CHAPTER 12
RueI jolt awake from a new nightmare, one where there’s a thousand sharp fangs piercing my flesh, and sit upright in the unfamiliar bed. I take in my surroundings. There’s soft light filtering in through the window, spreading its rays across the comforter.
The familiar bedding makes my pounding heart settle a fraction, my brain pushing through the sludge and catching up to where I am and why I’m here. And boy, do I have a bone to pick with these men.
The sudden movement has Rhys springing from the chair he’s sitting in, on guard like he’s preparing for an attack. His eyes scan the room wildly and he stumbles in his haste to get to me. The solid wall of muscle that is Rhys Callahan goes down hard. Years of muscle memory is likely the only reason he doesn’t smack his head against the bed frame.
He peers up at me from his awkward push-up type position before placing one hand against his back and lowering himself to the floor with one arm like that’s what he meant to do the whole time.
I can’t help it. I laugh and the sound of it brings a grin to his lips. “Can we pretend you didn’t see that happen?” he asks. “Definitely not my best moment.”
“Sure, as long as you pretend you didn’t see me startle from a nightmare.”
“Deal,” he says, picking himself off the floor. His muscles bunch and contract, and I swear I drool for a second before snapping myself out of it. I can’t fall for these shifters. No matter what. They tried to have my memories stripped from me and that’s not okay.
A seductive voice in the back of my mind whispers they saved my life when they could’ve let me die a horrible death, but I shove it away and focus on the moment. The bed dips beside me as Rhys sits and lifts a hand to my forehead. I gasp at the contact. Yeah, I’m warm but not because of a fever. It’s the hottie sitting next to me in bed.
“No fever,” he confirms. His gaze dips to the rest of me, searching for my other injuries. I lift the broken wrist and stretch out my fingers, staring at it in wonder as I wiggle them freely. It’s no longer broken and there’s not an ounce of pain.
“Seems my injuries are healed too.”
“Vampire blood is…” he trails off and clears his throat. “Powerful. As you saw yesterday.”
I’ve heard it is, but what happened with Slade was so much more than powerful. It was potent, like his blood connected me to him on a deeper, rawer level, and now I’m inexplicably tied to him in ways my brain hasn’t caught up to yet. I crave more of him as much as I crave more of his blood. What the heck is wrong with me?
Rhys quietly watches all my expressions as I puzzle everything out, and suddenly, it dawns on me he ran away after watching me drink Slade’s blood. An echo of sadness whispers through my chest and a twinge of guilt hits me square in the gut over the whole ordeal. They had to watch me dry hump Slade while drinking his blood and I enjoyed the euphoria. What does that say about me?
“I’m sorry,” I say at the same time he says, “You two have a connection.”
My cheeks burn and I duck my head. “Yes, it, uh, seems like we do.”
“Would you like to talk about your nightmare?” he asks, changing the subject.
I glance away from him, feeling all too vulnerable. Teeth flash in my mind again, hundreds of red eyes and fangs pouncing on me, digging into my flesh, and tearing me apart. My fingers itch for my drawing supplies to commit the monsters to paper. “No, not really. How long was I out?”
He nods in understanding and doesn’t push further. “A little over a full day. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re already awake. We expected you to be out much longer since you were so banged up.”
“Tell me about it,” I respond with a sigh. “Thank you, Rhys. For being there and saving me, for giving me your saliva. Without you I—“ I stop, choking up at the very real fact that if they hadn’t been there, I’d be dead right now. Just because I’m mad at them doesn’t mean I can’t express my gratitude.
He leans over and wipes a tear from my cheek. My breath catches at how warm his skin is against mine. Being this close to him brings out all those tingly, lusty feelings, but I ignore them and the fact he’s close enough to kiss if I wanted. He must pick up on my thoughts though because his gaze zeros in on my lips and his tongue darts out to wet his own.
The memory of him claiming me pops up and my body flushes.
She’s mine. I wonder if he truly meant it.
His nostrils flare as he smells my desire and heat flashes in his eyes. It would be so easy to give in to my body’s wishes and press my lips against his, but I don’t.
“Have you been watching me this whole time?” I ask, and the spell breaks.
Rhys nods and points to another chair on the other side of the room, rumpled blankets strewn across it, and says, “You actually just missed Caylix. He’s been rotating with Kathan, but I’ve been here the whole time. You were touch and go for a while with the fever till Slade’s blood kicked in fully.”
