The Alpha's Desire 4 (6 page)

Chapter Eleven

With tears pouring down my face, I rushed to Lex. My hands buzzed still, making me hold back from touching him even a little. Even a gentle swipe across his forehead at this point could be dangerous. He needed to be out of the chains. All I could do was focus on them, feeling their magic call to mine.

With a violent tremble to them, I lifted my hands to the chains that bound him. As my hands drew nearer, cautiously, the intertwined metal began to glow. It didn’t seem to be burning Lex, so I continued to move my hands closer to his binds. I needed to grab it, the urge too great to overcome. Again, my hands felt possessed. The blue light around the links merged with the light glowing a bright white, now at my palms. I didn’t get the colors, but Lex didn’t even stir at this point. His breathing had grown so shallow that I could barely tell he was breathing at all.

I took in my own deep, painful breaths as if breathing for him, willing the chains to fall away. As I thought it, a bright light blinded me, as if the metal had burst into a million stars. Before I knew it, I found myself cringing, awaiting the sound of the chains falling to the ground. Yet, it never came. When the stars cleared from my own vision, Lex’s body had slunk forward, his wrists freed. All that remained of the chains looked like glitter on the floor around him before they turned to black dust.

Though he was unconscious, I whispered, “I’m here, my love. You are free. Now, heal. Please heal. I need you. Please don’t leave me here in this place, in this world without you. I’ve come so far, done so much, I couldn’t bear it.”

The energy of my powers still there, it had at least gotten enough of a release to have my hands go dark again. I brushed my fingers along his cheek, giving him a gentle kiss there afterwards.

“I am here, babe. I love you. I need you to come back to me. Heal. Please. Heal,” I continued to beg, tears strangling my voice. “I am here. We can be together again. Everything is going to be okay.”

I dared another kiss, not wanting to move or jostle him, to cause him an ounce more pain until his body began to heal. I lowered my head to his chest, not touching, but getting close enough to strain to hear his heart. The sound was faint, but there. I took in a deep breath, like I’d been holding my breath forever.

“They said as long as your heart beat, you could heal. So heal, damn it, please heal. I love you, Lex. I love you.”

I broke down beside him into a full sob then, wanting to curl up into his arms. His chest moved up and down, though barely. I slid to the floor instead, curling up into a fetal position beside him, moving my energy to him, willing him to heal just as I’d willed the binds from his wrists. At this new angle, to the corner of the room diagonal from us, I saw Riker and Vivian. Their bodies, not bound, lay in a heap over each other’s, lifeless on the floor, tossed to the side like trash.

I had to look away so as not to hyperventilate. They’d both seemed so nice, and Vivian had been family. Yet, they had died for me, for the Royal bloodline that was being threatened. I was coming to understand that this was how it worked in this world, that people so easily gave their all for the cause, for the ones they loved, for blood. I’d never known such family allegiance in the human world. Of course, I’d never known the depth of such love. I’d never believed in such magic. And, I’d never seen such physical or mental strength, such determination to win at all costs.

I’d heard stories of men dying for others in war. I’d come to appreciate it, but not understand it. How could I, until this moment, until I found myself in a war, paranormal or otherwise? Lives had been lost due to evil quests, nonetheless, out of jealousy and misunderstandings of others. No one could just talk it out. It had to come to blood, to the loss of lives. Even now, I wished the man in the black suit ill. Not like me, and still I writhed, hoping he would trip and fall into a ravine or something as he tried to escape here.

I should have killed him,
I thought.
Did I let him go only to come back and hurt us again?

I couldn’t come to accept my feelings or this situation. It had all grown to be too much for me. This magic, misunderstood, still coursed through my veins, and I still didn’t know what to do with that. Right now, all I could see was being here, waiting for Lex to heal. Past that, I didn’t know, and suddenly on overload, I didn’t care. It was all too much to reason out, especially in the state I was in, full of shock, fear, sadness…

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of quiet footsteps. I looked toward the noise, readying myself to deal with whoever it was to protect my man. What I saw, though, was Nira, followed by two other vampires. Their hands and faces, as well as their clothes, were all covered in blood.

