Crimson Sunrise (26 page)

He had been hurt in a way that delved much deeper than mere physical wounds. His free will had been stolen, removed without his consent. And he had been forced to do something unimaginable, something he would never have consented to if given the choice. My heart ached to see him in this way.

“Put me down,” I mumbled and tried to lower my feet.

“You’re not fully healed, Emma. You need to sleep.” Caleb trapped me against his chest in an effort to nullify my struggles.

“Let me down, Caleb!” I snapped, shoving harder. The red haze returned, only now it changed my vision, covering everything in an odd shade of red. My body started to hum as a newfound strength came to the surface, giving me the precious energy I needed to break free.

Caleb sighed into my hair. “Your stubbornness just got an ally.”

My legs were wobbly as he helped me stand. I adjusted to the new feelings in my body, as well as the awkward tingling in my limbs as the blood coursed through the muscles. I regained my balance and I hurried over, stumbling, and went to my knees as I crawled the rest of the way.

“Let him go right now, Derek,” I barked, running my fingers across Trent’s blood streaked face, smoothing blond hair from his forehead.

Derek stayed put, refusing to relinquish his advantage.

“You heard her,” Caleb said, the order undeniable. “Let him go.”

Derek snarled but opened his jaws and stepped away, revealing huge gashes deep inside Trent's throat. Most of them were bleeding and raw, marring his perfect skin. I touched them carefully, angry and saddened.

“Trent? Look at me,” I said, hearing my voice catch as I fought back tears.

Trent’s head rotated, his eyes turning to my face. He stared at me emptily before his eyes widened and he blinked in recognition.

“Emma?” he said in disbelief, staring at me as if I might disappear at any moment. He lunged away from the tree, grasping my forearms in his hands, our faces now only inches apart.

“It’s me.”

“How?” he choked the word out brokenly, his aqua eyes brimming with pink tears.

I answered by showing him, moving close and lowering my head to his, thinking over the last few minutes and everything that had transpired. His face smoothed before a pained expression crossed his features.

“I thought I killed you,” he whispered. He brought his hand up to touch my throat, probing the wounds that had sealed but were not healed.

I shook my head wistfully. “I’m alive and kicking right here.”

“I can’t stay.” Trent met my gaze. “Neither can Lily or Luca. I saw inside the prince’s mind when he intercepted me at the airport. When he finds out you’re alive, he’ll come back again, and next time, he’ll bring an army. He’s been planning this for weeks, testing weapons on loup-garou he captured and tortured to uncover their weaknesses. He wanted you dead. Then he planned to come for Caleb. He wants this badly enough to take on anything that crosses his path, including the enforcer.”

“Why?” The word came out as deflated as I felt. Why would anyone take on a path of suffering and devastation?

“Pride,” Trent said in disgust. “In all his centuries of living, he has never been introduced to humility.”

Humility. A human emotion. Of course he wouldn’t want to be considered anything less than royalty, a supreme power that was held above all others. He didn’t want to be a prince of his people. He wanted to be a god.
A deity.

“Are you all right?” I pushed aside thoughts of Decimus and focused on Trent instead. He had endured so much in the last week, and he deserved so much more.

I was to blame for all of his suffering.

“After what I did to you, how can you ask that of me?” he asked miserably, staring at the ground.

I narrowed my eyes, cupping his chin in my hands, and forced him to look at me. My anger returned as I remembered his face hovering above mine in a snarl of rage, forced to attack someone close to him against his will. It enraged me, stoking my fury and bitterness.

“You didn’t do anything to me.”

“Your eyes.” Trent frowned, his bright blue irises growing smaller as his pupils dilated in awe.

“What about them?” I asked self-consciously and lifted my hand to my face, comprehension coming on hard and fast. Emotion always seemed to trigger the vivid color change in Caleb’s irises. It was only natural I would experience the same thing.

My heart lodged in my throat as the magnitude of what transpired came rushing into me. There was no more decision making or talking it through, no going back or asking for more time. This was it. I wasn’t human anymore. I had been changed, and I was like Caleb now. I fought a surge of momentary panic, reminding myself that this is what I wanted on our trip to Colorado. This is what we had always built up to.

