Heart of the Warrior (18 page)

"You didn’t have to do all this, Felice," he said.

She flipped her short, red hair off her shoulder and glanced
at him. "Don’t be silly. Why wouldn't I?"

Lakota shrugged. "Because of what I did."

"Shush about that for now." She filled two plates
with spaghetti, spooned homemade meat sauce that smelled like a gift from the
gods over both, then placed two pieces of garlic bread next to each.

Just two plates.

"Severin’s not coming?" he said.

She shook her head. "He’s not ready to forgive
you."

"But you are?"

She handed him a plate as she clucked her tongue. "It’s
time to move on, don’t you think?"

Forgiveness and moving on were why he was here. He just
wished Sev had come. He wanted to see him.

"Yes, I think so."

She led him up to the terrace, where outdoor heaters took
the chill out of the air. They sat down in a pair of cushioned chairs at a
small table.

"I like the new hair color, by the way," he said.
"It's nice."

As shifters, drecks could change their human appearance at
will, but their dreck imprint remained the same. Luckily, Felice had never
changed much about her shifted form other than her hair color. It had made
finding her easier. He paused and nodded at her. "You look good,
Felice." He swirled spaghetti on his fork and admired her fair skin. By
human standards, she didn’t look older than her late twenties.

"So do you. It’s amazing how much Sev looks like
you."

It was the vampire genes. They trumped dreck and human genes
every time. It was why mixed babies always turned out vampires. Vampires with a
twist, but still vampires.

"How is he?"

"He’s good."

"Is he mated?" He stopped and held up his hand.
"No. Wait. Don’t answer that. I made a deal with my daughter – her gift is
psychic in nature – not to tell me anything about him. That way I have to work
harder to get to know him. So, you can't tell me anything about him, either. It
would be like cheating. I need to earn it first."

Felice nodded approvingly. "You have changed, haven’t
you?"

"Yes, I have. As you've seen, I don’t drink,
anymore." He lifted his water glass to prove his point then hesitated as
his mind fell back on the terrible things he had done to her and others so long
ago. "And now I
protect
the innocent rather than hurt them."
He set down his water and fork then reached for Felice’s hand. "I am so
sorry, Felice. I am so sorry for what I did to you. Our races don’t get along,
but what I did to you was inexcusable. Before we go any further, I need to beg
for your forgiveness."

Her eyes misted over and she squeezed his hand. "No
need to beg, Kota. I forgive you." She smiled warmly. "I’m just in
awe that you’ve turned your life around the way you have."

"Mary helped me find my way again." He had told
Felice about Mary on the phone.

Felice sipped her wine and smiled. "So she did. Do you
have a picture of her?"

He pulled out his wallet and slipped a family photo from inside
and handed it to her. "Don’t get me wrong. I’m no saint. I still hunt. I
still fight. But I do so now with a conscience."

"She was a lovely woman," Felice said. "And
so are your children." She handed the picture back.

"Marie is the oldest. She lives north of here. I’m
going to see her tomorrow."

"I bet she’ll be glad to see you."

Lakota took her hand again and gave her a serious look.
"You're a better person than I am, Felice. I don't think I could forgive
someone who did what I did to you."

She waved her free hand at him and looked away almost shyly,
as if she was struggling to hide her emotions. "Everything happens for a
reason, Kota. You gave me Sev. That's how I prefer to look at it now." She
patted his hand. "Now eat. No more dwelling on the past and what we can't
change. All we can do is look forward and live for now."

Lakota realized he had been nervous for no reason. The
evening was actually turning out enjoyable.

Gina sat back on her haunches. This was turning out to be a
major bust. She had followed Lakota tonight with the hope that he would lead
her to Severin. Instead, all he led her to was spaghetti night at some strange
woman's house.

She was too far away to catch the female's scent, but as she
watched through her scope, it was clear that there was nothing romantic between
them. Their body language was more in line with acquaintances or distant
friends than lovers.

Okay, this had led nowhere. She lowered the scope. Maybe she
could get something from AKM since this clearly wasn't Sev's house.

