Burdened (A Burdened Novel) (57 page)

Damn
, Scott. He did all of that warning to me, when he should have been warning Glen. If he had applied the effort that he had put into the fight into his relationship with Glen, things may have turned out differently.

Can Sephlems
hold their demon tendencies in for so long that it becomes unbearable to do so? No, because they do enough fighting and killing to relieve those desires. Right?

And what did I do to that jackal to make her want to kill me
? Who am I? Why would she want
me
dead? Hell, why do they want Nathan dead? He’s just hanging around, enjoying life. He doesn’t do anything wrong.

Or
, is it not what he does, but what he
has
done? What was it that Olar thanked him for, and why would the mention of it cause him to tense up? Unless it is something else he is trying to keep from me. What had Nathan done that was so bad? And what else is he keeping from me, if anything?

I
continue to run, not feeling tired or drained. It’s very refreshing. Nathan hasn’t said anything, which means he is either in my head or trying to figure out what is going on in his own.

We round a corner and Nathan comes to a complete halt
, grabbing me. The force from the abrupt stop knocks me off my feet, but he catches me, placing me on the ground too softly, soundless.

I look at
Nathan. He places his finger over his lips. Drawing attention to those lips, they are perfect, soft, and I want to replace his finger. He cheeses behind it, and I realize he’s listening to my thoughts. I shake my head—focus, Tracey.

His expression becomes serious as he pushes me behind him. I really hate that.

Tracey, don’t talk.

What is with this
‘not talking’ thing?
Okay
.

And don’t help.

Yeah, right. Y
eah
.

Nathan tenses and his body hardens
, but his skin doesn’t change color. I relate it to one of his defensive shields.

“Show
yourself,” Nathan says quietly, in a deep and strong voice.

I want to see
, but something tells me to stay behind him.

“Nathan, why so…defensive
?” I can hear multiple footsteps—maybe four people. “You’re not alone?”

Tracey
, step to the side slowly, and do not speak.

I do, but not removing my entire body from behind him. I’m uncomfortable, everything feels wrong.

Nathan doesn’t move. It is five guys. They all are standing side-by-side. There isn’t one ahead of the other, so I can’t tell who was speaking.

The
guys on the end look alike and share watermarks on their skin that look like my vines. They must be twins, and they’re as tall and as big as Nathan. The inner two are of equal height and slightly thinner, each with long hair pulled into a ponytail. They resemble each other, but don’t look like twins. One of them has a dark mark over his eye and forehead, as a dog would, while the other doesn’t.

The one in the middle is the scariest
. He’s the reason I stay behind Nathan. His eyes are bright-gold. His hair stands up in spikes. He is stocky, but shorter than the others, and a half-sun rests against the right side of his face. He stares at me, his golden eyes quizzically looking me over.

“Why stand behind him? Please step forw
ard,” the twin on the right says low, too low for me to hear if I were still normal.

“She is fine
,” Nathan responds bleakly. “What brings you in the area?”

“We had some business
here.” The long-haired one, with no mark, answers with a smile.

“Did you handle said business?” Nathan asks strongly.

“Yes,” the twin on the other end answers.

They all speak in sequence
. How do they know who is going to say what?

“Then why are you still in my area?” Nathan’s voice turns dark and I can feel the anger start to roll from him.

I don’t know if I should touch him or let him stay angry. I’m not sure of the situation we’re in. Remembering how his dad had told me I was a distraction—it took him to meet me in order for him to get soft and let his guard down—hence, him getting chained and almost dying.

I
don’t touch him.

“More business!”
the middle one answers. His voice is just as creepy as the sun on his face. “We hear your father is no longer around.”

“Okay.” Nathan is short.

The middle one smiles, his teeth match his eyes. They are pointed. I want to move back behind Nathan and hope they can’t smell fear.

“And I had some things I needed to discuss with him.” His eyes shift from Nathan to me
, then back.

“As you have observed
, he is not around. And that should be your exit.”

“Now
, Nathan, is that how you treat your brother? After all we’ve been through?”

Nathan smiles a dark
, demonic smile. “You’re no brother of mine, Roehl.”

Roehl places his
hand against his chest. “Nate, it hurts me to hear that.”

He takes a step closer
. Nathan doesn’t move. “We’ve run together as brothers,
shared
as brothers—” He looks at me, then shifts his golden eyes back to him. “Stood side-by-side as brothers, protected as brothers, even killed as brothers, and, not to mention, we share a father.”

Nathan’s arm flexes. “We may have, and that might be so
—although, there is no proof of that. But you—” He nods his head toward Roehl. “Are
not
my brother.”

Roehl rubs his hand over his chin. His smile fades. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

I look at the other guys. They show no emotion. Their eyes frequently flash to me, then back to Nathan.

“So who is she?”
the long-haired one with the mark asks.

“
She
is not your concern.”

“
Protective, aren’t you?” says the twin on the right.

“That
, too, is not your concern.” Nathan licks his lips and I catch a glimpse of his sharpened teeth. “Considering my father is not here, I believe that’s your exit.”

“Not anymore
? Great, Nate.” Roehl starts walking forward. Nathan steps in front of me. “I have new business. You know I wouldn’t fight you, brother. There’s no need to be defensive.”

