Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
T he next five days were the best—and worst—of Roan’s life.
Finally being with Haven the way he’d wanted to for so long, sharing her life, sharing her bed, made him feel…complete. He’d never felt the kind of acceptance and comfort and warmth that he felt in her arms.
Even doing mundane tasks with her—cooking, training, running errands, watching the stupid television shows she loved so much—was enjoyable. If he was bathed in her light, he was a happy man. That’s all it took.
But, as good as he was feeling, knowing there was a demon out there who wanted to drag her to another dimension for some reason, a demon that was, for all intents and purposes, indestructible, definitely cast a large shadow on his comfort. That was the problem with finally getting everything he’d ever wanted.
He had more to lose.
And if there was anything at all he could count on in this world, it was that things could always get worse.
Day six was when they officially got worse.
Roan watched Haven take the phone call. It started off innocently enough. She greeted her mother, her expression warm and open. Then, as her mother spoke, Haven’s smile dropped, and the color drained from her face.
When she disconnected the call, he braced himself and asked, “What is it?”
“It’s Levi. He found the demon. He’s in our infirmary.”
He frowned. “The demon, or Levi?”
“The demon got away. Levi wasn’t so lucky.”
As they made their way to the infirmary, Roan couldn’t hold back a snarky, “Sure would be nice if I could teleport us there.”
“Oh, shut up,” Haven muttered.
He smirked at that. She screwed up so rarely that he fully intended to lord this one mistake over her head for the rest of their lives.
Hopefully, he’d have a long, long time to do it, too. But given their current state of affairs, who the fuck knew?
Roan wasn’t sure what they’d see when they got to the infirmary. Somewhere in his mind, though, he figured it wouldn’t be that bad. Werewolves had healing abilities that were similar to a demon’s. So, even if the Kurgan had burned him, Levi’s lycanthropy could heal it.
But after seeing the damage firsthand, Roan was starting to rethink what he knew about werewolf healing ability.
Haven entered the infirmary first, and when she stopped dead in her tracks, Roan walked into her back. It only took him a second to figure out why.
Over the years, Roan had seen many injuries. Hell, he’d had many injuries. He’d seen his own thigh bone poking through the skin more than once. But he’d never seen anything like what had happened to Levi.
The Kurgan had melted a hole clean through the layers of skin and bone on Levi’s chest, stopping when he got to his heart. Even as he laid there, Roan could see Levi’s heart beating. No one (other than maybe a heart surgeon) should be able to see another living being’s heart beating. It was…disconcerting, frankly.
Even for a shifter, it’d take weeks to heal that kind of injury. It would’ve killed a human.
Or a dhampyre like Haven.
Haven let out a gasp/sob combo that tore at Roan’s heart as she fell into a chair at Levi’s bedside. He probably understood what she was feeling better than anyone in this room. It was the kind of guilt that could eat away at your soul if you let it.
The room was filled to capacity. Harper, Riddick, Gabriel, Benny, Seven, Hunter…they were all present. He imagined Nikolai, Quinn, Mischa, and Lucas were somewhere nearby, too. This was clearly an all-hands-on-deck situation.
Levi turned his head ever-so-slightly in Haven’s direction when she gingerly took his hand in hers. “Hey, little red,” he rasped. “If you’ve come to beg me for a second date, I think I’m gonna need a little more time.”
“That’s not funny,” she said with a sniffle.
“It’s a little funny,” Benny murmured. “I mean, he’s laying there with a hole where a sternum should be and he’s flirting. There’s a certain joke-y quality to that.”
Harper rolled her eyes. “At least he didn’t go for an Alien joke. That would’ve been the obvious play.”
“I think it’s clear this wasn’t an alien,” Seven said. “It was obviously the Kurgan.”
Riddick nudged her with his shoulder. “She’s talking about the old movie where the alien uses a dude’s body as a host, then bursts out of the guy’s chest while the crew on the spaceship was having dinner.”
Harper laid a hand over her heart. “Aw, honey, you got the reference! I’m so proud of you.”
Seven’s nose wrinkled up. “That’s gross.”