“They are still beautiful, Emma.”
He moved his hand from my neck, brushing his thumb along my jaw.

“I’m afraid.”
The thought came before I could stop it, and I looked into his face. The panic returned and I tried to swallow it down. My emotions were harder to control, more intense and formidable.

“
You stood against the most powerful of us without conceding. You should fear nothing.”

The sound of an approaching vehicle got my attention. I lifted my head, looking into the distance. It sounded so loud, so clarified—from the gravel slinging under the tires to the hum of the motor underneath the hood. Somehow, I knew it was just passing the gate in the center of the field, approaching fast.

“We need to get her inside.” Caleb’s deep voice was tender, without any trace of resentment. His arms wrapped around my legs and back as he brought me toward the shelter his chest.

Trent rose to his feet, looking away, keeping his eyes carefully averted.

“
I don’t blame you.”
I thought, remembering my admission to him as I was dying, knowing Trent was aware I meant that as well.
“You know that.”

“I know.”

We walked back to the house and I gazed around in wonder. I could see everything vividly. Including things so far away it shouldn’t have been possible. Even the stars seemed to shine brighter, no longer restrained by a dark sky, framed in a light blue that somehow managed to compliment them.

Caleb carried me up the rear stairs and through the back door that was missing. The basement door was gone, torn free of the hinges, broken in pieces along the floor. The hallway and front door hadn’t fared much better. Glass littered the floor, and the door itself rested against the entry to the living room.

The truck I heard was now barreling up the drive, wheels catching as the brakes were engaged. The motor sputtered as the engine was cut. The distinct click of doors opening and slamming closed blared in my ears. Footsteps were approaching the house, each step sharp in my ears as shoe soles sloshed the gravel in the driveway.

Caleb headed for the staircase and I managed to see past the hallway to the area outside. Chris ran to Aidan and bent over his body at the side of the porch. He flipped him over, checking for a pulse. Sammie came barreling through the door. Her dark hair was ratted and tangled, knotted all along her back. Her clothes were tattered, and her eyes were bloodshot, deep blue surrounded by swollen red. She had never been more beautiful to me then she was at that moment.

She rushed to us as Beverly came through the door, mouth open and eyes wide.

“Sammie.” I reached out to her and she came, wrapping her hand around mine. Her fingers were cooler than normal. I wondered if it was because she had returned in the back of the truck with Caleb or if it was due to something more.

“Oh, Emma.” She started crying. “There is so much I have to tell you.” She glanced at Caleb. “Both of you. I don’t even know where to start.”

“Come with us,” Caleb instructed and started walking in the direction of the stairs.

“Wait!” I blurted, staring past Caleb’s shoulder, looking for and finding Trent. He was standing at the door, not moving forward, unwilling to cross the threshold into the destruction he helped create.

“Will you stay?”

His gaze rose to mine. “
I don’t think that is wise, Emma. Your parents and I need to leave. We are a danger to you.”

“No, you’re not. Not anymore.”

“We will always be a threat. Even against those we love most.”

“Stay,” I said aloud for everyone to hear, needing them to know I wanted him here. He narrowed his eyes before he lowered his head in a gesture of deference.

Caleb resumed his trip without asking if I was finished, maneuvering around the broken slats, and carried me up the stairs with Sammie hot on our heels.

Chapter 23—Never Let You Go

I opened my eyes but didn’t move, remaining still and silent. I was alone in the bedroom, the sun shining through the window as a new dawn colored the sky. I took a quiet breath and smelled all kinds of things I couldn’t identify, each of them unique and new, including the scents of food wafting up from the kitchen that made my stomach growl.

The splinter of wood giving way beneath solid steel pounded in my ears, along with individual voices coming through the floorboards. I closed my eyes, blocking off the vision that appeared to see all, listening. Chris was speaking to someone. I focused on what I was hearing, reaching out... Aidan. Chris was talking to Aidan. The big bastard had been shot full of some sort of tranquilizer that put him down for hours. He’d woken up around the same time Sammie had finished talking in rushed sentences and I passed out.