“You’re alive,” I exclaimed, the knot in my stomach loosening a touch, only to have it flip, and tighten again, but in a different way. I reeled a bit, lightheaded, as I’d sat up too fast.

“He’s alive,” Nira said. When I only nodded, my brows knitting together, she continued, “I can hear his heart beating.”

I nodded. “The others? What happened down there? It sounded like the world was coming to an end.”

“I could say the same about up here. I could hear the hissing, the windy sounds of what I assume was your magic. Where are Vivian and Lex? Who was guarding Lex? What happened to him or them?”

I managed only to nod my head in the direction of Vivian and Riker’s bodies as fresh tears fell from my eyes. Nira looked over before she took a few steps toward them. I watched her stand there, her head bowed as if in reverence.

“They were such good people. I’d worked with them both before. They accepted everyone, would fight for anyone. Both were kind, and in moments outside of battles, funny. She was easily everyone’s friend, and had visited us before, just as a friend. I will miss them both. This is going to be such a crushing blow to the Royals, all those they lost in their magical pack, but also Vivian, who was not only pact, but also family, her own decision to be both.”

“Is no on left downstairs, then?” I asked, assuming this to be the case from the way she’d spoken about the loss.

“No. We are the only survivors of that battle sadly. We lost a few of our own, but those wolves, they fought to the death, I fear, until they were all bleeding, until they were all dead. I’m—“ she left off, her voice cracking on the last few words she’d gotten out.

“I’m sorry. I feel this is all my fault,” I cried, the tears becoming normal, not sobbing, but just having a steady cry that seemed to have no end.

I did look down at Lex for a moment as he took in a deeper breath than he had been taking in before. He moaned faintly. I was sure that as he came back to consciousness the pain would increase, at least to him, until he healed more.

“His heart beats stronger already. He will be fine. He just has to get through the transition period. Who was here, Christina? I heard the fight, or whatever happened. Where are they now?”

“The man in the black suit had him. He had been cutting him. He still held the knife that dripped with his blood when I got here. He had him in magical binds that were preventing him from healing. He promised to let Lex free to heal if I gave myself to him. I can’t really explain what happened after that. I was beside myself with fear and grief, and I don’t know what else. The magic, it got the best of me. And, sadly, for the first time in my life, I felt I could kill someone. I didn’t want to act on it, as I didn’t know how it would be afterward, to have taken a life, this is all still so knew to me, but the power coursing through me... I couldn’t control it anymore. It was like a light show was coming from my hands, and things started to move, like the man in black’s knife that he had at Lex’s throat. It flew across the room.”

I stopped to take several deep breaths, relaying the story like it was fiction, and as if it had not really just happened to me. My hands shook, and though they didn’t glow, my hands grew warm again, as did my core.

“It’s okay, dear. Everything that happened was natural. You can’t chastise yourself for loving Lex so much that you’d do anything to save him. Where is the man in the black suit now?” she asked.

“He jumped out the window, unfortunately, onto the fire escape, and disappeared at one point.”

“So how did Lex get free?”

“I did that, too. The magic on the binds called to mine, and just getting my hands near them, the spell seemed to break; the chains fell from him. Does that mean the sorcerer they stole was Royal? Or, is all magic the same, from the same source somehow?”

“I fear I can’t answer that for you. But, I know people who can. Let’s get Lex back to the loft where he can finish healing. We will join up with those who wait for us below, the ones around the building, and take off,” she said.

Chapter Twelve

The ride back to the loft was excruciating. From the sounds coming from Lex, he was in misery, coming around more and more, with inhuman sounds of agony coming from him as the vehicle we were in hit potholes and took turns. Each sound sliced through me, along with waves of his emotions that were like punches in the gut.

Nira stuck close, her hand always there to rub my back or my arm. Her kind looks went a ways to getting me through it. As nervous as I’d been about getting to the warehouse, I was just as anxious to get back to the loft. Differing reasons, but still, they made a short ride take forever, like each mile the van took simply took way too long.

