Heart of the Warrior (27 page)

"It’s okay, buddy. I know it hurts. Let it out."
Micah wrapped his arms around him, holding him up as another convulsion rocked
his body and he vomited again.

He continued heaving for what felt like forever as both Sam
and Micah held back his hair. Trace paced uncomfortably to the side, but Sev
could feel how hard it was for him to watch what he was going through. He
retched again and Micah snapped his fingers and pointed at Trace. "Get his
ass in here. Now!" Micah was pissed. "Go get him. He needs to know
what he's done."

Him. Ari.

Trace didn't hesitate and barreled out and shut the door
behind him.

He felt Sam clasp hands with Micah across his back. This was
what Micah had gone through before he had met her, but from what Sev had heard,
it had been much worse.

"Yeah, Sev, I went through this. It sucks. It
hurts." Micah tucked Sev's hair behind his ear. The gesture was so tender
Sev had to look to make sure it was Micah sitting next to him and not someone
who only sounded like him.

Yep, it was Micah. And his navy blues were full of
compassion and understanding.

"That's right, Sev. I know how you feel. I wish there
was more I could do for you to make it better, but I'm here for you. I had
hoped it wouldn't end up this way for you. I really hoped Ari would get his
head out of his ass and do right by you, buddy."

Buddy?
Micah was calling him buddy? Seriously, Sev
was beginning to think he had entered another dimension. He had never heard
Micah speak so tenderly except to Sam. And he had never in a million imagined
that Micah would refer to him as his buddy.

But one thing was clear. He had been right the other night.
Micah
did
know about him and Arion.

"How? How did you know about us?" Sev tried to
breathe, but all he got was tightness and pain.

Micah let go of Sam’s hand and pushed Sev's hair back even
more so he could stroke his fingers over the pulse point on Sev's neck. Micah
was a fucking magician. The ache soothed, and the spasms in his stomach calmed
enough so he could sit back on his heels.

"Is that better?" Micah cupped his palm around
Sev's neck and continued massaging.

Sev nodded, watching Micah closely as he panted for breath,
still waiting for an answer.

"Sev, I’ve been around a long time. And I…well…I just
know things, okay. I can't turn off my ability to see inside people's minds and
into their thoughts. It just happens. Leftovers from my former life."
Micah waved his hand as if dispelling old memories. "So, I’ve known for a
while about Ari, even if he didn’t. It’s one reason why he and I never got
along, because I knew he was living a lie and couldn’t see it, but he always
wanted to get up in my shit about
my
life. I thought he was a hypocrite,
but then you joined us. When you came along, I saw the connection between you
two immediately. I knew it was only a matter of time before you mated."

"But…"

"Ari didn't know until recently. Yeah. I know. But I
could see what was going on inside his head. I could just tell." Micah
paused, his palm still massaging Sev's pulse point. "Sometimes, when
you're in the thick of the forest, you can't see the way out even when it's
right in front of you. But when you're above the forest and looking down, you
can see everything. Ari's too deep in the forest, Sev." Micah gestured and
lifted his other arm up as if marking a higher level. "I'm above the
forest. I could see how lost Ari was, and I could see his way to being found.
In you. You are Ari's way out, Sev."

Wow. For real, who was this guy? And where the fuck was
Micah?

Sam took Sev's hand and squeezed it. "It’s okay, Sev.
Somehow this will work out."

Sev turned toward her and knew that Micah had revealed
everything to her. Her gentle eyes softened even more as she tried to give him
a reassuring smile.

"Ari doesn’t want this marriage any more than you do,
Severin." Micah stood up and planted his hands on his hips as he huffed.
"Fuck, Ari’s messed shit up good."

Gina pulled up to the valet in front of the Savakis
residence and handed over her keys. Lakota came around the back as the valet
drove off to a nearby parking space. She made sure she watched where so she
could find it later. Her rifle was in the back.

Lakota took her hand. "Thanks again for driving. I
don’t know what’s wrong with my Suburban. It was fine last night."

"That’s okay. These things happen."

