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“Yes. Adare was hurt, Grace’s blood pressure is still decreasing, and Garrett is in some in-between state we’ve never seen before.” There was no way to soften any of the truth. He increased his stride through the dripping trees. They had to get out of there before Kurjan reinforcements returned for their downed comrades.
The rain and wind continued to punish them as they reached the helicopter. Ronan put Faith in the rear seat and sat next to her, leaning his head back. Now that the fight was over, his body pulsed in one continuous line of complete pain. The flight back should take over an hour, and he needed the time to replenish his strength.
“Ronan—” Faith started.
He held up a hand without opening his eyes or lifting his head. “Silence.”
“But—”
“Faith,” he said, still not moving. “I don’t want to hear a word from you.” Now that he knew she was unharmed, his temper was beginning to stir, and he needed to heal himself. “Be silent until we reach Adare’s cabin. One more word and I’ll gag you.” He meant every damn word. “I’ll deal with you later tonight.”
Her irritated huff did nothing to soothe his beast.
So be it.
* * * *
Aches and pains made themselves known in Faith’s body on the flight through the clouds. Her temper joined in at Ronan’s treatment. Sure, she’d made a mistake. But he didn’t get to tell her what to do. Even so, she let him heal himself in silence the entire trip.
Odd tingles filled the air around her. Was that him healing? Fascinating.
Ivar was also quiet as he flew through the storm, his gaze remaining forward the entire time.
Jeez. Was everyone mad at her?
She hunched her shoulders and ignored both males, saying a prayer for her sister, Garrett, and Adare. Then she threw one in for herself as well. Ronan was seriously pissed.
The image of him standing in the rain, fangs down, after he’d punched a hole through an immortal Cyst would never leave her mind. He was deadly and otherworldly. And he’d come to save her. He’d put himself in danger and fought to the death.
For her.
Even though she was bristling at his words, her heart filled. He’d come for her. A part of her had believed he would. She wanted to reach for his hand, to touch him. But she definitely didn’t want to stop his healing.
Or be gagged.
She cut him a look at that thought. His head was back, his wet hair falling to his collar and starting to curl. The lights from the dash played over the shockingly hard planes of his face, highlighting his stubborn jaw.
God, she loved him. All of him. It was so much more intense than she would’ve ever imagined. He wasn’t the slightly goofy lost guy she’d first met. He was a predator, and probably the most dangerous one out there.
That realization aroused both fascination and unease.
The helicopter started to descend, and he turned his head, opening his stunning eyes. The blue and green had mixed together to glitter in the dim light.
She swallowed.
They touched the ground with a small bounce.
Ronan opened the door and reached for her, sweeping her up and slightly ducking his torso over her. The rain slashed sideways, helped by the mournful wind. They wound down a trail through pine trees and emerged by a large cabin in front of a darkened lake. Ronan stomped up the steps and opened the door. Warmth slid across her face.
Benny lowered the gun he’d had pointed toward them. “Just making sure.”
Ronan set her down. “Status?” he asked.
Benny’s eyes sobered, green and black mixing in them. He rubbed a hand across the scruff on his jaw. “Adare is awake and healing. No change in Garrett or Grace. Both are the same as when you left.”
Ronan pointed toward a room next to the wide stone fireplace. “Go be with your sister. I’ll deal with you later.”
She whirled on him. “Deal with me? Deal with me?” Her voice was shrill, but she didn’t care. He did not get to speak to her like that. “I was trying to save my sister, you buffoon. Don’t you get that?”
He leaned in, his face a hard threat. “No. If there was a way to save your sister, I would’ve fucking done it. Now go while you still can.”
Oh. He did not. Her entire body shook with anger and unshed tears. He was wrong. On every level. “There is a way to save her. I’ll find it.”
His eyes softened a fraction. “Sweetheart. I’m sorry. There’s no way to save Grace.”
“I think there is,” Adare said, limping from the room next to Grace’s and leaning heavily against the side of the fireplace.
