Born of Silence (Immortal Guardians) (46 page)

He shook his head. “I don’t know the specifics. O
nly that it happened in battle.”

Her saddened eyes went from Garrick to Riley. “Do you think he’ll wake up?”

“We all hope he does, especially those that know him better. But no one seems to know why he hasn’t yet.” Her concern for the young warrior touched him, proving that she truly wasn’t a normal Harpy. She was special, her tenderness unique to Dani herself. He reached over the bed as her hand rested on Riley’s arm. He had to do it. He could no longer hold in the question he’d been dying to ask her ever since their discussion about their being Fated. “Will you be my mate?”

Her eyes snapped toward him, her face quirked in confusion. “Ummm…”

“Before you answer, I just…
.
Ah, I’m screwing this all up.” He shook his head, reprimanding himself. His nerves were making an appearance, cascading through his heart and veins. Why was he scared of what she might say? What she might think? “What I mean is, will you marry me?”

Her face reddened and her gaze dropped to the comatose man lying on the bed. Her bottom lip popped in and she bit it.

Garrick stroked her hand lovingly. Soothingly. “We don’t have to rush into anything. If you’re not ready—”

“I’m not saying no,” she sputtered. “It’s just, I need time. I’ve only been myself for so long, and I just need time.”

Garrick breath came quick. “As long as you need, I will wait for you. However long it is.”

“And there would be one condition.”

Heart pounding. Pounding. “Anything you want. Name it.”

“If…” She shook her head. “
When
we do, we should marry in Caireal.”

He had that weird sensation flow through him,
as if
his ears had suddenly changed pitch and he couldn’t hear anything. Dani had just said “when.” She had accepted his proposal. He wanted to fly to the highest peaks and yell it to the clouds so that every human and god in existence would know that Dani belonged to him. Just after that thought though, he realized what she’d said next. “Why there?”

“You told your family we were engaged. I haven’t been around very many people, but even I could see how happy your mom was. When we go through with this, I think we should do it in front of your family.”

Garrick opened his mouth to argue, but her hand darted across, and she placed a finger to his lips as she rushed on. He may have argued, but he was too elated to fight her. Dani would be his wife
,
his mate. Everything in his life was finally aligning, every move he’d made finally making sense as it had drawn him to his female.

“I’ve been locked away for so long, I don’t even belong where I used to anymore. I’ve become someone completely different now. Maybe because of you, maybe because of the Institute and everything they pumped into…” Dani froze. “Oh!” Her eyes widened
;
her
entire
body strung tight. She pulled her hand out of his and
within seconds she was ripping the sheets off of Riley’s body, looking over his skin.

“What
are you doing?”

“I can smell it.”

He shook his head confusedly
as he stepped around the bed to stand beside her. She was clearly panicked, searching frantically. “What? What can you smell?”

“That
stuff
. That black stuff that they injected into us to keep us weak.”

“At the Institute?” He placed his hand on her shoulder as she
continued to search Riley’s body
. “
Baby
, this isn’t the Institute. He’s in a coma because he was injured in battle.”

“No.” She shook her head as she pulled his arm up, inspecting the underside. “No, it isn’t. I can smell it.”

“Dani, it’s not—”

She gasped suddenly,
effectively shutting him up
. “There.”

She held Riley’s arm, and just inside the armpit there was a needle poking through his flesh, the skin bright red with infection as the black tar-like liquid fed into him through a narrow tube.

“Holy gods.” Garrick yanked the needle from Riley’s skin. Blood welled from the wound and he quickly grabbed some gauze to cover it.

His jaw tightened. Now that he knew that she wasn’t
having a PTSD episode,
he could smell that familiar, sickly sweet, rotting
smell that was synonymous with the ink
-
like injection
.

Riley was one of the boys. As the adopted son of Ferox and Raine, he would have assumed that any of the Guardians would have done anything to keep him around
, even
laid down their lives for their young comrade. At least, he’d gotten that impression from his time spent here before his capture.

Riley wasn’t just in a coma. He was being poisoned by one of his own.

The hair rose on the back of
Garrick’s
neck. The house was no longer safe. He had brought his female here, possibly endangering her. “Come on,” he said, gripping her hand and pulling her from the room.

He passed a few doors until he reached what the Guardians referred to as “The Deck,” which was their in-house security center. Bright red lights
flashed
from multiple areas on the screen that showed the schematics of the mansion and grounds. As he watched, more lights lit up the screen.

****

Ferox sat against the brick building, listening to Kyle talk animatedly about his day. The boy had collected a good chunk of change, the Christmas shoppers feeling especially giving this close to the holiday.

Ferox had only woken a few hours ago and relieved
Eugene
from his duty, making sure that the old man made it back to his box safely. The truth was,
Eugene
was in bad shape. H
is arms were constantly
wrapped around his stomach, hunched in a way that proved just how much pain he was actually in. He hadn’t improved any since that asshole kicked him, but he waived off any suggestion of going to a clinic, saying that he couldn’t afford the fees they would undoubtedly force him to pay before he could even get help.

“I forgot to tell you! Ally came by today.”

He
was brought out of his internal rambling at the sound of Kyle’s excitement. “Really?”

“Yeah. She came around dinner time.” He brought his backpack around and set it on his lap. Unzipping it, he brought something out. “She brought me these.”

Ferox took the proffered item and unbundled it. It was a pair of new, heavy winter gloves. “Why aren’t you wearing them?”

Kyle shrugged, an embarrassed expression on his face. “I wanted to wait until Christmas.”