As a vampire had carried him effortlessly down all those flights of stairs and into the van, so one carried Lex to the bed I’d been using once we got back. Although, going into the loft, under the cover of night, even after the coast had been deemed clear, he’d had to run in a blur so as not to be seen carrying a near lifeless body, save for the occasional painful groans, into the place. There were people with means and money who lived in the other apartments, so a bloodied naked man would have raised not only some eyebrows, but probably would have had phones dialing 911, as well.

“Don’t worry about the sheets and blankets,” Nira said. “Just get comfortable. They can all be tossed in the morning. Here’s a shirt and shorts for you to sleep in, and a wet towel to wipe off any blood with. I’ll get you something new to wear in the morning.”

“Thank you,” I said, watching as they laid him down on the bed. His eyes fluttered open a second, but even as I held my breath, he seemed to pass out again. “I don’t mean for the sheets, I mean for everything you have done for us so far. You gave up so much. I don’t know how to begin to repay you.”

“You don’t have to, dear. This is what we do, what we were created for. Our lives are viewed differently, by us. We had lives once, and for whatever reason we were chosen to be brought back to life. We see it as an honor to get this second chance, only to live to help, to protect, and to save. When the opportunity ends, we are fine with that. I think taking away the fear of death – well, along with all the super human strength and senses – it makes us better warriors, protectors. You have no need to thank us.”

“But, you will miss them? I’ve seen you all together, like a family.” I said, glancing back at Lex, who seemed to be unconscious, but I knew was just getting a much deserved and much needed rest while he healed. It was better that way, regardless of how much I wanted to talk to him.

“Yes, we are a family, and we love our kind, but we live a transient lifestyle, so while it hurts, it is not the same loss that you and he would have faced. You need to feel sorrier for the wolves. While they mainly are apart, following those they protect, their pack connection is strong. The worst will be the loss of Vivian and Riker. Because she was a blood relation, and because Riker actually served as her protector, had since before she’d been changed into a werewolf. So, he was close to the family, who will mourn them both greatly. Not to say they won’t mourn the others, but you get my meaning.”

“Yes. I just feel so bad.”

“Please don’t. The Royals are going to welcome you into their family with open arms. They are more aware than you that none of this is your fault. The only one to blame here is the man in the black suit.”

“I know, I guess, and at least in my brain can rationalize that out, but it doesn’t stop the guilt. I still am having a hard time with the amount of hate I felt for him tonight, the fact that I wanted to end him. You know, not to excuse his violence, but I saw the true wolves change once. It does look, well… awfully painful. I guess, in some way, I get the jealousy, though I would never react to it in such a way.”

“You are a kind and wonderful soul, Christina. It has been an honor meeting you, and working with you. Your strength, the depth of the way you care: it will take you far. It makes you more than worthy of your gifts. Now, the sun is already coming up, so get some rest. Once you are up and showered tomorrow, we will take you to the airport. He will heal fully as he sleeps.”

I stood up then to hug her tightly. As filthy as we both were, I could tell she’d not care. Not that she would have cared anyway. With tears flowing again, I held on.

“It has been an honor to meet you, too. Even though you say I don’t have to, you will always have my thanks, my gratitude for giving me back the man I love, a man I never thought I’d have, but now that I do... to lose him would be unbearable.”

She squeezed me again once more before pushing me away, toward the bed, to Lex. I crawled in beside him as she went in her blur down the stairs. He barely stirred. I rested there, face to face with him, unable to let the sleep my body so craved come, for the video of the evening playing in my head, jumping back and forth from the battles to the plain scary waiting moments of unknowns. Moving up those terrifying stairs and not knowing what would come at us next even got to me, still. In my own way, I mourned the loss of all of them, from the wolves to the vampires. I hadn’t known them, but the loss hung in my heart, and made it skip beats when the emotions overwhelmed me.

“I can’t believe you are here with me, my love,” I whispered to Lex. “I feared I would never see you again, or that when I did, I would watch you die. You should have seen my magic tonight. It was as scary and unpredictable as it was amazing. You brought that out in me. You are the reason that I was able to use that energy; of course, they say you are the reason it resurfaced at all, but still, that is our connection. It was my love for you that let me use it to save us from the man in the black suit.”

As I fell asleep, I wondered where he was, and what his next move would be.