Dematerializing from the rooftop, she misted off toward AKM.
Maybe she could catch Sev there.

Severin sped away from AKM, full of pissed-off and
kiss-my-ass. This was the hell he was in for as a mated male, wasn’t it?
Especially if he was mated to Ari, who wore two faces: One for him and one for
the rest of the world. He wanted to be with Ari, and not just in private, but
in public, too. To be denied that pleasure, then have to endure Io’s jibes and
Ari’s acceptance of an invite to go out and fuck a pair of whores, was beyond
Sev’s level of tolerance. It was adding insult to injury.

He had been driving around for an hour, spending the last
few minutes zooming north on Lake Shore. He exited on Randolph and within
minutes was tromping up the walk to his mom’s townhouse. He didn’t know where
else to turn and his mom had a way of calming him down when he got like this.
Using his key, he unlocked the door and went inside. All the lights were on,
and his mouth watered at the smell of her homemade Italian sauce.

"Mom?! Hey, Mom?" He grabbed a plate and loaded it
with spaghetti and poured a glass of wine. She was probably up on the terrace.
She liked to eat up there even when it was cold outside. He had installed
outdoor heaters for her to make it more comfortable.

God, he really needed to talk to her. Hurrying up the
stairs, he charged out to the terrace and froze.

"Sev?" His mom jumped up. She had just taken a
bite of spaghetti and lifted her napkin to dab the corner of her mouth. "I
didn’t think you were coming."

Suddenly, Sev remembered that she had told him his dad was
stopping by tonight. The plate and glass fell out of his hands and he stared at
the tall, broad-shouldered male who slowly stood and gazed at him.

"Son?"

It was scary how alike they looked. His father’s lines were
harder, though. Sharper and edgier. Sev had softer features, and his eyes
weren’t as tight.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he said.

His mom scurried forward and took his hand. She frowned up
at him. "I told you he was coming. I thought that was why you were here.
That you had changed your mind about wanting to see him."

Sev’s night just got better and better, didn’t it? First Ari
and now his bastard father.

"I forgot."

Father and son refused to break eye contact. One stared in
awe while the other stared in hatred.

"Then why did you come?" His mom knelt and began
cleaning up the mess from his dropped plate. The broken wine glass lay in
shards.

"It doesn’t matter."

"Son, wait. Please." His father walked toward him.

"Don’t you come near me." Sev’s voice held a
warning that his body was prepared to enforce. He had been primed for a fight
before coming here. His father gave him an excellent excuse to get into one.

"Severin, please, hear me out. I came here to
apologize. I’m different now. I’ve changed and wanted to tell both you and your
mom how sorry I am for what I did to you. I just want to know you, son."

That did it. Sev’s fist shot out faster than he could track
and connected with his father’s chin with a loud thwack as bone met bone. His
father flew to the side and his mom screamed.

He pointed an angry finger at Lakota. "Don’t you ever
call me that again, you bastard. I am
not
your son."

He spun on his heels and raced down the stairs and out the
front door to his car, his emotions a hornet’s nest of chaos. There was nowhere
to go. He wasn’t welcome at the compound right now, and he sure as hell wasn’t
going back inside his mom’s house. Only one place remained. Home. And he didn’t
really want to go there, either.

His phone rang and he glanced at the caller I.D. Tristan. He
had said he was going to call him later and that he
would
speak to him.
Ooo,
scary.
Sev waved his fingers at the phone.
Here’s what I think of how I
will
talk to you.
He sent the call to voicemail.
Ha! Talk to that, asshole.
He started the engine and pulled away and around the park then traveled back
down Lake Shore to Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park.

For a while, he simply walked around the park, sitting down
occasionally to stare at the boarded up fountain. In the summer it would be a
major attraction, but until May it would remain closed and shut off.

The air was colder at the lakefront, but Sev didn’t care.
The frosty bite actually felt good. Matched his mood. He wandered east and sat
down on the great staircase that overlooked Chicago Harbor and Lake Michigan
further out.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, but when his phone
rang again, he jumped.

