixed on me as he watches us walk away, a puzzled expression on his face. The way his golden gaze catalogs everything leads me to believe his wolf is at the surface.
Meanwhile Kathan takes some heavy-looking handcuffs out of his back pocket and restrains the unconscious vampire. The cuffs almost appear weightless in his large hands. He tests them by yanking on them twice, his muscles bulging with each pull before tossing the vampire over his shoulder. At some point, I lose sight of them.
I must black out for a second because the next thing I know, I’m deposited into the back of an SUV. Rhys is murmuring to me, I think, but it’s so soft I can’t really make anything out… Or it could simply be his chest rumbling, but either way it feels incredible and sets me at ease. I sink further into his hold, allowing it to wash over me. My body already feels hotter than before and I’m more than delirious. I’m certain I’m feverish and that’s why everything seems hazy.
My head is in Rhys’ lap, judging by the angle of his face I keep getting quick snapshots of every time my eyelids flutter open. His ruffled blond hair is wild like he’s been running his hands through it and his concerned blue eyes stare down at me from above. A wrinkle appears in the middle of his forehead, and he quiets me. “Don’t try to talk, Rue. Save your strength. You’re going to need it.”
Huh? Going to need it? I didn’t even realize I was saying anything.
As if he reads the unspoken question in my eyes, he explains, “The feral pumped a lot of venom into you, vixen. It’ll take a while for our saliva to fully burn through it. Until it’s out completely, it’ll wreak havoc in your system.” His expression turns grim and a burst of anxiety kicks in.
“Tell me,” I manage to whisper, my throat raw and scratchy from screaming earlier. The burst of strength their saliva gave me is now completely gone.
There’s a debate back and forth in his eyes until he finally sighs. “Fuck. I can’t lie to you, Rue. There’s no way to know if the venom has already taken hold. And if you survive, you’ll need a healer for the rest of your injuries and to repair any damage the venom has caused. There’s no telling what it could do with your magic.”
A shock wave of agony rolls through me, and I’m forced to shut my eyes tightly, curling my hands into fists to help bear the pain. My mouth waters as nausea rolls through me, and for a moment, I’m afraid I’m going to hurl on Rhys. He doesn’t seem bothered, continuing to rumble and stroke my hair. Once the wave passes, I let the delirium claim me.
Sometime later, the sound of two car doors snapping closed jostles me from the darkness and loud, angry voices filter in through the fog disorienting me.
“Do you know what this fucking means, Caylix?” Kathan demands. “Because I don’t think you understand the severity of what’s happened here tonight.”
There’s a snarl and a thump like someone smacks the steering wheel before Caylix responds. Vaguely, I feel the motion of him reversing and then the forward momentum as he flies out of wherever we are onto the highway. Not that I can see it with my head in Rhys’ lap, but it’s the most logical choice. “Oh, I understand,” my dancing stranger throws back at his packmate. “I understand that we must, at all costs, keep her out of those feral fuckers’ hands. We have no clue what the hell we’re dealing with here.”
“The vampires will destroy her. The witches would kill her. Who the fuck knows about the fae,” Rhys adds from the back.
Me?
Surely, they’re not talking about me, right?
I swear I can hear the grumpy one’s jaw grind from back here. “We don’t even know her!” he roars, and I flinch. Rhys instantly zeroes in on the action and his chest rumbles once more, trying to calm me. I wish I could wade through the heaviness in my mind to sort through what the hell they mean by all that, but it’s like trying to walk through a pool of pudding.
“Shut the fuck up,” he hisses at the other two. “She can hear you.”
The conversation dies at that point, both men properly chastised. It doesn’t feel like we’ve gone all that far before the ride suddenly goes from smooth to bumpy. Rhys tightens his grip to keep me from jostling around as much.
This night’s turning out to be a real frog’s wart of a catastrophe. A tingle of magic washes over me, one I feel right down to my very bones as if it’s weighing me, sizing me up before I emerge on the other side of it and the sensation is gone as quickly as it came.
“We’re almost to the cabin,” Caylix grits out from his position behind the wheel. “Rhys, take her straight inside. I don’t want the rest of the pack getting word of her yet, understand? Not until we can get a handle on the situation. And especially, not my sister. Not a word of this to her.”
Panic suddenly floods my system, giving me a burst of clarity. If they don’t want anyone to know about me, it must be bad right? What if their plans are nefarious and I’m totally reading them wrong? Oh, witches’ tits, am I on pack land? Is that the strange tug in my chest and the weird magic I felt a few minutes ago? I’ve never been on pack land before to know for sure.
“The pack will notice we’re holed up in here sooner than later,” Kathan comments, interrupting my panicked train of thought. “They’ll think we’ve taken a mate.”
“We’ll come up with an excuse to placate them in the morning,” Caylix responds. “No one breathes a word about the feral.”
Hexes. What’s wrong with me? Why did I come with them so willingly?
As if sensing my inner turmoil, Rhys glances down at me and his eyes widen. “Shit, we’re freaking her out. It’s not that we want to hide you, Rue. It’s that we don’t understand what happened tonight, and until we do and can keep you safe, it’s not smart for others to know the truth.” His soft, caring tone is enough to instantly settle my nerves. They saved my life. Why would they kill me now?
“He’s right, little witch,” Caylix murmurs, and I turn my head, catching the briefest bit of his golden eyes watching me in the rearview mirror. It’s not even pointed at the back. It’s pointed at me.
There’s not a second for me to analyze how it makes the tug in my chest stronger or how it makes me feel as the SUV slams to a stop. Gravel crunches under the tires and Rhys holds me tighter to keep me from rolling forward. The pressure of his embrace cocoons me in warmth. “We’re here,” he says, stroking my cheek before popping the door open.
He extracts himself from underneath me before diving in to pick me up again, carrying me bridal style. A gasp and a pitiful moan tumble from my lips as the movement jostles my injuries and his eyes tighten around the edges. “I know it hurts, vixen, but hold on a little longer. We’ll get you inside and call the healer, okay?”
“Okay,” I croak, exhaustion weighing heavily on me as nausea threatens to consume me whole.
I catch a glimpse of the delicate wood lined walls, likely cypress if I had to guess, and an open ceiling with log beams crossing the expanse, giving it a modern cabin feel. Rhys rounds a corner into a hallway, kicking open the first door. He gently deposits me on a soft bed that dips when he sits beside me. Like on the ride over, he smooths my sweaty hair out of my face, proceeding to bend over to kiss my forehead.
“Sleep, vixen. You’ll be safe here,” he commands softly, and so I do, like I was merely waiting for the okay. When I wake, I’m going to have a serious talk with myself about trusting hot strangers.