Page 21 of Reign of The Beast (Immortal Passions #2)

21

~Ryker~

I heard his footsteps, followed by a sudden rush of cool air whipping around me.

And then, there he was, standing right before me.

“I need a fucking moment, Lucian,” I groused.

“Unfortunately, we are all out of moments.”

“What?”

“The sorceress is ready to join with us.”

“I know.”

“Then let’s make haste.”

I cocked an eyebrow.

What was going on? Why was he pushing it all of a sudden? He’d been all about things needing to take their natural course, our bonds to Mia growing without undue pressure or interference, in order to ensure that they were genuine and strong enough. It was why he’d held off going to her for so long. And when he finally had, it had been right, she’d been ready for him.

Before I could get into it, he went on, “This issue between us needs to be tabled, Ryker.”

Just like moments ago in the living room, that anger, so pure and raw, sparked to life and I snapped, “Tabled? How about I do one better and resolve it here and now? You’re not going anywhere near that asshole, Vincenzo.”

“Is that so?” he asked, stepping up to me.

I glared steadily up at him. “Yes. I forbid it.”

His features hardened. “That sounds very much like an order.” There was a very clear warning in his tone, urging me to tread carefully.

The hell, I would. Not about this. “If you need to label it, then that’s what it is.”

“You believe you can enforce this,” he stated.

“That’s not what I said.”

“Yet, you wouldn’t have put it out there if you didn’t believe you had the means to back it up.”

“I’ll do what I need to do to protect you.”

He laughed, but there was no humor to it.

It was bitter and pained.

“Here we stand, with the roles now reversed.”

“This isn’t the same as me taking off to the Guardian Compound.”

“Correct. What you did was far, far worse.”

“Lucian, we’re talking about Vincenzo Daza here!”

With a burst of speed, he slammed me into the wall, pinning me there with a single hand to my chest, roaring, “You almost died! ”

Choking, I looked up to see him vamped out, his features twisted into his demonic form, his fangs dropped and glistening ominously, his red eyes aflame.

It took me a moment to see past it all, but when I did, I realized it wasn’t rage that was fueling him.

It was pain.

His snarls mingled with my heavy pants as we stared at one another on the verge.

We hadn’t spoken about my near-death experience .

For one, that wasn’t what I did.

I’d been a soldier of the Guardian Movement for so long that putting my life on the line was par for the course now. Old hat, really. If I stopped to dwell on it, I feared it could cripple my ability to roll with it, to get back up and do it all over again, throwing myself into the chaos of battle.

Beyond that, I just didn’t like to linger in the past.

Mia had been the only exception to that. She wouldn’t release her grasp on me. And I’d hated it. I’d hated the hold it’d had on me. I kept going, kept moving and looking forward. It was what I did, who I was. It was who I needed to be.

But it was brutally clear right now that I needed to make an exception this one time.

For Lucian.

His peace of mind demanded it.

Our relationship craved it.

Swallowing hard, I reached out and touched his cheek, caressing the raised flesh and hollow grooves of his demonic form.

He flinched, but he allowed it nonetheless.

The hardness from him faltered, the blaze in his eyes petering out.

An act of tenderness while he was in this dangerous, volatile state took him aback.

By the time I started speaking, his demonic form had fully retreated.

But he didn’t ease up with his grip on my chest, keeping me against the wall, keeping me right up close.

“I thought I could get there in time to re-erect the ward around the compound. The bureaucrats ate time away and, before I knew it, Draco was descending on us. I didn’t plan on that. I didn’t want that. And I certainly didn’t mean to hurt you. ”

Emotion swam in his eyes. He was on the verge of breaking, fighting terribly to hold it back.

His hands slid to my shoulders, up my neck, settling on my face. “You were dying in my arms. I could barely hear your heartbeat. I felt you slipping away to the Valley of the Dead. I watched helplessly as the Immortal infection spread, growing closer and closer to your heart, to taking you from me forevermore.”

I nodded sadly. Mia had told me everything. “I know, Lucian. I’m sorry I put you through that.”

He slid his hands into my hair, holding me to him, his voice a rough whisper, as he told me, “It took me long enough to find you. I cannot lose you.”

I wanted to tell him that he wouldn’t, that I wasn’t going anywhere, that the incident at the Guardian Compound had been an awful anomaly.

But that would all be a lie.

The truth was, to take down the enemy, we had to risk everything.

None of us were safe.

None of us were immune to death coming for us.

So, instead, I gave what I could, grasping his hands on my face, and telling him, “I swear to you that I’ll do everything in my power to come back to you, to keep what we have intact. I love you. I would never do anything less.”

“My retrieval of the dagger would serve those ends.”

I started.

Damn, he was good.

He’d backed me into a corner.

Honestly, he had every right to, given what I’d put him through. I hadn’t even given him a choice in the matter, I’d just taken off to play hero .

But, right now, I could give that choice.

I nodded. “Fine. Go to Vincenzo. Unleash your powers of persuasion upon him.”

He planted a soft kiss on my forehead, and then he released me, stepping back.

“Just one condition.”

He stilled, tensing. “And what might that be?” he asked warily, clearly concerned our discussion may not be over after all.

“You’re not doing it alone. I’ll back you up.”

“As I’ve said, he won’t respond well to a show of force.”

“Which is why we’re keeping Jaxon and Mia out of it. I’ll cloak myself and only step in if things take a bad turn.”

It took him a moment, but he gave a nod. “As you wish.”

I wrapped my arms around him and held him to me. He sank into me, resting his head upon mine, breathing me in, just as I was with him.

“From now on, we work as one,” he spoke at my ear.

“Partners,” I agreed.

Footsteps sounded, startling us enough that we pulled apart and turned to see Jaxon and Mia entering the hallway.

“Glad you guys buried the hatchet,” Jaxon commented. “We’ve got shit to do. You ready?”

Mia stepped forward, her gaze sober and intense. “It’s time.”