Faith partially turned. One side of his face was covered in a deep purple bruise, and his temple looked concaved. “What do you mean?” she asked.
He winced and held his right hand up, palm out. “This appeared when I held Grace in the helicopter the other day.” A perfect C was visible in the middle of jagged Celtic knots. Different from Ronan’s, but looking just as beautifully deadly. “It’s never appeared before. Not even when…” His voice trailed off.
A mating mark? Naturally occurring instead of being forced? Was it possible? She tried to think. “Why didn’t you say anything?” Faith breathed.
His eyes flared. “I didn’t think we’d be attacked or that you’d venture out on your own to deal with the Kurjans.”
“Amen,” Ronan muttered beneath his breath.
Faith cut him a look.
Adare straightened. “I was working it through in my mind.”
“You want to mate her?” Faith asked, hope rushing into her.
“No,” Adare said bluntly. Then he exhaled. “But I will. I hadn’t planned on ever mating, so I’ll do this to save your sister. But that’s all it is.”
Ronan glanced at Faith and then back at Adare, his eyebrows slashing down. “You’re not—I mean, you can’t…” he whispered.
Adare winced. “God, no. Not a chance.” He looked at his palm. “I’ve been thinking about this. She’s a Key, which is why she’s still alive. She must have power we can’t see. While a bite alone wouldn’t have completed the mating, maybe the fact that this marking appeared on its own, without being forced, will.”
Faith moved a step toward him. “We give her your blood, you bite her, and then you mark her?” It was a huge decision to make for her sister, but the alternative was death.
Adare nodded and glanced over his shoulder. “You have to decide now. Her blood pressure has dropped to nearly zero.”
Faith faltered.
Ronan placed a hand on her arm, warm and somehow soothing. “There’s no time to waffle. You know your sister. What would she want?”
Her vibrant, fun, daredevil of a sister? “She’d want to live,” Faith whispered.
“All right.” Ronan took her hand. “Success is still improbable. You understand?”
“Yes.” She gripped his fingers. They could fight later. She walked toward Adare, her throat closing. “Thank you.”
He nodded and gestured her inside the room.
Grace lay on a queen-sized bed, covered with a plush blue blanket. Her saline and food bags were gone. They must not have been able to get them in time. Her lips were blue and an unhealthy tinge covered her face.
Faith reached her and released Ronan to grasp Grace’s hand between two of hers. She closed her eyes and once again tried to press into Grace’s mind.
Nothing. Just quiet.
Faith opened her eyes. “Okay.” She looked over her shoulder at Adare.
The bad-boy vampire faltered and then his fangs slid free. “This is better than a syringe.” He slashed his wrist and then moved to sit on the bed, holding the blood to Grace’s mouth. Then he tilted her head and gently pried her lips open, allowing the blood to slide down her throat.
Color bloomed in her face.
Faith caught her breath. Was it working?
Adare reached beneath Grace and partially lifted her. “Let me have her.”
Letting go was the hardest thing Faith had ever done. Adare lifted Grace to cradle her in his lap. He gingerly pushed her hair away from her neck, his other hand beneath Grace’s shirt in the back. Fast as a whip, he struck.
His fangs pierced Grace’s neck.
Grace stiffened, her body tightening.
Faith moved to her, but Ronan pulled her back.
Grace slowly relaxed in Adare’s arms. Then she sighed, her eyelids remaining shut.
Adare removed his fangs and licked the wound until it closed. He set her back on the bed and placed the blanket over her. “It’s done.”
Faith pushed her sister’s hair away from her face. “What happens now?”
“She wakes up or she doesn’t.” Adare dropped into a paisley chair next to the bed. “It’ll be fast, either way.”
Ronan walked behind Faith and pressed a hand to her shoulder.
She leaned into his strength, her stomach churning. “Grace?”
Her sister didn’t move.
The room remained silent. At least fifteen minutes passed.
