Authors: Judy Teel
"But of our own free will," I countered.
"Do you hope to become allies against my uncle?"
"Are you being forced?" I asked again.
He stretched out his arms as if to embrace me. Closing his eyes, he tipped back his head. "Soon I'll be invincible."
Buckling forward suddenly, he clutched his stomach, his expression shocked before a look of excruciating pain collapsed the bliss that had been there a moment before. His scream abruptly cut off and when he stood, Aedodra was back. "I shall have to work on his propensity to blab," the god said.
Behind him, Miller stepped into the open doorway, his Colt pistol in his hand.
Aedodra turned and his gaze landed on the practitioner. "Surprise me once, shame on me. Surprise me twice..."
Miller's finger squeezed down on the trigger.
"No!" I shouted. The practitioner froze and he looked down. The tip of his gun had fused together. It would have exploded in his face if he'd fired.
"You always spoil my fun," Aedodra said, giving me a chastising look. Then his wicked smile lifted Danny's mouth. "But not for long."
One second he was in front of me and then next he had Mistress Raevinne by the throat. We all rushed forward, stopping in mid step when she raised her hand, palm out, her eyes never leaving Aedodra's. The god squeezed down on her windpipe, his expression curious. Calmly she held his gaze as her breath turned into a sharp wheeze of sound. "I
will
have my due, priestess," Aedodra said, leaning in as if to kiss her. "You know that."
He shoved Mistress Raevinne away from him and in a streak of motion, Cooper lunged, catching her before she hit the floor. As she coughed uncontrollably, he eased her into Miller's arms. Cooper scowled as Aedodra's gaze swept over him.
"So noble. So dedicated. So tempting to rip your heart out where you stand," the god mused. He took a step closer and Cooper shielded the practitioners with his body. "But instead, I'll take the only thing you still have of her."
Aedodra made an elegant gesture in the air as if flicking away a pesky bug. Something hit me in the middle of my chest and dug in with claws that burned into my skin as they tore through the muscles and punctured my sternum. I heard Cooper inhale sharply as my knees buckled and I hit the floor, gritting my teeth as my unseen assailant grabbed my heart and squeezed.
I fell forward, my hand outstretched toward Cooper who now lay at Aedodra's feet, the color draining from his face. His silver-green eyes met mine and his hand inched toward me, the fingers trembling with the effort. "No," he gasped.
Our fingers touched and then Cooper's hand clamped onto mine as Aedodra bent down, bringing Danny's face level with my eyes. He grabbed the collar of the vampire's shirt and ripped the material down, exposing the tattoo that covered the pale skin of his neck and shoulder — a dragon in flight with a spear and shield gripped in its claws, rippling as if alive.
Bringing his mouth to my temple, he kissed me with a tenderness that made my stomach writhe. "You are mine,
Dakum-Wara
," he whispered. Straightening up, he held his palm over Cooper's head and slowly clenched his fingers into a hard fist.
Cooper's face contorted with agony. I held on to his hand with the last of my strength as the claws wrapped around my heart and ripped it from my chest. Screams tore out of me and blended with Cooper's as the fires of Hell consumed my body.
Aedodra's laugh followed me into darkness.
*
*
*
When I came to, Dr. Barrett was weakly arguing with Erika while Mistress Raevinne and Miller hovered over Cooper and me. My body felt like a train had run over it. Twice.
Aedodra was gone.
"She's alive," I heard Miller say, worry and fear fraying his voice.
I clutched at my chest, astonished to find it in one piece. Reaching out to Cooper with my feelings, I opened my soul to him and hit a wall of resistance. Panic flooded me and I pounded against it, desperately searching for the link of our bonding. I slammed all of my will against the shield, silently screaming for Cooper. The barrier bowed inward and shattered.
Triumph flooded me. Aedodra could never break what Cooper and I shared. We'd won. We would always win. I reached out with my consciousness, anticipating the soothing warmth of his heart touching mine. I met lifeless, endless emptiness.