My heart expands with gratitude for them watching me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he whispers back.
My stomach rumbles loudly and I place a hand over it to muffle the noise. “Oh, vixen. If you were hungry, all you had to do was say so.” Rhys hops off the bed and holds out his hand to help me up. I place mine on his, sucking in a sharp breath at the heat that flares up my arm from the contact. There’s no denying there’s something between Rhys and I, but I’m pointedly ignoring it for now. Although his eyes darkening tells me he doesn’t miss the connection either.
My stomach lets out another ferocious roar, telling me she’ll not be silenced. “Sheesh, okay,” I mumble, and Rhys laughs. Now that I’m thinking about it… I can’t remember the last time I ate. No wonder my stomach is angry and demanding sustenance.
He moves his hand from mine, shifting it to my back as he leads me from the bedroom toward the kitchen, like he can’t stand not having his hands on me somehow. I don’t push him away because my legs are a little wobbly. That’s what I tell myself, anyway.
The hardwood creaks beneath our feet as he leads me to one of the stools, and I sit down. “What are you in the mood to eat?” he asks, circling around their little island to pop open the fridge. Normally, I’d offer to cook myself something but seeing as it’s their cabin, I’m leaving that honor to him.
I tap my fingers on my chin in thought. “Hmm. Well, what do you have?”
He carefully scans the fridge before turning back to me with a grimace and he actually seems quite upset. “Not much, honestly. I think we might have everything for a turkey sandwich. This is our honeymoon cabin, so we don’t keep it stocked, considering we didn’t have a mate—“ He cuts off before opening a cabinet and rummaging through it.
“It’s insane to me you’re not already taken. Despite everything, you seem like a great bunch of men, even if Kathan is a bit of an ass—I mean, grumpy…” I trail off with a wince.
“What you meant is an asshole,” he says with a tilt of his lips. “Trust me, we know. He’s a bit of a hothead but he keeps us safe. Especially after—“ His eyes widen and he turns around, placing a package of bread on the counter. “Well, that’s not my story to tell. Turkey sandwiches cool with you?”
“Fine by me. At least it’s not ham.” I shudder despite myself, and Rhys cocks his head at me. “Listen, I know everyone swears by ham, but I can’t stand it.”
“All right then, making a mental note not to buy you ham.” When he realizes what he said he winces. “I’m sorry you’re stuck here until we figure out what’s going on with your blood.”
“I guess being cooped up with three hot shifters won’t be the worst thing in the world.” I cover my hand with my mouth, cursing my brain for speaking without thinking. What is wrong with me lately? Here they are practically keeping me hostage and I’m blurting how hot I think they are.
My cheeks darken and I swear it makes Rhys’ grin cockier. “Oh, you think we’re hot, huh?” he asks from underneath eyelashes that any woman would be jealous of.
Ugh, screw it. It’s already out there in the universe. No sense in lying about it now. “Yes.”
“Nice to know,” Caylix says as he appears from the hallway with a grin. He’s dressed casually with a black T-shirt that spreads nicely across his chest and jeans that fit like they were made specifically for him. He tosses me my phone and it rings in my hand, the shrill tone blasting my ears. “I charged it for you and it’s been ringing nonstop since it turned on. We also found your car keys. One of our enforcers will pick your car up and drop it off later.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Like clockwork the musical tone starts up again. I check the caller ID, letting out a silent groan as I swipe my finger across the screen to accept. They’ll keep calling until I do, if I don’t.
“Hello?” I answer.
“FINALLY!” my two supposed best friends screech at the same time.
Darcy’s voice overpowers Tessa’s. “Are you still with that hottie alpha shifter? Girl, a two-day weekend binge is fine, but like, you didn’t show up for work today!”
My stomach lurches with the realization. “Oh my god, what day of the week is it?” I blurt.
“Uh, girl. It’s Monday?” Tessa’s tone implies I’m an idiot.
It’s Monday already? Hexes, that’s not good. I mean it’s not like I’ve exactly kept up with the days being in and out of consciousness, but crap. This is not good. I cut Tessa off in the middle of saying something about Rhys’ abs. “Look, it’s a long story. Can you cover for me? I’ll explain later, but I won’t be coming in for a while.”