Adare’s chin dropped to his chest. “It didn’t work.”
Pain flowed through Faith. Tears gathered in her eyes.
Suddenly, Grace sat up with a harsh gasp, her eyes opening wide.
“Grace?” Faith grasped her shoulders.
Grace turned toward her. “Faith?” She looked around the room until her gaze landed on Adare; she smiled. “Man, I’m tired.” Her eyelids closed and she went limp.
“No,” Adare said, moving to the bed.
“Wait.” Faith settled her sister back down, her heart thundering. “Look.” Grace’s eyes were moving beneath her eyelids. “She’s in REM sleep. Out of the coma.”
Adare sat back down. “Oh. How long will she sleep?”
Faith was almost overcome, she was so happy. “Probably days. But she’s sleeping. It’s good.” This was happening. It was real. She sat back. It was all about blood, wasn’t it?
Wait a minute. Blood. A thought occurred to her, and she had to ask the question: “The reason the Seven is a secret. Did you use Cyst blood to create the ritual?”
Ronan removed his hand from her shoulder. “Yes. We broke every law out there to do it, and if discovered, even our own people might hunt us down.” Regret and determination hardened his voice.
She paused, breathing in and ignoring the tension in the room. “If you’re caught?”
Ronan shrugged. “Depends. If it’s just our people, we might be spared. If other immortal species, especially the witches, discover we violated life and the laws of physics in such a manner? Execution for us.”
She didn’t care what had happened to make him so strong, but she needed to understand better. “What laws did you break?”
He studied her for a moment, while Adare remained silent. “During the original ritual, when Ulric killed the Enhanced women, a proven and mystical number of Cyst members were involved. Seven of them. They took in Enhanced blood, and then their blood was used in Ulric’s ceremony.”
Adare growled. “The Enhanced blood they drank was that of their own mates.”
Her stomach rolled. “These seven allowed their own mates to be killed?”
“Yes,” Adare whispered.
She shook her head, her chest aching. “What did you do?”
Ronan’s eyes glowed. “We hunted down those seven Cyst and sacrificed them in our ritual. We used their blood and their bones to make us stronger.”
Her throat closed. “This ritual requires sacrifice.” No wonder it was illegal, as well as being against the laws of physics and morality.
“Originally,” Ronan said. “Now the blood of the remaining Seven is enough to perform the ritual when we lose somebody.” He rolled his neck, his gaze tortured. “We crossed to the dark side, without question.”
She sighed. So they had the Kurjans, Cysts, and maybe their own people to fear. This new world was fraught with enemies. “Thank you for explaining.”
Ronan nodded. “I will never keep secrets from you. Stay with your sister as long as you want. Then we will talk.” With that, he left the room.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Ronan finished scouting the property in the rain, looking for weaknesses. They were everywhere. Adare had never intended for his retreat to be used by anybody else. Well after midnight, Ronan prowled inside the warm house. The living room remained empty, so he kicked off his wet boots and strode toward the bedrooms. Faith remained in Grace’s, still holding her hand. “How is she?” he asked, keeping his voice low since Adare was sleeping in the chair, his long limbs overwhelming it.
Faith looked up, her eyes tired. She’d changed into an overlarge sweater that had to be Adare’s. “Sleeping.” Her mouth curved into a sweet smile. “A normal dream cycle.”
Ronan forced a smile. That truly was phenomenal news. Unfortunately, his walk had done nothing to tamp down his temper. “I’d like to see you in a few minutes.” Without waiting for her response, he exited the room and walked into Garrett’s bedroom.
This one was slightly bigger, with a king-sized bed. The younger Kayrs sprawled over it, his stillness unnatural. Logan sat in a leather chair on one side of the bed, and Ivar sat on the other. Benny snored over in the far corner, sitting on the floor with his back to the wall and his long legs extended.
Ronan tried to reach out to Garrett with his senses. “Anything?”