She knew what was wrong with his Suburban. She had
disconnected the battery while out "jogging" before sunrise. While he
had remained sleeping in her bed, she had changed into her running clothes,
stolen his keys, grabbed her rifle in its compact carrying case, her nine
millimeter, extra clips, and then concealed everything under a bulky jacket and
jogged down to the parking garage. She loaded her weapons in the back
compartment, found his Suburban, unlocked it, popped the hood, and disabled the
battery. After her task was done, she hurried back up to her room, snuck in,
and deposited his keys back where she found them before he awakened.

After that, they had spent the day
not
getting out
the bed. Lakota was insatiable, but she enjoyed herself. Even if there were no
long-term plans with him, she had to admit, the sex was good.

"Shall we?" he said.

"Absolutely." She was more than ready. Finally,
she would get her shot at Severin and put the past behind her.

He leaned toward her as they stood at the end of the line of
people waiting to have their names checked off the guest list. "You look
lovely, by the way." His warm breath whispered over her ear.

"Thank you." She had purposely dressed in black
slacks, a black cashmere sweater, and black coat. Black clothing would make her
task easier later. At the last second, she had remembered she needed something
green and found a simple emerald brooch and fastened it to the turtleneck
bunched around her throat.

"You look good, too," she said.

Lakota cleaned up well in slacks and a navy blue sweater. On
such short notice, he couldn’t find anything green to wear, but it didn’t
matter. He was still handsome. And she had already gotten in her pinch.

Sev thought the pain couldn't get any worse, but when the
door to the library opened and Trace shoved Ari inside, Sev thought his insides
were being ripped out. Because he knew the male in front of him wasn't his.
Somehow he knew that Ari had backed down. Trace slammed the door as Sev dry
heaved again.

"Oh God, Sev. What’s wrong with him?" Ari looked
at Micah.

"You tell us, genius." Micah ambled over to Trace
by the door, looking pissed off and frustrated.

"Did you tell them?" Sev asked when he could speak
again. He already knew the answer, but he had to hear it.

"Tell who?" Ari nervously glanced at the others in
the room then looked back to him with fear in his eyes.

Sev could tell Ari hadn’t told his parents. He was even
afraid to admit the truth in front of Micah, Trace, and Sam, when it was
obvious they already knew.

"Your parents, Ari! Did you tell your fucking goddamn
parents about us?!" He could feel the blood rising in his face, the
suffering
claiming him full throttle.

Ari stumbled backward as if Sev had pushed him and his eyes
jumped to Sam and the others. "I…what? I don’t know…what are you
talking—"

"They know, Ari! They fucking know already!"

Micah and Trace looked Ari in the eye and Sam lowered her
gaze to the floor.

"What?" Ari’s breathing quickened, his hands
visibly shaking.

"We know about you and Sev," Micah said. "We
know you're mates."

Sev shook his head at Ari. "I’m never going to be good
enough for you, am I? I’m always going to be your dirty little secret, the toy
you take out to play with when no one’s looking but shove under the bed when
anyone walks into the room. What are you going to do, Ari? Marry your fucking
little princess and see me on the weekends? Huh? Hide me away from the world
and leave a few bucks on the nightstand when you leave?"

Ari fell to his knees in front of him. "It’s not like
that, Sev."

"Then what’s it like? Tell me, because I need to know.
I need to know where I stand with you."

Ari looked down at the floor and didn’t answer him.

Gina and Lakota made their way inside and she snuck a peek
at the guest list as Lakota gave his name. She found Severin’s name and saw the
tick mark by it. He was already here. She bit her lip to keep from giggling.

Lakota guided her to the main room. The place was wall to
wall with people, but she saw the table of masks and hats. Well, that could
come in handy. She grabbed a feather-covered green masquerade mask and slipped
it on.

"Mmm, that’s sexy," Lakota said.

She laughed and plopped one of the green hats on his head.
"So is that."

He rolled his eyes and took off the hat and placed it on her
head. "I’m not a hat person."

"Fine, I’ll wear it." She tipped it to the side
and gave him a flirty look.

He bent down and kissed her. "What do you want to
drink?"

She looked over the sign above the bar. She knew he would go
for something non-alcoholic, and being that she was working tonight, she
thought non-alcoholic would be a good idea for her, too. "I’ll take an
almond iced-coffee." She had to shout to be heard over the din in the
room.

