Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Adrienne was quiet while I carried her back to the house.
My mind swam with the implications of what had happened tonight.
I had almost destroyed Lord Montag and, with him, everything I’d worked so hard for.
Our kind was inconstant and loyalty turned like the wind.
Taking another’s intended blood giver and then killing the rightful drinker in the process would be plenty of reason for many to turn their back on me.
I could only hope that the truth of the matter would be enough to keep my tenuous position within our society.
Though a small sense of peace settled within my chest, it was tenuous—especially as I gazed down at my mate.
Her golden brows were furrowed, jaw working as if she was chewing on her thoughts.
When I’d healed her wounds tonight it had not been enough to create a temporary bond within her.
Though I could sense her disquiet and the occasional word drifted from her mind, she could feel nothing of my devotion or my reassurance.
“Would you take my blood?”
She froze, eyes widening. “Your blood?”
I nodded, reminding myself she wasn’t ready to seal our mating bond. “It creates a temporary bond between us, allowing us to feel each other’s emotions—even physical sensations if we wish it—and would allow me to find you faster should you need assistance.”
With each word I spoke, her face paled. Slices of images ran through my mind. An older woman with hollow eyes and beauty gone to seed.
“What is it, little bird?”
She shook her head, fingers splaying wide across my chest. “It is nothing, my lord.”
Agony speared through my heart and I pulled her closer until my mouth was at her ear. “You do not need to call me that.”
A small shiver ran down her spine, arousal blossoming in the air, and it reassured just a fraction of my concern. “But you are—”
I drew back until I could look at her fully. “Your blood mate. Such formalities are unnecessary in private.”
“So what should I call you then?”
My lips curved into a smile. “Eamon, if it pleases you.”
She rolled her lips together, eyes flicking back and forth between mine. “And you would call me…?”
“Adrienne, if you would allow it,” I murmured, leaning forward to press my lips to her forehead. “Little bird. My heart. Nasicya, goddess of dawn.”
Heat burned across her cheeks and she softened in my arms. I kissed her cheek, only vaguely aware of the house looming in the distance through the trees. “So will you—”
Eamon! Mateo’s call barreled through my mind, his panic urging me forward.
I sliced through the remainder of the forest at greater speed, tucking Adrienne’s head into my neck.
A small crowd gathered in the garden around Mateo, who knelt in the grass, cradling a body tight to his chest. The scent of blood was thick on the air and I staggered, placing my mate on her feet before falling to my knees beside him.
“It’s okay,” Mateo was murmuring. “I’ve got you.”
“What happened?” I growled, looking at the immortals and humans around us.
Henry’s eyes were wide, blood tears staining his pale cheeks. “She’s been ill—I remember her mentioning it to us at the ball. But I didn’t…I didn’t know…”
Adrienne appeared at Mateo’s other side, a sob breaking in her throat as she reached out. “Merciful goddess.”
Jules stirred in Mateo’s arms, coughing wetly. He shushed her, wiping at her face with his handkerchief as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
“Lift her higher,” Adrienne said, her delicate hands encouraging his arm to rise. “Water, she needs water.”
At once Henry vanished. The sound of breaking glass tinkled inside the house before he appeared before Mateo, who took the small cup from his brother.
Adrienne brushed back Jules’ hair. I turned to the others who stood around us.
Their expressions were stricken, save for that of Monsieur Hauet, the owner of the den I was positive was in the Covenant’s hand.
And though I could catch nothing from him that suggested he had anything to do with this, he was pleased all the same.
Mateo pressed the cup to Jules’ lips. Her face was sallow, purplish bruises smudged beneath her eyes, and the scent of decay slipped from her clothes.
“That’s it,” he encouraged. “A little more, darling.”
Her hand covered his and her throat worked with small swallows. Mateo rumbled more praise, leaning down to press his brow to hers, black braids falling across her cheeks.
I placed my hand on his shoulder. “She needs a healer.”
“She has seen a healer,” Mateo said while Jules relaxed into his arms, exhaustion overtaking her. “I should have known the wards would be too much.”
“You could not have known that,” Adrienne said softly.
I frowned, not correcting her assumption even though Mateo could, in fact, have known that. But his power was imprecise—he could have seen she had been to a healer, or seen her illness but not known the cause. Perhaps he had even seen…
Mateo, how long does she have? I pushed the words to him, his mental shields blown open in his grief.
His eyes squeezed shut and a few blood tears fell onto Jules’ cheeks. He handed the cup to Henry before wiping the tears away with his handkerchief. A week, perhaps two, but no longer than a month.
My heart squeezed. I glanced up to Monsieur Hauet again to find his back facing us as he strode toward the house. “Henry.” He gave me his attention. I jerked my chin toward the human male disappearing through the open door. “Find out what you can.”
At once he nodded, vanishing again, and a cry of alarm echoed through the night before cutting off.
Adrienne did not appear to notice—her eyes were fixed on Jules and Mateo as she twisted her skirts in her hands.
I moved around the pair to crouch beside her, wrapping my hands around her elbows.
“Come, my heart.” I encouraged her to stand.
She shook her head. “No, I cannot leave her.”
Mateo rose as well, bundling Jules in his arms and tucking her head protectively beneath his chin. “Uncle, my cloak.”
I summoned his cloak from the house, hand extended as the fabric shot through the open doors and into my palm.
I tucked it around my old friend, helping to support her as Mateo shifted his grip to ensure she was bundled tight.
Once Jules was settled, I reached for Adrienne, but she took a step back.
“I cannot leave her,” she repeated.
“You are not leaving her,” I reassured, arms outstretched. “We are taking her home and you with her.”
After a long moment she nodded and allowed me to scoop her into my arms. Mateo shot into the sky first and I followed close behind, ensuring my mate’s face was hidden from the worst of the wind and using one hand to hold down her hair from whipping around us.
“Someone needs to tell Lilith,” Adrienne said, voice barely audible.
I tilted my head closer to hers. “As soon as we arrive at the townhome, I’ll retrieve her.”
A little of the tension in her shoulders relaxed and she nodded, fingers tangling into the loose ties of my shirt.
She dragged the tip of one finger across the skin of my chest. I wanted to press her again on the subject of her taking my blood but it warred with the grief clawing its way through my chest for Jules—and for Lilith especially.
By the time All Souls came around, the witch would have lost so much for one so young.
My heart broke for Mateo as well, thinking of all he’d lost in his almost nine hundred years and would now lose.
We landed on the step of the townhome silently, the front door left ajar. The landlord Jules and Solange had been forced to sell their property to rented out the rooms on the first floor. But the tenants paid us little mind as we slipped through their entryway and up the staircase.
“In here,” Mateo called.
I pressed my hand lightly against Adrienne’s back, urging her forward. The bedroom was beautiful, decorated with ancient textiles passed down by Jules’ mother and mothers before. Mateo laid Jules on the bed, brushing her hair from her face.
“Wait,” Adrienne said, slipping into the room. Mateo paused as she rearranged the pillows into a slope. “This way she can breathe easier.”
His face crumpled for a brief moment before he sniffed loudly and rocked his jaw. “I do not know how to care for her.”
My mate’s hand rested on his shoulder for a brief moment. “You will not be alone.”
He gave her a small, broken smile before she turned to grab a pitcher and bowl from the corner of the room. Those blue eyes caught mine and I bowed. “I will return with Lilith.”
But dread mixed with my grief at the shuttered expression on her face and I wondered if perhaps we were far from any understanding at all.