“Convulsions,” Ivar said wearily. “We used morphine on him for a while.”
Logan exhaled. “Then phenobarbital. That helped a little bit. Now he’s somewhere else again.”
Ronan swallowed over a lump in his throat.
Faith appeared at his side. “Phenobarbital?” she asked, her voice shaking.
“Yeah,” Ivar said, grinding his palm into his eye. “Even when the bonding goes right, convulsions are pretty normal afterward. The phenobarbital has elements in it we had to create ourselves before, so we stocked up.”
Ronan looked down at her. “Why?”
She moved past him and looked down at the pale immortal. “Maybe what Garrett is experiencing is like a coma.” She placed her hand on his head and closed her eyes.
Ronan caught his breath. Was it possible? Could she help Garrett?
Her shoulders slumped and she stepped away. “He’s not in a coma. There’s plenty of activity in his head, but he’s not… well, here.” She turned. “I’m sorry.” She faltered and turned pale.
“You need sleep, Doc,” Ronan said, shoving his temper away. “We can talk tomorrow.”
Ivar leaned back in the chair. “The master bedroom is on the other side of the kitchen. Adare said to tell you to take it. I think we’re all in place for the night.”
Ronan reached for his mate’s hand and drew her from the room. He’d get her settled in, and then he’d go scout the property again. Her well-being came before his irritation, and the woman definitely needed sleep. Her body was probably still processing the mating, not to mention the ordeal of being kidnapped.
Which never would have happened had she just obeyed him. He growled low. “Have you eaten?”
“Yes. You?”
“Yes.” He’d grabbed a bagel before going on patrol. He led her past the kitchen and found the wide doorway to the master bedroom, which had been decorated in blues and tans like the rest of the house. The bed was extra-large and looked comfortable. His blood started to burn. “Get some sleep. I’ll check on you later.”
She yanked on his hand. “If we’re going to fight, I’d rather just get to it.”
He paused. “No, you wouldn’t.” Maybe he’d go for a run and burn off some of this energy.
She released him and put her h
and on her hips, glaring with all her might. “Listen. If you want to fight, let’s do it. I’m sorry I left to meet the Kurjan doctor, but she seemed somewhat believable on the phone, and I couldn’t get to you under the ground. I tried.”
“I don’t give a holy fuck how believable she was on the phone,” he ground out, his good intentions two clicks away from deserting him. “I told you there were no female Kurjans. I also told you that the Kurjans and Cyst were enemies of ours. Finally, and this is the one you are going to want to remember in the future, I told you to stay put.”
“I took precautions and didn’t trust any of those people.” Her honey-brown eyes blazed and her lips thinned. “Besides, I don’t answer to you.”
He moved into her then, unable to help himself. His body sprang wide-awake and his blood started to pound. “That’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart. In this new world where we are gearing up for a war you can’t even imagine, for a danger that’s unbelievable, you do answer to me. Every damn time.”
She shoved him in the chest and he took a step back. Pink flushed across her face. Her chest panted. Anger glimmered in her eyes along with something else: Challenge and desire. “Not a chance, immortal boy. I don’t answer to anybody. Never have and never will.”
He loved a good challenge. Especially in the form of a sexy brunette. This one needed a lesson. “Faith, I’m giving you one chance here.” Last time he’d done that, she’d tried to take his head off.
She rolled her eyes.
He almost grabbed her. Almost. She was definitely challenging him, and he wasn’t in full control. Hadn’t been since he’d seen her, wearing only her bra and jeans, running from a monster. “Get your ass in that bed and go to sleep.”
She stared at him, her lips a pretty pink. “No.”
* * * *
She wasn’t afraid of him. Faith faced Ronan, having to look up more than a foot. The vampire had stormed an enemy camp to save her like some avenging warrior from days gone by. The reality of that shot power through her. Power and something else.
Desire. Raw and primitive.
His nostrils flared and tension poured from him, overtaking the air. “Faith.” A low rumble.