"You don’t have to not drink because of me."

"I know, but I want to."

He smiled graciously.

She patted his arm. "I’m going to find the ladies room
while you get our drinks."

"Okay, I’ll meet you back here."

She nodded then turned and made her way back through the
crowd toward the hall. It was time to find Severin.

Sev stared at Ari, his anger rising to replace the pain. He
was back to feeling betrayed again. Hurt and used. "Are you going to
answer me?"

Ari looked up at him. "I’m sorry, Sev. I tried, but
they threw all this on me right after I got here. I can’t…"

"What? You can’t tell them that you and I love each
other? That we’re mates?"

He hated doing this in front of the others, but right now
his mated side was flipping off proper manners and decorum.

Ari looked away. "Shit, Sev, I don’t know what to do.
I’m dying here."

"You know what. Fuck you, Ari." Sev stood up.
"Fuck you. You’re not the one who just came in here and puked up his
breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Don’t fucking talk to me about dying." He
stormed toward the door, but Trace stopped him, blocking the way and holding
his arm out.

Sev glared at him. "Let me out! I want out of here.
Now!"

Micah put his hand on Trace’s arm. "Let him go."

"Sev, wait," Ari said.

"No."

"Sev!"

But he charged through the door as soon as Trace moved out
of the way. He was done. Checked out. But he knew better than that, didn’t he?
No matter how many times Ari walked away from him and put him through this
hell, he would always welcome him back. Even now, if Ari showed up at his house
later tonight, Sev would take him in and hold him for as long as they had
together, then let Ari break his heart again, only to take him back. There was
no other way to exist now that they were mated.

All the more reason to be fucking pissed off at the world
and jonesing for a fight.

He broke into a jog through the crowded main hall, pausing
just long enough to snag his keys off the valet board before running out and
finding his Challenger without waiting on the valet to bring it up. He jumped
in, revved the engine to life and squealed the tires. He just needed to get
away.

Gina gasped. The large male who had just jogged past her in
the main hall. That was Severin. She took off after him.

"I’ve got it," she told the valet as she grabbed
her keys and darted down the steps outside. Severin’s car roared to life and
she quickly opened the passenger door on the driver's side of her SUV, pulled
out flat rubberized slippers, kicked off her heels, jammed her feet into the
slippers, yanked out her guns, and hopped behind the wheel.

Tires squealed as she backed up and hurried to catch up with
Sev before she lost him. This was her best chance. She couldn’t lose him. Not
now when she was so close.

She looked in her rearview mirror to see Lakota rush out of
the house with two drinks in his hands.

"Sorry, Kota. I’ve got places to be right now."
She turned onto the road and sped after Sev’s disappearing taillights.

Ari dragged himself up off the floor and collapsed into a
chair.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Micah stormed
over and laid into him.

"Not now, Micah. Okay? Not now." His whole world
had just rushed out the door and his body felt like it was under a steamroller.
His muscles tightened until he couldn’t hold himself up, anymore.

"I think now is the perfect time." Micah's voice
held a dangerous edge, and he pointed in the direction Severin had gone.
"He's your mate. Your mate, goddamn it! Why the fuck did you let him
leave?"

The pain was killing him, diving into his stomach. Ari
groaned and clutched his abdomen.

"Sam!" Micah snapped his fingers at her.

She grabbed the waste can and rushed over. Ari grabbed the
can and emptied the contents of his stomach then flopped back and looked up at
Micah, tears streaming his face. "You were the one who let him leave,
asshole! Not me!"

"You’d better check that shit right now." Micah
reared back and glared a warning at him.

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you!" Micah slapped him.

"Micah!" Sam grabbed his hand. "Don’t.
No."

Micah growled at him. "You idiot. Always in
my
face about
my
life, but look at the fucked up mess you've made of
yours." He paced away then turned and marched back. "I let him go
because you had to be the one to stop him, not me. YOU! But you’re so goddamned
worried about your daddy and what everyone will think when they learn you’re
gay that you can’t even show the man you love how you feel about him. You’re
pathetic."