“Won’t you? Then it sounds like this
business
can be handled at a more appropriate time.” Nathan squares his shoulders, lifting his head back in a cocky way. “You’ve walked close enough.”

“I see you
, Nate. Let me see her,” Roehl says.

“That’s not happening.” I can’t see anything. “Again
, Roehl, take your exit.” Nathan’s tone is threatening.

“I can’t do that.”

“And
that
, I am sorry to hear.” I remain behind Nathan, watching the shadows from the other guys moving closer.

Nathan
steps forward and the shadows stop. Five on one—that’s not happening. Should I move or stay here?

Stay there
, Tracey. I got it
.

I can’t. But talking to him is distracting him. I look around him
, still not being able to see the others. I try to calm myself as I become antsy.

“Will you
, Nathan—kill your own brother?”

“I will kill anything and anyone that
breathes.”

“And
that
is the Nathan I know. Come back, Nathan. I need you by my side.” A pause. “We have killed so many together. Enjoyed our time. Enjoyed our life.”

This conversation is not
going to continue. He is not going to talk him into whatever what was. The film covers my eyes, and I walk up to Nathan’s side. He doesn’t look at me, but I feel his irritation.

Roehl looks at me. “Hello.”

“Don’t speak to her,” Nathan says even-toned.

“She is a dark one
, Nathan.” His voice is low. “Her eyes are black. I can see you’re coursing through her.” He moves closer to him. “Maybe I can have her too.”

And
the shit hits the fan.

Nathan punches Roehl and he flies back several feet
, landing on his back. I look at Nathan and he is dark-red, hard, and the back of his hair is in points. I take several steps back, not knowing if he knows me still.

The water twins run to Roehl
, while the other two step up to Nathan.

Nathan shakes his head slowly and they stop. The one with t
he mark walks over to the other, punches him, spins him around, and grabs his hair. The one with no mark does some type of spin-maneuver, grabbing him by his neck. They begin to fight each other with the most confused expressions on their faces.

The twins move from the ground and stalk past the other two fighting. They both grab Nathan at the same time
, then Roehl is standing before me, cutting off whatever sight I had of Nathan.

“Hi
,” he says to me kindly. His voice is deceiving—no tone, no base.

Don’t speak
, Tracey
, I remind myself. This guy scares the shit out of me and I want to tell him anything to make him move.

“I’ve known Nathan a long time and I’ve never seen him act this way over a girl.” I
try to look around him to see Nathan. He won’t let me, blocking my vision, moving as I move.

“Nathan is fine. He can take those two. Maybe you should tell me your name.” I back away.

“What are you doing?” He steps forward. “Come on, I won’t bite.”

I doubt it.

“You don’t want to talk to me?” He sounds hurt.

I try to side
-step him. No luck. “You’re trying to get to Nathan. He is still busy. He’s providing us with time to talk. Tell me who you are.” He smiles. His eyes ask for an answer.

I say nothing. His eyes beam at me as bright as the sun and his smile widens. His teeth look more sharp and venomous up close.

He takes my hand and it shocks the shit out of me. He pulls his hand away quickly, feeling the shock too. “Oh yes—” He smiles. “
This
is going to be fun.”

I turn to run and he catches me
, before my foot can even push off. Trying not to talk makes it hard for me to focus.

He turns me around. “All you need to do is tell me your name.”

I still say nothing, and he gets pissed.

“Nathan is trying to keep you all to himself.
Something as attractive as you needs to be shared.” He grabs my face and doesn’t jolt away from the shock.

This shock hurts worse than the one before.

He sniffs me. “You reek of Nathan—you’re covered in his scent.” He licks my face, his tongue burns like acid. I hold in my scream as tears burn my eyes. “Mm, but you taste magnificent.”

He kisses my mouth and it burns worse than the lick
, as he tries to force his tongue in my mouth. I jerk and move around, with no luck of becoming free of his grasp.

My hand heats and a rage of fire blasts from my palm through his chest
. He steps back, looking at the hole. I’m satisfied until I watch it close rapidly and he smiles.

“I don’t think you should have done that.” He grabs me by both
of my arms and the shock is unbearable. He smiles. “You’re Nathan’s mate, aren’t you, pretty girl?”

I say nothing.

He reaches out, grabbing me by my neck, then opens his mouth, baring his sharp, golden teeth. He looks me over, smelling me again. Then I feel his tongue graze over my skin, and his teeth enter directly into my right shoulder.

I scream out and he pulls back
, taking my flesh with him. His eyes look back at me, glossy and wide, as if he is high. “Do that again!” He smiles, and I watch my blood drip from his bottom lip.

My vision blurs as I start to feel dizzy.

“She won’t,” Nathan says angrily, now standing behind him. Roehl lets go.

His saliva in my
shoulder is acting as a drug to my body. I look at Nathan and two of him are in full demon. I watch the four of them fight.

They move fast. Every time he
breaks something on Roehl, it grows back instantly, taking no time to heal. They throw bone-breaking punches and neither of them falters.

I
become dizzier and my arm loses more blood. I feel high and discombobulated.

Becoming delusional,
I beg,
Nathan, help me
.
Baby, please help me
.

Nathan looks
at me and Roehl takes the opportunity to kick him. He flies back into a tree and my back strokes in pain.