Dark War Chronicles Box Set One (62 page)

“I don’t remember this place...” She paused. “No, wait we just recently moved here.”

“Tegan,” Lucius’ voice made them both look up. “We moved here around three hundred years ago. You don’t remember? You made a huge fuss over—“

“Over the kitchen.” She put a hand to her head. “That wasn’t that long ago. It...it was—“

“It’s okay,” Kaden soothed. “You’ve been through a lot.” He wanted to pull her into his arms, but figured Lucius would try to kill him.

“Kaden, you are dismissed. I need to...examine Tegan, see how her wounds are healing.”

Kaden pulled away reluctantly and Tegan reached out to him before wrapping her arms around herself. “Of course, you need to take care of your human.”

“Will you be back?” Tegan asked, her voice soft.

Kaden’s eyes slid to Lucius who shrugged. “She’s in need of a new guard and I have a feeling you’re up to the spot.”

“Then I will, but you two have some catching up to do.” Kaden smiled and summoned a portal to take him home. He couldn’t be around when Lucius inspected the damage...he’d be more likely to lose his temper than the vampire. Seeing her at the hospital almost set him off.

Tegan watched Lucius pace the room. The anger and fear rolled off him in waves and she knew her situation caused it. “Sir, I...” She couldn’t think of what to say, but knew she needed to try to say something before his temper exploded. “I am sorry.”

Lucius paused and looked at her. “Stand up.”

She took a deep breath and slowly raised herself off the throne, holding on to the arms for balance. She tried to put her full weight on her leg only to cause feel pain to shoot shooting through her. Tegan tried to hide the wince, but couldn’t. From the look on Lucius’ face she knew he’d seen it. His brow creased and he approached her. “What else hurts?”

How could she describe everything she felt? Her body ached and heat scorched through her, yet she was cold and shaking. Things started to heal, but the damage would take time. “Everything.” She muttered. “Lucius, sir. Something is wrong.”

“You haven’t called me sir in over three hundred years.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. She went to him and put a hand on his arm, ignoring her pain. He needed her right now, needed the comfort only she could provide. Even his skin felt warm against hers. He looked at her and picked her up. “I’m taking you to your room where I can look over you without fear of someone walking in.”

How many people lived in this place to make him worry about her being seen? And how dare he push off her concerns. “Sir, I don’t remember—“

“I know, Kaden told me, but it’s just the trauma.” He took her down a hall, stopping only when he reached a light purple door. Shouldering it open, he let out a sigh. “I know you hate it, but I need to see your wounds.”

She crossed her arms, trying not to cry out at the pain that shot through the wounds on her back. “Listen to me, I am trying to tell you what is wrong. The wounds will heal.” She couldn’t let him see the wounds, his temper would grow worse.

“Tegan, I can smell the fresh blood—“

She growled. “Master, listen to me.” She snapped and tears formed in her eyes. This was getting her nowhere closer to understanding what was wrong with her head. “Let me talk to Zaaren please, my brother will understand.”

Lucius froze. If she didn’t know better she would have thought he looked shocked. “Tegan, Zaaren is sleeping.”

“It’s nighttime, do not be silly.” Why wouldn’t he let her see Zaaren? Lucius rarely interfered when she wanted time with her brother.

He shook his head. “Sit, please. I’m listening now.”

“What do you mean that my brother is sleeping?” Fear rose in her. She’d never seen Lucius so unsettled and she could feel his nerves.

Lucius pulled up a chair from a desk and faced her. “Your brother has been asleep for a few hundred years. He and the other Originals went into a hibernation of sorts about a month after the Circle took you and Trisha.”

Her stomach churned at the name. “She’s dead...it’s my fault.” The memories swam to the surface. She could see the wolf arched and crying over the body of the human.

“It was a long time ago. You weren’t with them this time, you were with demons. They took you from here, from Renee’s wedding. I don’t know what happened when you were with them, but...”

She frowned, something flashed in her mind and a blinding pain followed. “Markus.” She hissed and cradled her head. The sound of Markus’ voice echoed in her ears and she gasped at the new pain. “Please, please make it stop.” Blood, all she could feel was blood and her vision started disappearing. The pain crashed through her body at the memories of being tied to a table.