Fuck Tristan!

Still, he pulled out his phone and looked at the I.D.

Ari?

He closed his eyes as his heart weeble-wobbled inside his
ribcage. There was no way he couldn’t answer a call from his mate. No matter
how angry he was at him, he couldn’t refuse him.

"What?"

"Sev?"

"Yep. What do you want, Ari?"

Silence.

Sev sighed in frustration. "Why are you calling
me?"

"I’m sorry, Sev. I’m so sorry. Please don’t be mad at
me."

"Too late for that." Sev brushed his hair off his
face as the cold, lakefront wind caught it and blew it over his eyes.

More silence.

Sev huffed again. "Is that all you wanted? Will there
be anything else?"

"Do you not want me to come over after my shift
then?" Ari sounded beyond miserable, which ebbed Sev’s anger. As mad as he
was for what had happened earlier, the thought that he was causing his mate
pain was worse.

"Fuck, Ari." He blew out a heavy, frustrated sigh.
"Yes, I still want you to come over. Damn you."

"Are you saying—hold on." Ari held the phone away
like he was talking to someone else. "No, no…black coffee. Yeah.
Black." There was a rustling sound and he was back. "Sorry about
that."

"Who are you with?"

"Malek. Where are you?"

Sev looked up and around. "Grant Park."

"Oh. Okay. We’re on the South Side."

Silence again.

"So, will you come over then?" Sev said. Some of
the steam had blown out of his sails now that he was hearing Ari's voice, and
now the only thing that seemed to matter was seeing him in a few hours.
Welcome
to the land of the mated male vampire. Enjoy the emotional roller coaster ride
the
calling's
gonna serve up on your ass.

"If you want me to." Ari's voice sounded hopeful.

"Do you want to?"

A pause. "Yes."

Sev swallowed the lump in his throat. "Good. I need to
see you, Ari."

"I need to see you, too." Ari paused.

Sev looked out over Lake Michigan, the tension in his body
fading. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too." Ari’s voice sounded like he was
smiling.

"We’ll get through this, babe."

"I know. But it kills me that I hurt you. I’m so
sorry."

"Never mind that. Just hurry and get to my place, okay.
And don’t eat. I’m cooking."

Suddenly, Sev’s good mood flowed back into his blood in an
instant and he knew just what he wanted to cook for his mate. His mate! Ari. He
was still getting used to the idea. But yes, his
mate
was coming over.
He was going to see his
mate.
Hot damn!

And while he was at it, he really needed to get used to the
violent mood shifts of this mated male thing. This was all new to him and he
was feeling tossed around like a rowboat in the high seas during a hurricane.
But from what he understood, this was normal during the calling phase, but that
didn't mean he was enjoying that part of it. He would rather enjoy the other
part of it – the part where he got to make love to Ari until he collapsed with
exhaustion. Yeah, that was he part of the
calling
phase he liked.

"I can’t wait," Ari said.

"Bye, babe."

"See ya in a few."

Sev disconnected and got up. He had to hurry if he was going
to make it to the store and get home in time to make a pot of his mom’s
homemade spaghetti sauce for Ari.

Ari hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief. He
thought he had majorly fucked up back at AKM, and his heart had been breaking
ever since. Obviously, the exchange with Io hurt Severin, and as soon as he
realized what had happened he had been filled with a pain unlike anything he'd
ever felt. The pain gripped his chest, knotted his stomach, and pounded inside
his head for three hours until just a few minutes ago. Calling Sev and hearing
him say he still wanted to see him lifted the ache and pain away like a breeze
blowing away ashes from a fire. Suddenly, Ari couldn’t stop smiling.

And what the hell was up with his Johnson? He had been hard
all night. It had already gotten so bad twice that he'd had to take bathroom
breaks to ease himself. Malek was probably beginning to think his bladder had
shrunk or some shit, but at least jacking off gave him a bit of a respite.

But fuck, he needed to get his head screwed on straight.
Especially where Sev was concerned. What had happened earlier had been
inexcusable. He should have known better and been more conscientious.