My eyes flew open, and I stared at the white ceiling. All of it had been planned. From the werewolves taken and used for experiments in Miami, to Sammie abducted until the prime time arrived to bring her back and unleash a well-constructed plan.

Of course, we didn’t know all the details, only the small things Sammie was able to decipher with her enhanced hearing through the thick walls of the room she was trapped inside. She had heard the terrified whispers of her captors. Apparently they weren’t comfortable with Decimus’s plan, forced to partake in something they had no desire to enter into, although Sammie hadn’t been able to figure out exactly why.

Decimus had no moral code, no remorse or sense of propriety. His decorum consisted of taking, no matter the price, regardless of the sacrifice involved. He participated in his petty skirmishes because he didn’t have anything to fear. He wasn’t playing to win.

Winning would involve having something to lose.

Things were worse than I possibly could have fathomed. There was no way around this, no peaceable solution. There would be no talking, no negotiations. A battle was no longer a dreaded concern. It was an inevitability turned reality. Things had been set into motion, a turning wheel that would change things for everyone. The chain of events perpetuated a domino effect, and now, it couldn’t be stopped.

I heard feet climbing the stairs. They stopped at the top and started heading in the direction of the bedroom. I knew who it was before he opened the door; his own unique scent intensified with each step that brought him closer. The doorknob made a scratchy sound as the latch turned and gave way.

Caleb pushed open the door, holding a tray inside his free hand filled with more food than it was created to carry. His hair was tossed about, the strands finally long enough to fall past his temples. His jeans were crinkled and dirty, but his black T-shirt was fresh and clean. Lifting his head as he walked inside and closed the door, his lips formed into a smile.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.” My cheeks flushed as self-consciousness returned.

If he knew about my nervousness, he didn’t let on, walking across the room and motioning for me to sit up. I pushed back against the headboard and he adjusted the tray across my lap. I glanced down at the buffet before me; eggs, pancakes with butter and syrup, bacon, sausage, toast, orange juice, and of course, coffee, all present.

“Are you feeding an army?”

“Eat.” He grinned, nodding at the smorgasbord.

Pretending to be annoyed, I sighed loudly and reached for the utensils. I was thankful Caleb had the foresight to ask if I wanted a shower before he tucked me into bed the night before. The crust I cleared from my fingernails would have ruined my appetite.

The first bite of pancake proved my sense of taste had evolved as well. The butter melted on my tongue, the sweetness of syrup lingering and coating my throat. I grabbed the orange juice, took a drink, and gasped at the sharp shock of sweet layered upon sweet.

Caleb didn’t say anything, following my movements closely. I cleared my throat and wiped my mouth with a cloth napkin from the tray.

“What?”

“How do you feel?” he asked, lowering his head and forcing me to meet his watchful eyes.

I glanced away, biting my lip, knowing no single world could adequately describe it. “Different.”

He didn’t say anything so I reached for the fork and knife, prepared to dig into the sausage. The meat seemed to come to life in my mouth, and it was gone before I’d even had a decent opportunity to chew. I swallowed loudly, forcing myself to eat slowly when all I wanted to do was to shovel the food into my mouth as quickly as possible.

“How is Sammie? Is she feeling better this morning?” I asked between bites.

“She’s good.” Caleb perked up but continued paying close attention to me as I ate. “She’s still a bit shaken, but now that she’s home and she knows I’ve decided to ascend to alpha, she’s finally relaxing.”

“I’m glad, I was worried about her.”

I grabbed the orange juice and forced myself not to finish it off, taking a small swallow and returning it to the tray. I continued eating, finishing off the pancakes and the sausage. I stared down at the bacon, eggs, and toast and frowned. I was still hungry, my stomach nowhere near sated.

Caleb chuckled at my expression. “It’s normal, Emma. Finish your breakfast. I made it myself.”

“You’re not mad?” I shoved a piece of bacon into my mouth, making an effort to chew before I gulped it down.