He
looked
at the boy as a pang stuck in his heart. Kyle was no longer a small child who believed in Santa Claus
,
but
he was still a boy. A boy who likely dreamt of Christmas morning that his loving parents
probably gave
him every year, with presents and glittering lights donning a Christmas tree next to a warm, burning hearth with stockings filled with toys and treats. The
ache
refused to leave his chest, and he had to force himself to look away, coughing into his fist. Kyle deserved so much more than the lot he’d been handed.

“… and she left these for Annalee and Bridget.”

Ferox focused on him again, noticing that he’d taken out a pile of small gifts for quite a few of the community’s tenants. He wondered how Kyle had successfully stuffed that many items into his backpack. It seemed his friend Ally had left gloves and beanies for practically everyone. Sweet girl. And now that he was focusing on Kyle, he could tell where the teenager’s mind was. He liked her
,
had that dreamy look in his eyes that betrayed that she filled his thoughts.

He opened his mouth, fully intending on teasing Kyle about his crush
,
when a debilitating pain had him gripping his chest. “Ugh,” he moaned, hunching over.

“Whoa, Bo—Ferox, are you okay?”

He said nothing. The most he could do was nod as the crushing sensation continued to squeeze with every beat. Almost as quickly as the pain had come, his mind filled with thoughts of Raine.

He jumped to his feet. She was in trouble. Something was wrong. He rushed forward, leaving Kyle yelling after him as he ran pas
t
shoppers that crowded the sidewalks. He didn’t know where he was going. Something inside told him it didn’t matter, that he would find her anyway. He dodged this way and that, careful not to run into anyone.

Fuck this
, he thought, and opened up his strides. He let his Instinct take over, allowing himself to flash. He didn’t care who saw him—or, as the case was, who didn’t.
People became
colorful blurs as he surged past them. Then the buildings and even the streets did as well. His fangs filled his mouth as his heart wrenched in pain again. A deafening roar rent the air as he cannoned through the city streets. Faster and faster his arms and legs pumped, propelling him forward. He didn’t know where any of this was coming from. Didn’t know what could elicit such a primal urge within him.

He only knew one thing. He had to reach the Valkyrie.

Ferox’s attention was drawn to a screeching sound as a police car whizzed past him, going the opposite direction. He faced forward again, focusing on where he was running.

But he as a little too late.

He had reached an intersection, not noticing a car that had pulled out. Ferox collided with it, pain radiating through his entire body as the sounds of twisted metal and screeching tires sounded all around him. He somehow landed on top of the vehicle and shook the dizziness from his mind.

Jesus, fuck.
He pushed off, stumbling a bit as he continued forward, his determination to reach Raine not faltering even through the pain he felt. He was slower, though the city was behind him now. He
wished
he had opted for a vehicle rather than running toward where he knew Raine would be. Though he wouldn’t let it stop him. He was getting closer
.
H
e could feel it with every beat of his heart, every throb of his fangs.

He passed more roads, more buildings—houses now—and soon he turned down a quiet street that was filled with twinkling lights of all colors. They all looked a blur to him though, passing them as quickly as he was. She was close. So close.
A flash of lightning arced downward, striking in the middle of the neighborhood. He was drawn to it, like a beacon.
Up ahead, he saw a black SUV pull into a driveway, stopping at a tall iron gate. This was it. It had to be. He reached the gates just as they opened enough for him to pass by the SUV. Men’s voices yelled from behind him. They had somehow—impossibly—seen him and had jumped out of the vehicle and now chased him up the driveway. No matter though, he’d deal with them as they came.
After he found
his Valkyrie.

He bound up the stairs at the front of the house and crashed into the door. Holy gods in the heavens, he didn’t know how many more things he could ram into before he did permanent damage to himself.

Rather than trying to force his way through again, he reached for the knob, turning it easily just before he pushed his way inside. He barely had time for a cursory glance around the room before he moved on. No one in this room. Though the first opening he reached told him an entirely different story.

There was Raine, her fiery gaze focused on another man, who gripped her forearm so tightly that her pulse had an erratic beat to it that drew his attention instantaneously. A roar escaped him, loud and demanding as it shook the walls around him. His fangs grew impossibly longer at his infuriation and focused fully on the fucker who held Raine that way.

The man who gripped her noticed him in the very same instant, likely feeling the same shock Ferox felt. He was staring at himself.
Or rather
, the twin Raine had told him about.

Damion.

Damion’s mouth fell open in shock before he
gawked
at Raine. “How in the fu—”

Ferox
bolted
forward, his hands gripping the man who looked so like himself that it was eerie as fuck. He shoved Damion away, though the man was strong. He barely stepped backward, but Ferox wasn’t about to let down.

“Hello
,
brother,”
the man
sneered.

Ferox couldn’t respond. He was too strung, barely reining himself in from tearing the fucker’s throat out. Raine now stood behind him, her presence having a calming effect. The softest of touches feathered over his wrist, her fingers offering her support. He didn’t look at her though—couldn’t, now that he was facing his enemy. Damion dared harm her. Dared harm
his
female.

A snarl escaped through his bared teeth as the sounds of boots pounding on the hardwood floors sounded. As quickly as the footfalls came, they halted. Whoever they
were, they were awed at the sight
before them, if their comments gave any indication. From his periphery he could see warriors. They stood as a unit—a single man in the front, the others flanking him. Each had weapons at the ready. Though none of them moved, Ferox heard the sounds of footsteps again. Someone—multiple someones, actually—were running at a fast clip. He flicked his gaze in that direction just as two people crashed through a doorway that was behind the other men.