Not even a whisper of him remained.
"Addison, what's happening? Are you in pain?" Miller said, kneeling down beside me.
"Cooper," I groaned, rolling over onto my side. His hand still clutched in mine, was icy. My panic turned to terror.
With the last of my failing strength, I turned over onto my stomach and dragged myself toward him. His eyes were closed, his strong face pale.
Don't leave me.
I laid my cheek on his shoulder. "You promised," I whispered.
*
*
*
"Addison, wake up," Miller said above me, his voice dim and far away as if from the end of a long tunnel.
Cooper is dead.
My despair trapped me, dragging me under until I couldn't breathe. Twisting my heart until I didn't want to.
"Oh, my God, she's not breathing. Addison!"
A leathery hand smacked me hard on the cheek.
I sucked in a jagged breath and the world roared back into existence. An empty hole throbbing in the center of my chest, its merciless desolation pounding through my body, making my breath hitch as my lungs struggled to work.
"I will...kill you," I muttered as I cracked open my eyes.
Mistress Raevinne loomed above me. "You will have to live to do it, and so I will die content," she said crisply. "You are in the infirmary. Cooper is in the bed next to you."
I scowled at her, expecting a trick. When her sharp brown eyes held my gaze, I gathered my strength and turned my head.
Cooper lay next to me, a mound of covers piled up to his chin like Dr. Barrett's had been. His eyes were closed, but the covers rose and fell steadily.
"Alive," I croaked, licking my dry lips. "He's alive."
"But he has not regained consciousness," Mistress Raevinne said. "The abrupt shattering of the bond was a severe shock to his system." I refused to let the sadness I heard threading through her words kill my hope.
"Did you...try slugging him?" I asked, telling my arms to get busy and push me up. They cooperated after the second try and Miller handed me a cup of water.
"Small sips," he cautioned. "You've been unconscious for almost twenty-four hours."
I drank half of the water and handed the glass back to him. "What happened?"
"Aedodra is back," Mistress Raevinne said with a huff of disgust.
"Yeah, I got that part pretty clearly."
The practitioner pointed her cane at Dr. Barrett's desk chair and Miller scrambled to get it for her. "After throwing his impertinent weight around, he snapped his fingers and disappeared," she said as she settled into the chair. "His love of theatrics explains a great deal about vampires."
"You don't seem surprised by his appearance." I watched Cooper breathe.
"I have had a day to get used to the idea." She stacked her hands on her cane and gave me a hard look that I pretended not to notice. "And to realize that there is still hope."
I looked around the infirmary as another fear hit me. "Dr. Barrett... Is he—"
"Erika is currently taking him his dinner," Mistress Raevinne interrupted. "He is one of the few bright spots in our current situation. With proper care, he will recover."
"And the others — Ralph, Noah?"
"When those with only physical injuries regained enough strength to shift, they healed themselves," Miller said and relief eased the tightness in my throat. "But that won't help the ones with deeper damage. Only time can heal them."
He exchanged a look with his grandmother. "Erika will stay on for a while as the Clan's healer." He sat down on the side of my bed and held out a coffee mug full of chicken broth.
I accepted the soup, not liking the way this was sounding. "I won't leave Cooper," I said, taking a sip.
"Ah. She has already guessed where this is headed," Mistress Raevinne said, a satisfied smile touching the edges of her mouth.
They exchanged another look.
Practitioners were always plotting something. "Whatever it is, forget it." I swallowed the rest of the broth and tossed the covers off of me. Handing the empty mug to Miller, I put my feet on the floor, waited a moment for the dizzy spell to pass and then stood. Shuffling past the practitioners, I edged around the foot of my bed and in no time, was crawling in beside Cooper.
Settling down on my side, I draped a leg over his thighs and pulled the blankets up. "You two look like you could use some rest," I said, resting my right arm across his chest. "I'll let you know if we need you."