Strong arms wrapped around her and held her shaking body. The pain slowly faded and she gasped into Lucius’ chest. He stroked her hair and whispered to her. She paid no attention to the words, but concentrated on his touch. “He messed with my mind.”

“That’s what it seems like. There are only two vampires that are capable of doing that, Markus and your brother.” Lucius sighed. “I don’t know how to undo this damage.”

She didn’t like how that sounded. “I...I need rest. To take care of the physical damage before the mental.” Pulling away she touched her eyes, frowning. “My eyes...”

“I’m assuming they were uncovered when you were found. In this time, you have glasses with tinted lenses that allow you your sight, but block your eyes from everyone.”

She’d been wearing them in her last dream, something somewhat familiar to her. “Where are they?”

“There’s a set on your dresser. You don’t have to worry about them in your room and it’s not like you’ll be leaving any time soon.” He motioned to her. “Please, your wounds.”

She took a deep breath and took her shirt off in a quick motion. Pulling one arm over to cover her chest, she stared at him. She hated being naked, it brought back memories of him...the Father. Lucius stepped up and draped a blanket around her shoulders as she shivered.

“Just a quick look.” He promised, his eyes scanning over her body, taking in every bruise and slice in her skin. She hadn’t managed to keep track of the injuries. “What hurts beyond tolerance?”

She took a moment to consider his question. “My left leg, my head, and my back, sir.”

Lucius sighed. “No, no more sir.” Something in his voice broke her heart. Had she moved past the idea of ownership and forgotten? He pulled the blanket all the way around her then went to examine her knee.

He put pressure on the joint and she couldn’t stop the whimper. Adrenaline allowed her to walk before, but now the pain was unbearable and she found herself wishing that human pain remedies worked on her. “Why no more calling you sir?” She asked, trying to think of something else. He straightened her leg, pain exploded and her vision wavered. “Don’t.”

Lucius looked at her. “It’s healing from a break still. Why didn’t the Hunters splint it?”

“They had a splint on it while I slept. I, um...I panicked when they tried to put it back on after examining the injury.” She looked down, not meeting his gaze. “I didn’t understand what was going on.”

“It’s okay. I’ll have someone splint it and have you on crutches for a while.”

The words didn’t make sense, but she nodded anyways, trusting him. “Will you answer my question now?”

“We have worked on building a partnership instead of an ownership together. We had gotten so far, where you would only call me master or sir on needed occasions, meetings and formal events. I...I allowed you simple freedoms that meant the world to you, you wanted to be as human as you could. As much as I could allow.”

He stood up from her leg and gently started feeling the back of her head. No pain came with the physical touch and she realized she needed to elaborate. “It’s only painful if I try to remember what’s happened. It’s not like a concussion.”

“Okay, let me see your back, please.”

She shifted and pulled the blanket in front of her, slowly turning herself on the bed, being careful of her knee. She heard Lucius hiss. Whips always did horrendous damage and Markus knew how to wield one expertly.

His fingers traced over some of the healing marks. “Some of these may actually scar. It looks like they took a knife to your back.”

“A whip...a cat of nine tales. You know, the one with barbs. It is Markus—“

“Pride and joy, but this is different. I promise you, this is the work of a blade.” He pulled his hand back. “I’ll get you some clothes.”

Her mind spun. She didn’t remember a knife of any sort, but of course she couldn’t remember all the damage that Markus had done. All she could recall was the pain. Turning back she watched as Lucius went to the dresser and pulled out a large shirt and pants made of something super soft. Little skulls and crossbones decorated the fabric and made her smile.

He turned away from her. “I’ll let you be. Like you said, you need to rest. Victoria will probably be the one to come in to help with that knee.” He left, closing the door.

She slowly got dressed while she tried to recall the name, but nothing came to her.

Tegan laid down on her bed and studied her ceiling. Markus was involved, but she couldn’t remember what she told him and any time she tried to remember, the pounding headache returned. She rolled over on her side and closed her eyes.

