Chapter Six
Vil
I swooped out of the night sky just as the car sank below the river’s surface, slowly moving downstream as the current pushed it.
Cars were pulled over on the road, and bystanders stood at the bridge’s edge, staring down at the accident.
No one would notice the man hanging from a pair of wings in the sky.
Though I still didn’t want to take my chances.
I’d already taken a huge risk soaring into the sky after Vanessa hadn’t been at her work when I’d arrived.
I snarled, angry at myself for being several minutes late, but there was no time for the pity party. My mate was in danger of losing her life, and I was the only one who could save her.
Folding my wings around me and ordering my body to fully resume its human shape, I dropped like a stone, hitting the water with a splash on the far side of the bridge from where she’d gone over, hopefully avoiding being seen by any of the bystanders slowly accumulating.
That late at night, there weren’t many, but the evidence of the wreck was hard to ignore.
I expelled some air to clear my nose as the frigid water embraced me, then started swimming toward the car. I looked around warily as I approached before reminding myself that it would be okay. I wasn’t in the waters of my realm. These were safe to swim in, if a bit dirty.
Strong strokes pulled me to the car, where I spotted Vanessa in the back seat. Talons sprouted from my fist, and I dug one hand into the roof and used the other to rip the rear window away.
She was still conscious, but the darkness likely prevented her from seeing much because she looked around wildly, trying to spot anything.
I reached in, my talons returning to fingers, and pulled her free, using a mighty kick to send us toward the surface.
We breached the top, and Vanessa immediately sucked in a huge breath while I simply floated below her, holding her steady, keeping her safe. The river's current quickly pulled us away from the bridge and out of sight of any bystanders.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m alive,” she gasped, still recovering her breath. “Thank you. I … I didn’t think I was going to make it.”
I’d heard that sort of fateful talk before. The heavy acceptance of knowing your life was over and not being able to do anything about it. Accompanied by the empty stare and lack of emotion.
She was in shock.
“You’re going to be okay,” I said, letting the current pull us downstream while, at the same time, directing us toward shore.
We eventually reached a shallow spot where I could get my feet down. Vanessa didn’t resist as I lifted her into my arms and carried us from the water.
“You’re so warm,” she said, leaning harder into me.
I tried not to let myself react, but it was near impossible as she pressed against me.
My cock hardened against my wet pants while blood burned fresh inside me.
I held her high enough that she didn’t brush against my bulge.
She was my mate, but it was not the time for that, no matter how badly I wanted to lay her down in the grass next to the river and make her mine.
Not now, I ordered, brutally shoving aside my desires. I would not lose control around her. I would not. I was there to save her. Not ravage her.
Not yet.
“I think I can stand,” she said.
I carefully set her down, flexing my abs and legs as hard as I could, trying to drain blood away from my dick so that she didn’t notice how hard it had become for her.
I knew it wasn’t a good time, even if we’d already crossed that boundary.
The poor woman had just been in an accident.
She needed my sturdiness, not my sexual prowess.
But by the God-King, when I could finally be free to run my hands along her soft skin, explore every inch of her olive skin, I would spend hours upon hours doing just that.
“Steady,” I urged as her knees wobbled momentarily before stiffening. “There you go. Ready?”
“For what?” she asked, looking up at me wide-eyed.
I didn’t reply. I couldn’t. The words caught in my chest, along with my breath and everything else.
Time stilled as I locked eyes with her. I’d seen her before, at Luxe, and in the Watching Mirror back home, but to see her now, still wet, her hair plastered against her skull, it was the single most beautiful thing I’d ever laid eyes upon.
I started to lean into her, to kiss her, but caught myself as confusion entered the blue of her eyes, followed by a lowering of her precisely shaped eyebrows.
“Thank you,” she said, looking down as I pulled back. “For saving me, by the way. If I haven’t already said so.”
“You’re welcome,” I told her, gesturing up the beach and toward the city. “Come on. We should go. You can’t stay here.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, looking around, still dazed.
I berated myself for nearly kissing her. She wasn’t aware enough for that yet, her mind still coming down from the shock. I had to control myself in her presence better.
“Because you have to come with me,” I said.
“What? Where are we going?” she asked.
“My house,” I explained. “You can recover there. I’ll take care of you.”
In the distance, sirens began to blare as the police or ambulance or whoever finally started to respond. The noise attracted her attention as she looked past my shoulder upstream, where the bridge and the handful of bystanders waited.
“I should probably stay, don’t you think?” she asked. “I mean …”
“No, you need to rest. You’re hurt,” I said, pointing out the blood on her shirt, though I couldn’t tell where she was cut. “We don’t need to wait. Come with me. It’s warm.”
I wasn’t about to let some stupid human police officer try to comfort my mate. If she was hurt or needed help, I was best suited to take care of her. Not them.
Yet you couldn’t protect her either.
I cursed silently at the inner voice. I’d screwed up once. I wasn’t about to do so again by letting her out of my sight, that was for sure.
“Are you bleeding?” I asked, tugging her shirt to see where the cut might be.
She looked down, and a hard shiver ran through her, which I knew wasn’t from the cold.
“I’m fine,” she said distantly, pushing my hands away.
I tried not to take that personally. She wasn’t in the right mindset to know who I was to her just yet, but still, I was concerned for her well-being.
I could already see bruises forming on the exposed part of her upper chest from the seatbelt, so I doubted she was truly fine.
But I had a way to fix her. One that no human could match.
“Come on,” I said. “Let me take you to help.”
She nodded, and I gently scooped her into my arms again, then began to run. Fast. Very fast. That late at night, the streets were mostly empty. There were few pedestrians. We covered ground quickly.
“I thought the police were back that way,” she said after a few minutes, pointing in the absolute wrong direction anyway.
“We’ll get there,” I said, then fell silent as I ran on, heading for my car.
In my haste to reach her, I’d taken to the skies to follow, but now I had to run back into the downtown core. It took another five minutes or so of me running, forced to slow down as we went through the entertainment district, where people still walked the city streets.
“Here we are,” I said, stopping next to a large red SUV. I pulled open the passenger seat to help her in, but she resisted, leaning harder back into me. “What is it?” I asked, confused by her visceral reaction.
“Backseat. Backseat,” she whimpered. “Please.”
I nodded, unsure what that was about, but quickly got her settled into the backseat with a blanket. I hopped in the front, turning on the heat and letting it blast. In moments, she was starting to slump against the door, her eyelids growing heavy as she relaxed.
“You’re safe now,” I said, smiling at her.
“Thank you,” she mumbled.
“You’re welcome,” I said and started to drive, taking us out of the city and toward the Iron Estates, my clan’s home in the country. There, we would find the Rift that would take us back to my realm.
To where I would show the Nine that she was worthy of sitting on the throne next to me. I knew it already, and soon they would, too.
“Where are we going?” she asked after a bit, voice drowsy. “Where are all the lights?”
“We’re going to my home,” I assured her. “You’ll be safe there. I’m going to make sure you get better soon.”
“Safe?” she whispered. “How will I be safe?”
“Because I will protect you. From anything.”
There was a long pause.
“Even from myself?”
I looked back sharply, but she was already asleep.
Now, what in the name of the God-King was that all about?