Mated to the Vampire Kings (13 page)

When
she opened her eyes it was pitch black or it would’ve been if it hadn’t been
for her enhanced eyesight.

That
familiar stretch of her bladder had her putting her hand to the lower curve of
her belly. As if to tease her, the little one gave a kick. Although she felt
the knock at the top of her belly, the motion pushed down onto her bladder
making her clench. “Okay, baby.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed,
careful to avoid waking Brant. “Give your mom a break, at least until she’s
gone to the toilet.” She patted her belly affectionately and was rewarded with
another little kick, harder this time. She had to smile despite the added
pressure on her bladder.

Spotting
the phone on the side table, she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. It
was just after one. She shouldn’t. She really, really shouldn’t. Yet, how could
she not?

The
need to pee could wait. The sudden need to speak to her mate overrode the
stretch inside her. Her hand shook as she pushed the call button. Surprised
when Zane answered. “Yeah?” His voice sounded broken and raw.

For
a second she couldn’t believe what she was actually hearing. That he had really
just answered. If it weren’t for the breathing on the other end of the line,
she would think she’d imagined it.

“Um…Zane?”
She could hear the surprise in her voice which came out as a whisper.

“Tanya?”
Now he was wide awake and actually sounded afraid. Why would he be afraid? Had
he done something to make him afraid of her? It was so wrong that he hadn’t
been available earlier, what if she’d gone into labor? She clenched her teeth,
feeling her blood heat inside her veins.

“Where
the hell were you?” Her voice sounded shrill.

“What’s
happened? Are you okay? The baby…” A low growl with a hint of panic.

“Not
that you care,” she blurted. “Where the hell were
you
earlier?”

Brant
rubbed her back. She could feel him move in behind her. “Easy.” He whispered,
his mouth against the back of her head.

“What
do you mean?” Zane asked. “You didn’t answer my earlier questions. Are you okay
dammit?” Now he sounded pissed. He had no right.

“I’m
fine. Why didn’t you call back? I know you were with a female earlier. Why? I
hope it was good for you. That it was worth it.” Okay, maybe she could’ve
worded that a bit better. Maybe asked him instead of accusing him. Zane had
never lied to her. Not once. The problem was, she couldn’t stop herself from
saying the words. It was as if someone else was inside her. Her raging hormones
were taking over, filling her with rage, hurt and jealousy.

“What?”
Definitely pissed. “There were some… issues…” Things were sounding worse by the
second, his voice was a deep growl. “What female? There were lots of females.
My phone broke, this is a loaner device I got from Lance. I retrieved my sim
card from my broken phone and there were
no
missed calls. What the fuck,
Tanya?”

Hearing
him say her name with anger and anguish just upset her more. “Don’t what the
fuck me. One of your team members told me that you were with a woman and
couldn’t come to the phone. Why can’t you just admit that you…you… you know?”
Damn but that came out sounding needy and just plain…stupid. It was too late to
take it back…to take any of it back. Words could not be unsaid. Plus she really
needed to know the answer.

Brant’s
body tensed behind her, his hands tightened on her waist. Not in a good way. “Stop,”
he growled softly. “Don’t.”

“You
still don’t trust me?” Zane cursed, a really hard word which he said really
softly. It somehow sounded way worse uttered that way.

Her
heart clenched. There was an apology at the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t
seem to spit it out. Her mouth had gone dry and her throat felt like it was
closing. She couldn’t even pull in a breath.

After
several long seconds, he continued. “I’m not sure what you want me to do or
say. Fuck!” There was a deep sigh on the other end of the phone. Her mate
sounded disappointed and upset. Damn, she preferred it when he had sounded
pissed. “I’ll be there in the afternoon.” He sucked in a breath. “Be prepared
because you and I are going to have a long fucking talk. Put Brant on.”

Tanya
handed Brant the phone. By now the need to pee actually caused sweat beads to
form on her brow. It was physically painful but she wasn’t going anywhere. Not
when her heart was sitting in her throat and her hands were shaking so badly that
she had to clench them together across her belly.

