26. Chapter 26
I”mpacingthekitchen like a wild animal. Demi”s gone, ripped away from us, and I have no idea where she is. I”ll tear the world apart if that’s what it takes to find her. I shouldn”t have listened to Jax, I should have blood bonded with her when I had the chance. But instead, I let him stop me before things went too far, even though my instincts told me to claim her.
Every time I”m close to her, something deep within me pushes me to feed her my blood, to let her drink from me as I sink into her tight heat. There’s a chance that if we”d bonded, maybe it would be enough to find her. The blood bond would have made a thread between us. I could have followed it until I found her and then tear those sniveling wolves to shreds.
A snarl rips through my lips, and I slam my fist into the wall. The plaster gives way under the force of my punch, dropping to the wooden floor by my feet. Asharp pain slashes through my knuckles and I know when I pull back my hand, the skin will be torn and bloody.
”Diego.” Jax barks out from behind me.
I don”t even think as I spin around and launch myself at him, slamming him back with enough force to shake the wall behind him. My bloody hand wraps around his throat, squeezing him tight, but he doesn”t fight back.
”This is all your fault!” My voice is harsh as my fangs split the skin of my lower lip with the speed they erupt from my gums.
Smashing my fist into his side, I hear the bone crack as it connects with his ribs, but I don’t stop. Jax’s breath rushes out of him with every hit. He just stands there, not even trying to defend himself as his head hangs down against the hand curled around his throat.
”I know.” He croaks. ”We”ll find her. We have to.”
”And how are we meant to find her, Jax?” I snarl. ”You wouldn”t let Bane or me form a blood bond with her. You know how hard we’ve fought every day she’s been here not to give in to our instincts. Now she”s gone, we”ve lost her.” The emotions hit me like a ton of bricks. The wolves will be long gone; we”ll never find her.
Dropping my hand from around his neck, I watch as Jax slumps down. He looks as lost as I feel. The sound of movement from Bane”s room catches my attention, and I’m there in the blink of an eye. He”s been unconscious since we found him in the alley by the car, a nasty chemical smell running through his veins, but it has gone now.
Looking him over, I watch as he tries to open his eyes but one of them is sealed shut with blood. Bane’s face is mottled with bruises, and I can see the half closed wounds through the tears in his clothing. Once we can get him out of bed, we’ll have to give him a few pints of blood to replenish what he lost to help speed along his healing.
Bane runs a hand across his face, wincing as he catches his swollen eye. The other opens and looks straight at me.
”Demi?” My head drops and he pushes himself up on the bed. He fights to stand but I stop him with a hand on his shoulder. Even now, in his weakened state, I’m struggling to hold him down.
”She”s gone, Bane.” My voice is barely a whisper. ”The wolves took her.”
The roar that he releases rips through me; it’s full of so much sorrow and pain. Bane can feel her loss as much as I can. His fingers claw at my arms as he tries to push me away and get out of bed again.
”No, no, no.” His grip on my forearm tightens. If he squeezes any harder he’s sure to snap the bones. ”We have to save her.”
”We don”t know where she is. Her scent disappeared a block from where we found you.” I can feel my heart fracturing as I speak. I need her as much as I need human blood to keep me alive.
Bane”s shoulders droop, the fight draining from him as he slumps back onto the pillows. As he drops, he releases my arms, but not without leaving small cuts in the skin where his claws pressed in.
”I know how to find her.” A voice behind me has me spinning and I glare at Jax at his declaration. He”s leaning up against the door frame. I really did a number on him, and he can only just hold his own weight.
”How?” Bane perks up slightly. He swings his massive legs over the side of the bed and pushes himself up beside me.
”Achilles... he can do a locator spell. He”s already on his way over, but it”s going to take a few days to prepare it.” Bane lets out a weakened snarl, like the thought of leaving Demi with the wolves is too much.
”Do it, Jax. And he better find her, or so help me God, I”ll fucking end you.” My lips pull back and I bare my teeth at him, my hands clenching at my sides.
”I”ll do everything in my power to bring her back.” A pained look splinters across Jax”s face as he scrubs a hand across it.
Jax may have denied his feelings for her, but I can see how much the loss of Demi is affecting him. He knows I was right when I blamed him in the kitchen. He knows it”s his fault, but he deserves my words. I understand why he didn’t want to get close to Demi given his past, but he shouldn’t have stepped in our way.
Shoving past him, I head straight for the kitchen. First things first, I need to get Bane some blood so he can finish healing. Then Achilles better hurry the fuck up and get here because we need a plan and preferably one that ends up with us finding Demi and bringing her home.
Opening the fridge, I grab a handful of blood bags from the bottom drawer and slam it closed. As I turn, Bane is already behind me and I push them in his direction. Taking one of the bags, he pierces the top with his teeth and drinks the entire thing before grabbing another.