“Rue Delacroix! Are you shacking up with a shifter?” Tessa demands.
“Oh my toad on a broomstick! This is so juicy!” Darcy squeals.
“Please, just cover for me,” I plead, biting my lip. I’m still upset over them ditching me and acting like absolutely nothing happened, but I don’t have the brain space to deal with work, them, and everything else right now. I haven’t even had a chance to talk over the next steps with the guys yet.
Caylix takes the phone from me and ends the call. Which should make me angry, except I’m overwhelmed and silently grateful for it as I place elbows on the counter and put my head in my hands for a second, trying to rub away the headache building behind my eyes.
I feel rather than see Kathan walk into the kitchen behind me. His presence fills in the room, more than his hulking body does. It’s like all the awareness in the room is unable to help but zap right to him, including my own. I turn my head and notice his sharp gaze tracing my movements, so I smile. More so because I’m not sure what to say but he only frowns. Seems like he doesn’t know what to do with me either. Finally, he sits by me at the counter, so there is a shifter on either side of me as Rhys makes us all a sandwich.
“We should talk,” I say.
“We should,” Caylix agrees. His gaze darts to my neck. Subconsciously, my fingers rise to the puncture wounds there. I’m surprised to find the skin healed over, but there are still slightly raised bumps, like a scar. “I don’t want you to feel like we’re trapping you here, Rue,” he tells me, shifting on his stool to face me fully.
“But I’m assuming you won’t allow me to leave either?”
“Is that what you want?” he asks, his tone and expression completely genuine. Something tells me if I truly wanted to leave, he’d let me. But do I really want to return to a stuffy office job doing paperwork for the Witches Council and go home to my tiny apartment in the city, flooded with sound, when it’s so peaceful out here?
I’m surprised the answer is no. All my life I’ve been reaching for something more, always wanting to step out of the box and this is my opportunity.
And it’s not like I could return with these puncture marks on my neck. The rumors they would produce… I’d be in all the witchy gossip magazines the very next day—if not the same day. I’d be dragged before the Witches Council to give a testimony about what happened and that would only further complicate things. I need to bide my time until I know more. I’ve mostly ignored the world around me and now it’s knocking on my door.
Not to mention my insane attraction to these men. The thought of possibly leaving them is enough to make my heart ache and my stomach clench.
They wait patiently for me to answer. “No, I don’t really want that. What I do want is answers. What’s with the vampire who attacked me suddenly growing a brain again? Something tells me he didn’t magically find a green wizard at the end of a yellow brick road.”
Rhys snorts. “Definitely not. Though you may be wishing the answer was that simple.” His jaw is clenched, and he glances away from me like he didn’t mean to say that out loud.
“You know something, don’t you?” I study Kathan and Caylix who are glaring at Rhys. “Well, don’t leave me hanging! It’s kind of my life here.”
Rhys glances at Caylix who nods. “We think your blood cured his Feral Sanguinarius,” he responds, and I swear my jaw hits the floor as shock tumbles through me.
“You think what?”
Cursed cauldrons, no wonder they want to keep me here, but they must be wrong. It’s insanity, right? My thoughts spiral to the other night. It’s hard to deny when I saw with my own eyes that he was feral before drinking my blood and then, bam, awake and lucid, seemingly no longer driven by his intense thirst for blood after. Rhys places our sandwiches in front of us and the conversation pauses for a moment while we silently eat, and I contemplate.
“That’s insane. In all my years, I’ve never been anyone special. I’m not powerful. I’m barely what you’d call beautiful. Why would I suddenly become someone important now?”
Rhys’ chest rumbles with a growl of protest. “You’re special, Rue. I knew it from the moment I laid eyes on you at the bar. Don’t let anyone ever make you think otherwise. You’re more than beautiful too. You’re absolutely radiant.” Butterflies take flight and riot in my stomach, but I don’t know what to say to that. When you’ve spent your entire life flying under the radar, taking compliments doesn’t come with ease. Especially when they’re spoken with as much conviction as Rhys. “Okay?”
“Okay.” I take a bite of my sandwich and let the conversation die off, thinking through my options. I can either stay here and potentially find out what’s going on with me or go home and ignore everything, hoping for the best. “I’ll stay.”
I swear the room lightens after that and it makes me feel more wanted than I ever have before.