“What
bullshit have you been feeding our mate?” The rage was back. Zane’s insanely
deep growl aimed at Brant this time.

Tanya
could feel the tension coil even tighter in Brant’s body as his breathing
turned choppy and his muscles tensed so hard that she felt one of his pecs tic.
“I wouldn’t do that, so you can stop right there.” A low vibration that rumbled
against her back.

There
was a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone. “I’ll be there as soon as I’m
done with that meeting in the morning. Is our female really okay?”

Fuck
that hurt her deep. He was still concerned for her even after she had treated
him so badly.

“Just
for the record…” Zane said.

“Don’t
say it. I know you wouldn’t go there. Just get done and get your ass here.” Just
like that, the moment was over and most of the tension dissipated. One of his
hands was still locked on her waist.

Tears
welled in her eyes. She was the biggest idiot alive. She had just all out accused
Zane of something that he hadn’t done. Taking deep breaths, she tried hard to
hold back the tears and the pain. Even though she knew she should apologize,
Tanya couldn’t do it right now. All of her torn up emotions were sticking in
her throat. Words were impossible. Instead, she rose to shaky feet and made her
way to the bathroom.

****

After
getting very little sleep, Tanya woke feeling uneasy about the whole situation.
All she needed was to see Zane and to sort this whole thing out. The day seemed
to drag, and she became more and more anxious with each passing hour.

At
long last, the sound of an approaching chopper could be heard. Although she
felt relief, she was also more nervous than she had ever been in her whole
life.

She’d
messed up and she’d messed up bad.

The
moment she had been waiting for and dreading was finally here. Brant threw her
one of those half smiles that he did so well. “He’ll give you shit but he’ll
forgive you.”

“Says
you.”

“I’m
serious.” He closed the small distance that separated them, wrapping his arms
around her. “Zane would be a fool to give you up and that wanker might be a lot
of things but he’s no fool.”

“Don’t
call him that.” She couldn’t help but to smile. “He’s not here to defend
himself.”

“He
is a wanker.” Brant chuckled. “We both are right now.”

“Stop
it.” She slapped his chest half heartedly. “Don’t be a jerk.” Tanya pulled a
lose strand of hair behind her ear.

Brant
lifted his eyes for half a second. “Jerk, wank…all the same if you ask me.” His
mouth lifted.

“You
are terrible.”

“You
are wonderful. Come on.” Brant picked her up. “Let’s get this over with.”

She
could feel that he was tense. “Oh no…” It was like a whole horde of butterflies
were fluttering around in her stomach. “Are you nervous too?” If Brant was
nervous, then she didn’t have a hope in freaking hell.

“Don’t
know the meaning of the word, sweetheart.” He walked out into the late morning
sunshine. A soft breeze was blowing, carrying with it the scent of pine needles
and earth.

Any
second now and the chopper would come into view. The butterflies inside her
stomach had babies and suddenly there was a whole squadron of the things banging
around in there. She felt a little sick. Tanya reminded herself that she had a
plan. It was really simple, she would let Zane tear her a new one, keep quiet while
he got it all out and then she’d apologize. Profusely and several times if need
be. Simple, not really good, but hopefully effective. It wasn’t like she could
put on sexy lingerie and bat her eyelids at him.

Just
above the trees, far in the distance, the chopper appeared, moving quickly
towards their general direction. Fast approaching the drop off zone, the
chopper began to descend. Then there was a loud blast. It hurt her ears, a
flash of light momentarily blinded her. The helicopter turned into a ball of flames.
It plummeted to the forest below.

Within
a split second she was on the dirt, Brant covered her with his big body. She
heard the crash as the chopper met with the unrelenting surface of the earth.
Heard the sound of twisting and scraping metal.

Terrible
screaming filled her ears, which she realized was coming from her. She couldn’t
make herself stop.

Brant
kept his body pressed tightly to hers for a few moments longer before standing.
“Gideon and Lazarus get her inside!” he screamed.