“It was awesome ,” Benny said. “But not as good as the sequel, Aliens .”
Harper nodded. “RIP Bill Paxton.”
Benny kissed his fingertips and raised them heavenward. “Word.”
Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’d love to go home at some point today. Can we move past the obligatory jokes and pop culture references and get to the real issue here?”
Haven ignored them (which was another of her superpowers that Roan truly admired. Her ability to blend into the chaos of her family and not fall victim to it was astonishing) and gave Levi’s hand a squeeze. “How is your pain? Do you need anything?”
He cleared his throat. “The doctor gave me morphine. Like, lots of it. I’m actually doing OK. He said I’d heal in a few weeks, but I can’t move around.”
“That tracks,” Benny said. “Looks like your heart would fall out if you tried.”
His eyes shifted to the halfer. “Thanks for the reminder,” he said flatly.
In a ridiculously loud stage whisper, Benny said to Seven, “Who’s a grumpy bastard?”
“Werewolves are always grumpy bastards when they’re hurt,” she said. “Lucas bitched and moaned for a full day and a half when that angel broke his leg.”
Harper’s gaze bounced between like she was watching a tennis match before she shook her head. “God, what a weird group we are.” Then she turned her attention back to Levi. “Anyhoo, if you’re up for it, can you tell us what happened?”
He tried to sit up a little higher in bed, winced, and settled back into the mattress once more. “A couple of us were patrolling the woods around Section 8. We split up and I caught the demon’s scent. He was at the east perimeter. We fought. I was able to shift and took a chunk out of his side, but he did this,” he paused, gesturing to his chest. “All it took was one punch to melt through layers of skin, bone, and muscle.”
“Why didn’t he kill you?” Haven asked.
Levi gave what probably would’ve been considered a shrug if he had more range of motion. “Honestly? He looked a little surprised by the whole thing. Like hurting me that bad hadn’t really been his intent. He opened a rift and left the second I hit the ground.”
Riddick snorted. “Yeah. I’m sure he intended to give you a friendly bro hug and accidentally burned a hole through your chest.”
Haven frowned at him. “I mean, I tried to tell you it didn’t seem like he meant me any harm. Maybe he doesn’t mean any of us harm. We’ve all just been assuming the worst.”
Harper gave her a look that bordered on pity. “One of the best things about you is that you always give everyone—and everything—the benefit of the doubt. But when your safety is on the line, we can’t afford to do that. We have to assume his motives aren’t pure.”
“He could’ve killed me, but didn’t,” Levi said quietly. “I was on the ground, wide open—literally—and he left. Didn’t take a single shot.”
Only Haven and Roan seemed to pay Levi any attention as the team strategized what to do next. Riddick and Seven wanted to trap him and destroy him, of course. Harper never wanted to destroy anyone, but in this case, even she was willing to make an exception. Benny was up for whatever Harper wanted to do. Gabriel and Hunter saw some value in trapping the demon and imprisoning him, as his skills might come in handy if Section 8 ever came up against another of his kind.
And as they bickered and bantered back and forth, Roan stayed silent. He kept his eyes on Haven, silently willing her to fight. To speak up for what she knew in her heart was right. To finally go toe-to-toe with her powerful family and let them know she not only deserved their respect , but had earned it long ago.
He saw her irritation growing. Could feel her power rising within her. She was so tired of being treated like she was delicate and weak. She was a fighter, damn it. Always had been.
He wished he would’ve seen it sooner, but he’d let his fear of losing her overrule what he knew she was capable of. She was a leader. And now was the time she needed to prove it.
Finally, with a growl born of the purest rage and frustration, Haven let go of Levi’s hand, stood up, and snarled, “Shut the fuck up and listen to me for once!”
The exclamation point on the end of her order was a sharp, precise blast of energy that tore its way out of her chest and rumbled through the room like thunder. All eyes turned to her, and the only thing that could be heard in the silence that followed was Benny’s comical gulp, followed by a muttered, “Well, butter my balls and call me a biscuit. That’s new.”
Damn straight it was, Roan thought proudly.
That’s. My. Wife.