Kaden stood in his room, looking in the mirror. He didn’t like leaving Tegan alone. The demon in him called to stay with her, to protect her, because they failed once already. To let his mate be tortured was beyond forgiveness, but it’s not like he could have stopped it, not with Lucius keeping him at arm’s length. Just far enough that Tegan wouldn’t notice something was wrong, but not close enough so she became suspicious.

He prayed to any deity who would listen that she didn’t mention to Lucius what he’d said. Of course with the memory loss, he was sure they had more than their fair share to deal with. The memory of holding her in his arms while she slept hit him hard. Every one of his nights for the last few centuries should have been that way, but Lucius took that from him, and now Kaden was going to lose Tegan all over again. As her bodyguard he’d be so close to her and yet couldn’t touch her. It would be torture...but he could have a chance to win her over.

He slammed his fist into the mirror, cursing the vampire. A soft feminine chuckle filled his room, one he hadn’t heard in many years.

Spinning around on his heels, he stared at the woman in his doorway. Her long blond hair hung past her waist, pulled back in a tight braid, her slender body swaying as she walked towards him. Her blue eyes met his gaze. She favored her father more than their mother, but she was beautiful and strong...and the last time he’d seen her, he had decapitated the demon king to save her.

She pressed her hand against his cheek and he took a deep breath. “What are you doing here, Cael?”

“I had to see if what they said was true. That you were living in the human world, as if you were one of them.” She looked around his apartment and her lip lifted in disgust. “Which I see you are.”

“I can’t go back home, not after doing your mates job and saving you.” He stepped away from her. “Your mate has a price on my head, last I heard.”

She balled her hands into fists. “He wants to meet with you, about what happened.”

“It’s been five hundred years, seriously? Tell him no. I’m happy where I am and who I’m under.” He didn’t have to worry about Lucius turning around and killing him.

“With the vampire? You do know war is coming, don’t you?” She gave an exasperated sigh. “Lucius is going to lose the territory and so will all other vampires who oppose the Circle.”

He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. His sister always had a knack for war tactics, something else she’d gotten from her father, but the vampires and the Circle shouldn’t have concerned her. “What aren’t you telling me? That part of the war shouldn’t even interest you.”

“It does because it is war. We are trying to call our people back so that the Circle does not believe we ally with weak vampires such as Lucius.”

If they thought Lucius was weak, they couldn’t be more wrong. The vampire was ridiculously strong and carried the backing of an Original, even if the bastard wasn’t awake. “What aren’t you telling me, Cael? Because I feel like you’re hiding something. Aristides hates me since I killed the king, even though he should have been the one to do it. Not me.”

“He couldn’t have gone up against him without betraying our people.” She snapped at him. “Now is not the time to go through this argument. I’m trying to bring you home under an offer of peace and you are refusing to come with me.”

Because he liked his head attached to his body and he couldn’t leave Tegan, not now. “Why don’t you start with the truth and then I’ll consider coming home. The vampire part of the war shouldn’t concern you, normally the Fae is who the demons go up against.”

“The Fae have a new king who has allied with Lucius’ people. The Circle has managed to bring the Father back to life—“

“Impossible. There are too many precautions in place to keep him there, they are lying to you.” He kept his voice even and tried not to panic. There was no way that monster could be back. Kaden was a young demon when the Father was alive, but even he remembered his cruelty and desire to rule all supernatural creatures, simply because he believed he was given the gift of vampirism from the gods. “They have to be lying to you.” He said again.

Cael shook her head. “They aren’t, you can feel the power shift as much as I can. There is something big stirring and the demons are in on it, but they will kill anyone who is found on Lucius’ territory and that means you. I don’t want to see you dead.”

Yet, if he went home he would meet the same fate plus he wouldn’t be here to protect Tegan if shit went down. No, he couldn’t leave. “I can’t come home. I don’t believe that they have raised the Father, it’s not even a possibility.”

“They had this creature...this woman that could feed his blood lust.” She shook her head. “I can’t protect you if you don’t come with me.”

Her story didn’t match up. From what he understood more than someone to feed the Father’s blood lust was needed to raise him. “It’s not your job to protect me.” He snapped. “Now go before your mate realizes that you’re here.”