Strong
arms lifted her but she fought, needing to get to Zane.
Oh God! Zane. Oh God
no!

“You
two follow me.” She heard Brant snarl. “Eyes open. We’re not alone.”

It
was amazing how time could stand still when you were waiting. How each tick of the
clock could feel like an hour. Each minute like a day. The sharp, piercing
noise of the pendulum a taunting reminder that there was nothing she could do.
Nothing to speed up time and nothing to wind it back.

If
only.

Tanya
made an agonized noise, sounding more like a wounded animal than a human. Her
eyes felt puffy and overly small. Her head felt like it was filled with cotton
wool. Her skin felt feverish and pulled too tight. She wished that she could
cry but there were no more tears to give. Her heart raced, faster than the
damned clock. Her baby was still. So quiet. Did he know something she didn’t?

Pushing
her face into the pillow, Tanya tried hard to stifle the tearless sobs.
Oh
God no! Please Lord no! Nooooo!

“I’m
sure they will be back soon, my lady.” Griffin was still crouched at the small
opening at the end of the upturned bed. The windows were boarded and the doors were
barricaded. His sword was drawn and ready.

“Who
did this?” Her voice broke. “Please…” She begged, stopping there because her unspoken
request was not something that Griffin could grant. What she was about to say
had nothing to do with knowing who the culprits were.

“It
doesn’t make any sense.” His voice was strained.

“Tell
me!” She screeched like a mad woman. Anger, hurt, the worst fucking pain she
had ever felt, was right beneath the surface consuming her. The emotion that
churned with the most aggression was remorse. It hurt like a bitch on steroids.

“I
don’t know,” he whispered. “Don’t fucking know.” More forcefully this time. “It
can’t be any of the other species. It just can’t.”

“Who
then? Why?” Tanya broke down, god awful sobs wracked her whole body to the
point where she shook uncontrollably.

“He’s
a tough bastard.” Griffin’s voice cracked. “Tough as nails.” She could hear the
raw emotion in his words. Could hear his fear which sliced her open more
decisively than a sharp knife ever could.

Just
when she thought it wasn’t possible, hot, heavy tears tracked down her cheeks
again. Tanya tried hard to hold onto his words, to somehow make them a reality.
Problem was, she’d seen the chopper blown out of the sky with her own two eyes.
Had heard the deafening crash and the twisting of metal. There was just no way.
No way in hell. She clasped her skull, digging in with the tips of her fingers
and wishing that the images would go away.

****

“The
two of you”—breathing hard, Brant pointed to York and Scott—“head out that way.
From the direction of the blast, the shooter would’ve had to have been in the north-west.”
As they moved away, he added. “Careful, there may be a group of the fuckers.”

“Watch
your own back.” York growled, fixing his ice, cold stare on him. “We don’t know
who did this.”

Brant
nodded. “There is only one species so yellow fucking bellied but don’t assume
anything. Be sure and be prepared.” He clenched his jaw. “Make sure that you fucking
kill them.”

York
gave him a tight, humorless smile as he turned back. With a jerk of the head, the
males moved away quickly and quietly.

Brant
turned towards the billowing smoke. Ignoring his first reaction which was to
take his time. Fuck if he wanted to see what was just over that ridge. Fuck if
he was ready. He doubted he would ever be ready. Maybe Zane had survived though.
It was the thought of the other male needing help which spurred him back into a
sprint.

The
chopper was surprisingly still in one piece. A metal carcass, just a shell of
its old self but still there at least. The smoke was coming, predominantly,
from some nearby trees which had caught alight in the crash.

The
first thing he saw, was the mangled piece of meat that used to be the pilot.
Fuck!
The only way he recognized the crumpled, broken, bloody mess in the back as
Zane, was because of the leathers he was wearing. Or at least what was left of
them.

His
heart stopped beating, yet the sound of his blood rushing through his veins drowned
everything else out. Air refused to enter his lungs. How the hell was he going
to tell Tanya? An unbearable ache resonated from his chest as the organ once
again began to pound. The sound of rushing blood became unbearable.

