Dark Awakening (17 page)

Rome surveyed the area and saw
Vane and Darien tying up their catch.

Darien looked up at him. Something in his eyes said he understood. "Proof for the Justicars. We need them alive." Rome didn't look at the man
whose
face was now
unrecognizable
. He didn't care.

The scent of vanilla and blood, her blood, was stronger now. He charged up the stairs. Someone shouted his name behind him, but it sounded
faraway
over the screaming roar in his head. Following her scent, he turned right where it grew stronger. He stopped at the door at the far end of the hall.
He turned the knob, his heart in his throat
,
it didn't budge
. He roared, the door vibrating
in its frame with the force of
its power and
then
slammed his booted foot into the wood. It splintered and shattered apart.

He flew into the room, but caught sight of Alison and Conlin and stopped dead in his tracks. Cold fear mixed with rage making him even more deadly. His hands fisted,
his arms shaking with the force to keep from acting.

"Alison, baby." His voice a mere croak.
             

She turned to him from her tied up position, her naked body bleeding with open cuts. The
blade that Conlin was holding to her neck, slipped into her skin with the movement. A line of red streaked across her neck.

"Don't move!" His hand reached out as if to stop her.

Conlin through back his head and laughed. "So I finally get to meet the second brother, Roman Kategan. Or are you the third in line? Eh, well, not that it matters." He tilted his head to the side and sniffed the air. "You
reek
of anger and fear,
Alpha.
Ali and I were having the greatest time before you decided to show up."

"Y
e
ah, we're real party crashers." His eyes locked on Alison's, refused to let go. Tears shined in her eyes before falling down her cheeks. Her lips trembled but she kept silent.

"And you're funny
,
too. Ah, we probably could have been friends under different circumstances. I must say that you have no right breaking into my home.
But now I have free reign to kill you.
"

He clenched his jaw so hard it cracked. "You stole my woman."

"Your woman? Have you mated her? She might carry your disgusting scent inside her from your filthy seed, but that's all. She was mine long before she was yours, Kategan. Don't you know? I fucked her nearly
everyday
for months while we were together. It was my seed filling her belly, not yours."

Rome roared and took a step forward. Conlin's
eyes widened a fraction
.
In fear?
He pressed the knife a little deeper into Alison's neck.

Panting hard, Rome met her eyes again.

"I'm going to get you out of here baby. Everything's going to be fine."

She mouthed some words, but her lips were trembling so badly he couldn't tell what she said.

"Your fight is with me, Conlin. Not her."

The man laughed. "Wrong again. I have absolutely no fight with you, only her."

Rome lunged forward, r
elying on the knowledge that Darien and Vane would be close behind
by now
. With all the power of
the
lykaen inside
him,
he moved faster than a bullet, leaped over the bed,
and caught Conlin by the shoulders. They both went down on the ground. Conlin landed hard, but kept hold on the knife.

Blind fury took over his movements.
He pulled back his arm and let his slam into Conlin’s face. The spray and crunch of bones was like a soothing balm to his raging anger. So he did it
again and again
.
His hand throbbed and pulsed, but he ignored it.
Conlin’s nose cracked under the weight of his fist and he
let out a loud scream.

Conlin twisted beneath him and jerked his hips up, tossing
Rome off. Rome didn't recover
quickly
enough and
Conlin slashed forward with his silver
blade and
cut
through Rome’s
thigh. Snarling with rage, Rome grabbed Conlin's wrist and squeezed tight. Conlin yelped and his fingers loosened, letting the blade fall.

Leaning forward, uncaring of the blood gushing from his wound, Rome slammed his fist again into Conlin's face. The crush of bone and spray of blood fueled his rage like gasoline on a fire. He grabbed Conlin's hair in a vicious grip and yanked it to the side.
Hard
hands pushed at his chest, struggled underneath him, but he forced himself closer. Then, baring his teeth, he attacked.

Teeth
tore
into flesh, blood pooled thickly in his mouth. He bit down on the meat and tore himself away, taking it with him. Conlin
gasped and reached for his neck, but found only chunks of gore.

Rome stood and spit out the meat and turned to help his mate. The wound wouldn't kill
Conlin
, but it
would
incapacitate
him enough for Alison to perform the killing blow. It was her righteous duty, not his.

"Baby. Are you okay?" Her head lay turned towards his, but her eyes didn't blink. Ice entered his veins
and his heart stopped beating
.

He rushed to her side and caught her face in his hands. Please God don't let him be too late.
Please
. "Alison, look at me!"

As if in slow
motion,
he looked down, to see the line of blood at her neck much deeper, much heavier than befo
re. Her eyes blinked up at him much too
slowly,
too
lazily.

"Oh God." His voice was a croak,
raw
pain
filling
it. It was
all his
fault. The knife ha
d cut her when he'd jumped on Co
nlin.
It was his fault.