Jax lingers by the wall. He looks utterly defeated, not his usual Captain Asshole self as Demi has been calling him. The wound in my heart cracks open a little further as I think of her laughter, and her annoyance at Jax, pretty much all the time. She”s right though, he is Captain Asshole.
The smell of magic fills the air in the kitchen, but the scent is a familiar one. Achilles. A portal opens next to the dining room table and he strides through. His white hair is half pulled up into a ponytail, keeping the strands out of his face, and his amethyst eyes are glowing with the use of his magic.
As soon as he”s through, the portal snaps closed behind him and he surveys the room, nodding at me and Bane before he turns his attention to Jax.
”Jackson.” He greets my solemn nestmate. ”You said you have a human to find. Am I presuming it’s the friend of the girl you had me deal with?” Jax gives him a nod. ”Show me to her room, please.”
Jax signals for Achilles to follow him, and they head for Demi”s room. Bane and I follow behind them. When we get into her room, Achilles is rifling through her things. I want to snap at him, but I stop myself -he”s only trying to help us find her.
Picking up the t-shirt she wore to bed last night, his magic engulfs it, smoke swirling around the fabric. It”s like a miniature storm is happening within the cloud as it flashes purple, green, and a whole rainbow of other colors. When the smoke dissipates, Achilles turns to Jax, then me, and Bane.
”This could work, but I think there”s something stronger I could use.” The t-shirt is one of the most recent things worn by Demi and Achilles’ magic should be able to track her with that. What the hell does he mean there is something stronger?
”Explain.” Bane barks. He looks ready to punch Achilles, but I place a hand across his chest.
The warlock in question smirks. ”You all took part in healing her, correct?”
”Yeah, but what does that have to do with finding her?”
”It”s simple, really. You gave her your blood and seeing as she is your true mate, the traces of your blood still linger.” His comment is blasé, there is absolutely no hesitation in his words.
”She”s our what?” The words spill from my mouth. It”s rare for vampires to find their true mate. Most bonds between a vampire and another are the blood bond. It”s the same across a lot of supernatural species.
”Demetria is our true mate...” My eyes snap to Jax.
”How long?” Bane’s entire body shudders under my hand and I can sense his anger growing.
”I”ve known for a while.” Jax lets out a sigh. ”Since I danced with her in the club. It”s why we”ve all been so drawn to her, why her blood calls to us so strongly. Our very nature wants us to complete the bond.”
”And you didn”t think to tell us?!” I move across the room till I”m standing toe to toe with Jax. ”You didn”t think this was information we should have known?” I practically spit the words in his face.
Bane is by my side in a split second. His large hand wraps around Jax”s neck. Those wicked fangs of Bane”s gleam in his open mouth, as a growl builds in his chest rumbling dangerously from him. His red eyes glare up at Jax as he squeezes his fist tighter.
”If the big guy can refrain from murder, I need all three of you to help find your mate.” I forgot for a second the warlock is still here. Jax”s revelation made everything else in the room disappear.
With a snarl, Bane drops Jax to the floor and he lands in a crouch. Jax isn”t the type to let anyone give him a beating, but he knows he is in the wrong for so many things. Maybe he”s accepting what we dole out as punishment.
”Fine. What do you need?” I give my attention back to Achilles.
”I need blood from each of you and three days.” That’s too much time for Demi to be gone. We have no idea what sorts of things they could do to her in that amount of time. Would they kill her? ”Calm yourself, Diego. They obviously want her for a reason. They won’t kill her.”
I don”t know if I can believe him, but there has to be some hope in this situation. Demi is my true mate. Without her, I don”t see the point in life anymore. Moving over to Achilles, I watch as he whips out a wicked-looking knife; the metal is curved, and the handle glistens with different colored jewels.
Slashing the blade across my open palm, the blood wells up from the wound and a wooden bowl materializes in Achilles” other hand. He positions it below the cut and I squeeze my fist tight as he holds it below to catch the blood.
”That”s enough.” Moving, I let Bane take my place, and Achilles repeats the process before moving on to Jax. I look at my hand as the wound seals itself like it never happened. ”Three days, and I”ll be back with a location.”
Achilles runs his hand over the bowl and it disappears into a puff of smoke along with the knife. A portal opens behind him and he steps backwards through it. He lifts his hand in a small wave before it snaps shut again, leaving all three of us in Demi”s empty room.
”Now what?” Bane looks to me for an answer, not Jax.
”Now we prepare because when I get my hands on those wolves, they will wish they were never born.”
Storming out of the room, I leave Jax and Bane behind, heading straight for the room we use as a gym. I”m angry with myself for not listening to my instincts, and I”m angry at Jax for lying to us. I need to get some of my frustration out of my system and if beating the shit out of a punching bag helps, then so be it.