Page 33 of Cryptic Dreams
“It’s Ian,” Aries says as he wipes his eyes and takes a tentative step toward the corpse. “I can see his—” He gags. “I can see his nametag through the melted material.”
The shift in both males is immediate and as I look from one to the other, Orion still holding Zephyr as though she will disappear if he doesn’t, I’m hit with a very strong wave of fear from them.
“If that’s Ian…” Aries swallows hard and backs toward us. “Oh my god, oh my god, then Z—”
“Did that,” Orion almost whispers.
My brow furrows as I turn and stare at my mate, as I continue to track her breathing and pulse. “I don’t understand. How could Zephyr have done anything remotely similar to that vile creature? Especially in her... condition?”
Orion shakes his head. “I don’t know. I don’t have a fucking clue to be honest, but if the VSUST or human authorities find out that she killed the man housing her, that she fought back at all—”
“They’ll arrest her. Arrest her and probably have her executed.” Aries’s panic becomes clear. “They’ll take her away, they’ll—”
“They will do no such thing,” I grit out. “I will make sure this is cleaned up accordingly.”
“But Wraith, this isn’t something we can hide. They’ll know something is off when Ian doesn’t show up at his usual haunts and stops going to work all of the sudden. They’ll—”
“They will not know.” With one more gentle caress, I stroke a hand over my mate’s hair then get to my feet. “You take her to my home. No one will look for her there and she will be safe. Take her to my home, make her comfortable, and call no one.”
Orion looks up as I slowly circle the charred body. “We need a healer. Z needs help.”
“She needs rest and comfort, and there is plenty of blood in my kitchen. You take her there, get her comfortable, and stay until I return.”
“We can’t leave her,” Aries says as he wrings his hands.
I crouch down next to thisIan,reaching out to flip the remnants of his collar down. “You must. You must leave her and return to your schedule as normal. Zephyr will be safe at my home and you can return tomorrow night to see her. If you change your routine by suddenly staying at my private residence for days on end, someone, namely my sire, will grow suspicious. His spies will report back to him and his visits will increase because of it. You can take the underground tunnel along the river to get to my house, sneak in undetected and when you leave, dematerialize to do so. Tomorrow when you return it will be under the pretense that we are getting together for the first time. Bring wine, pack a bag. I am unable to return to the nest to use my room while the investigation is going on, so it would make sense for you to come to my home instead. Come dressed as if you were visiting for a play in my chambers. My sire knows we are friends, knows we engage at the club and he will think nothing of it, will most likely be disgusted by my blatant actions, and ignore the fact that I’m having two males come stay with me at my home if you are dressed the part.”
They both nod as Orion gets to his feet with Zephyr in his arms. “What about... ”
“As I said, I will handle this.” I reach out and tug at the pocket of his work shirt, a strange thing for a construction worker to wear, and notice the point of impact, the place with most damage was done is his throat. “I will dispose of this sorry excuse of a man, make sure his affairs are in order, and clean up any evidence of what transpired. In a few days time we will return for Zephyr’s belongings and figure out how to move forward. Being that she is... ” My eyes briefly flick to her motionless body. “Being that Zephyr is my mate we should be able to justify her presence at my home when the time comes. I will make sure things are handled accordingly until then, and we shall take the rest a day at a time.”
“Thank you,” Orion whispers again as they move to leave. “I don’t know what I would have done if... ”
I simply nod.
There are no words, no need for them really, because I would move heaven and earth for Zephyr, and I know they would do the same.
I just pray that she will still have me when all of this is through, because now that I have embraced what we share, fully accepted and given in to our bond, both by life and by blood, I fear her rejection will destroy me.
11
Hot Shit
ZEPHYR
Once again, I’m waking up to sandpaper eyes. Sandpaper eyes, cotton ball mouth, muscles that feel like they’ve been through a meat grinder. Everything right down to my hair follicles aches, but I can’t remember why. And for some reason, even through the pain, there’s this low humming, an almost euphoric beat thrumming in every nerve ending, a harmonic pulse singing in my veins.
I must be dead.
There’s no other explanation.
If I ache and yet feel more alive than I have in ages, then this must be death and I’m stuck somewhere between heaven and hell.
I attempt to shift around, to force my eyes open so I can see what limbo looks like, but I’m assaulted by a scent, one that has that music in my soul blasting through my skin in a way that makes me almost moan.
Leather-bound books and cedar. A touch of tobacco. Vanilla and just a hint of citrus. There’s a sharp edge to the scent, too, something similar to what I would imagine ice smelled like if it had a scent. And that combination has my cotton ball mouth watering, and my thighs clenching.
Now I really need to get my eyes open because there is only one creature on the face of the planet that carries that scent and last I knew, he wanted me to forget he existed. Which confirms that I’m dead and went straight to hell.