The
heap moaned. Barely audible. Just the slightest hint of movement.

“Zane!”
He screamed, rushing forward and wrapping his arms around the male’s body. So
slick with blood, it was difficult to maintain a grip. One of his ears was
missing.
Fucking gone.
Half of his face had been burnt, including all
the hair on his head but he was alive. At least for the moment.

Brant
moved a short distance from the wreckage and he placed Zane on the ground.
Lying him flat on his back, he could see that his chest was still rising and
falling steadily. “Fuck that,” Zane choked out.

Unbe-fucking-lievable
he could still talk.

“What?”
A lame thing to say but Brant wasn’t sure he’d actually heard what he’d heard.
Might have just been his head playing tricks on him. This type of situation
would do that to a male.

“If
you thought”—Zane grimaced, then groaned softly. His eyes remained squeezed
shut—“that I would die and leave you Tanya… you were wrong.” Then he passed
out.

Brant
smiled, the smile turned into a chuckle and the chuckle into a laugh.
Why
the hell had he been so worried in the first place?
He should’ve known the
fucker wouldn’t die that easily. Something squeezed inside his chest. Fucked if
it wasn’t his heart. He was just really thankful that Tanya wasn’t going to be left
devastated. That’s all it was.

Instead
of thinking on it further, Brant checked Zane over. First he needed to deal
with the most glaring problem. What was left of Zane’s clothes was torn and
burned. Thankfully it was made from leather and therefore the amount of bonding
with his skin was minimal. He stripped the material away. The skin damage
beneath the soft leather in the places where it had stayed intact was minimal.

Aside
from the gashes, bruising, ugly burns and general trauma, Zane had sustained
many breaks to his bones. His arm was at a wrong angle at the wrist. The males
left leg was all over the place. It had bone sticking out in three places.
Dammit!
His right leg wasn’t much better. Brant worked hard to straighten out the bones
as best he could, so that everything would heal up in the correct place and at
the correct angle. Thank God Zane stayed asleep during the entire process,
letting out a groan or a grunt every so often. The ear would grow back. His
skin would regenerate. Zane was going to be okay.

Right
now he didn’t want to move him though. It would be best to leave him right
where he was for an hour or two. Give him a chance to heal enough. If Brant was
completely honest, another reason was that he didn’t want Tanya to see her mate
like this. It would be too stressful for her right now.

He
was torn between wanting to go after the fuckers who did this and needing to
stay to ensure Zane’s safety as well. Unfortunately, on this side of the ridge
there was no cell phone signal, so he couldn’t phone Tanya to tell her that
everything would be okay. Even if there was signal though, he wasn’t sure he
would do that just yet. The need to protect his female almost had him throwing
Zane over his shoulder and heading to the cabin. Lazarus and Griffin were
there. Two of the best of his elite warriors. By now, the males would have
Tanya barricaded in. Back against the wall shit.

“Fuck,”
Zane croaked out. “I must have died and this is hell.” He pushed the words out
rather than spoke them. Sounded like he was in a world of pain. “You must be
the devil? Fuck if you look just like someone I know…ugly bastard.” He tried to
laugh but ended up coughing hard, his chest rattled.

For
a moment there, Brant was sure that the male was dying. “What can I do? Speak
to me.” He leaned over Zane.

His
partner eventually fell back, breathing heavily. “I didn’t know you cared so
much.” Zane grinned, which quickly turned to a grimace.

“Fuck
you!” Brant said through a grin of his own.

“Love
you too, bro.” Zane grunted out the words.

Turning
his wrist, Brant glanced at his watch, Tanya would be insane with worry by now.
There was still no sign of the others. It wasn’t safe here. They really needed
to get back.

“Give
me five more minutes,” Zane said, reading his mind.

Brant
removed a knife from a sheath at his ankle, he sliced his wrist. “Here, drink
this.” He put his arm to Zane’s mouth. Thankfully, the male didn’t give him any
shit about it, he opened his mouth and took what he needed.