Her eyes closed and didn’t open again.
He screamed.
He
didn't stop until faces
poured into
the room.

Jacks was
the first to come forward. "Let me see." When Rome refused to let go, his friend spoke harder. "I said, let her go. I have field medical training, Roman. You know this. Let me look at her."
He couldn’t though. The man had no idea what he was asking him to do.
He couldn’t let her go now. A burning wetness pooled in his eyes, stinging his wide eyes.

Darien
came
forward,
and gently
removed his hands
from her
.
Rome
met his brother's
eyes;
they
held such dark pain, such understanding. Now he knew why Darien had pushed himself away
like
he did. To know that the woman you loved was dying. How did the man even live?

He watched as if from the long end of a
shadowy
tunnel as Jacks sprouted questions. He worked with
quick, jerky
movements that still managed to be precise.

If the silver went deep enough. If it had cut through her spinal cord, then the damage would be
irreparable
. She would bleed out and then her heart would stop.

He remembered being told that the blood had stopped. But he didn't remember why. Had Jacks stopped the flow? Would she live? Or was the
damage
irreparable
and his mate was about to die. Rome didn't know.

He didn't know because the light at the far end of the
tunnel grew dimmer and foggier
l
ike
black smoke was blocking his vision. He cursed inwardly and
scrambled
to focus.
No!

Must
see her face one last time.
He flailed against the shadows behind his eyes, against the fog in his mind, but it useless.
He screamed inside until his throat burned and bled.
But the darkness refused to bow and took over him completely.

Chapter 1
5

The blurry lights made it
difficult
to see.

"Fix the lights already." She didn't mean to be a complainer, but really. Hadn't she been through enough?

Someone chuckled from beside her. She turned and blinked first one eye than the other. She frowned when the blurry figure didn't become the man she was hoping
for
.

"I'm afraid I can't do anything about the lights. It's your vision that's blurry, not them. I'm Darien
Kategan,
by the way
, we haven’t formally met
. How do you feel?" His voice was a lovely tenor. He had
a calm, patient way of speaking as though he had all the time in the world to listen to
her
speak.

"Sorry, I'm
not a morning person
.
I feel like…
someone used my body for a punching bag
.
Like maybe a bunch of UFC fighters.
Am I
really here
?
Is this real?
Because, no offense, but if this is heaven then they sent me the wrong man to dream about.
I think they mixed up brothers.
”

A ghost of a smile flared on his lips. “
You’re very much a
live, and I’d feel like shit too after
what you’ve been through.
”

Alison took that all in then asked the question that
was burning at her mind.

“
Where's Rome?" she asked in a quiet voice.

The big man
who
looked like a linebacker for the Gods looked away
and shifted side to side
.
Alison
stilled
,
the air freezing in her lungs
.

"What's wrong?"

"He's down the hall, but he's been hurt. Wait, whoa, where do you think you're going?" Alison had already thrown back the covers and moved to a sitting position.

"I'm going to see my mate."

The man looked pensively at her,
then
smiled softly. "Then let me help you," he said at last.

The walk down the hallway didn't last long. Darien picked her up and
car
r
ied
her
, w
hich was perfect because her stomach, chest, thighs,
and
neck throbbed like a SOB.

The sight of Rome left a sharp pang in her heart. He was
lying
on the big bed with the covers dishevele
d around him. His face was pale and
had lost
its
healthy glow. His eyes didn't even open when she
sat
on the bed.

"What happened to him?" She tried not to let tears choke her voice, but it was hard. They fell in fast rivulets down her face as she crawled closer. His scent was so familiar, so beautiful. It calmed her even as worry tugged at her with cruel arms.
             

"Conlin stabbed him with a silver blade to the thigh. It hit his femoral. Luckily, he'll heal from it. It'll just take awhile." Alison gasped and cupped his pale cheek in her hand. If he'd been
human,
he would have been
dead in minutes. Leaning over him gently, she pressed tearful kisses over his lips, cheeks, everywhere. She didn't realize they were alone until she heard the soft snick of the door closing.

"Oh, Roman. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, beautiful."

She gasped and pulled back to s
ee his eyes open, albeit hooded.
H
is lips pulled back in
to
a gentle grin. She wanted to slap him for comi
ng after her
and hold him close
all at the same time. His eyes roamed all over her face as if memorizing every detail.

He cupped her cheek and she leaned into it.
"Don't move, you need to rest."
He shook his head at her
words
.

"
You
need to rest. I just have a cut.
You
have many cuts."

"Mine aren't deep." He looked pointedly at the large white bandage wrapped around her neck and she winced. "Okay, maybe just that one is. But
honestly,
Darien said I’m
healing fine. I can feel it working."