Miller looked away, but not before I caught the flicker of pity in his eyes. Mistress Raevinne studied me for a moment and then hauled herself out of the chair using her cane as leverage. "Come," she said to her grandson. "The Demon-Were is quite right. I am tired."
The Demon-Were.
I wasn't sure how I felt about being so solidly out of the closet or what it would mean to me moving forward. Mostly I didn't care.
The only thing important to me now was getting Cooper well.
Snuggling down next to him, I brushed my fingertips across the rough stubble along his jaw and let my tears slide down my face and into the pillow. "Please live," I said as I fell asleep.
*
*
*
I woke up in the early hours of the next morning when Cooper's hand slid over the curve of my hip before he pulled me snuggly against him. He was facing me, and I smiled as I opened my eyes. "We're in the infirmary," I said, my gaze tracking over his face. His color was back to normal and the shadow of his beard gave him a sexy, dangerous vibe that made my heart beat a little faster.
As I stroked my fingers over his chest, he slipped his hand under the waistband of my jeans and slid it around to unsnap the front. A languid eagerness curled through my stomach, and I instinctively reached for the connection between us. And slammed into the frigid emptiness.
I sucked in a sharp breath and pulled back from him.
"We have to trigger the bond again," Cooper murmured, stroking the pad of his thumb down my cheek. "Please." He edged closer and brushed his lips across mine.
A heavy sadness sank into my heart over all that we had lost. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss as he unzipped my jeans. His warm hand caressed my stomach and then slid lower as his mouth traveled down my neck, gently biting and then kissing my skin as if he meant to taste every inch of me.
I pushed away my feeling that the bond between us was gone forever and gave myself up to Cooper.
*
*
*
We made love continuously through the night, a flowing rhythm of pleasure and heartache as we tried to fill ourselves up with each other, knowing that we never could. Aedodra hadn't just destroyed the bond between us, he'd stripped us of whatever had created it.
When Mistress Raevinne, Miller, Rosalind and Dr. Barrett supported by an attentive Erika, trooped into the infirmary the next morning, they found us sitting close together at Dr. B's desk consuming a breakfast that neither of us felt like eating, but that our healing bodies demanded.
Cooper and I offered our chairs to Mistress Raevinne and Dr. Barrett and then stood off to the side, shoulder to shoulder, our hands clasped tightly together. For once, Rosalind refrained from scowling at me and dread pooled in the pit of my stomach. Miller stared at his feet, looking miserable.
"It cheers me to see you restored to health,
Aesei Siian
." Mistress Raevinne's sharp eyes trailed across us, missing nothing. "Your little Maya is blessed."
I felt Cooper flinch as if she'd struck him and my anger stirred.
"We were lucky this time," she continued. "The old one's power is still weak, which is why I believe he did not kill you. He will need time to adjust to his new body and to this dimension."
"How long?" Cooper asked.
"Your time with her is over."
I clenched my teeth, barely holding myself back from getting in her face. "That isn't for you to decide."
"Quite true. Your fate was decided long ago by a talented and powerful practitioner who was too young and too curious for her own good."
"Who might have been more willing to follow coven rules if you'd allowed her to be with the man she loved," I countered.
Her mouth pressed into a thin line. "Rules that were made in an attempt to prevent exactly what has happened."
Unlacing his fingers from mine, Cooper eased his hand away. His expression stayed neutral, but a muscle flexed along his jaw.
"Lieutenant, apprise the
Aesei Siian
of the current needs of Bone Clan," Dr. Barrett said, the tone of authority clear in his voice, despite the fatigue deepening the lines around his mouth.
"No." I pushed in front of Cooper, then turned to face him. "We can't let Aedodra win. We can't—" Cooper cupped my face in his hands and kissed me and my heart shattered.
"Our choices are gone," he said. Tears shone in his eyes, the desolation in their depths shredding my soul. He swallowed and turned away from me. Straightening his shoulders, he stalked out of the infirmary. Rosalind hesitated and then hurried after him.
Miller glanced at me, his expression grim. "Addison, I—"