Page 5 of Risen (Love and Revenge #6)

Ruya

A fter Robin and Martina briefly assigned guard duties and reviewed everyone’s roles while we were here, Robin finally allowed Sadavir to direct us to the facilities.

My link to Sadavir was filled with a soft humor as he apologized for the small bathrooms and the minimalistic showers—small streams piped from a rock wall with a drain in the floor.

But the water was warm, there was soap, and I was just happy to be rid of the sweat and dust of the last couple of days.

“What’s so amusing?” I asked, signing slowly and carefully. “I can feel you laughing at us.”

He kissed me on the forehead and patted my rump, shooing me into the small bathroom, his amusement and smugness still palpable through our bond. “Later,” he voiced aloud. “Once we are more settled, I will show you.”

After we all got cleaned up, we gathered around the bed where Josh was still lying motionless under Sanka’s spell. The sorcerer paused to squeeze my shoulder before moving to crouch near the bed. “Don’t worry, Ru. He’ll be okay.”

I wasn’t sure I believed it, and I found myself nibbling at my nails as Sanka reached out with his magic and muttered the words to undo the curse.

I was surprised when Josh didn’t immediately wake. Crouching beside Sanka, I ran my hands over Josh’s still body. My healing magic confirmed that nothing was wrong with him physically, other than a deep, lingering fatigue.

“He’s okay, Ru,” Sanka said again, putting an arm around my shoulder and giving me a lopsided hug, drawing me into his warm beta aura.

“The magic is gone, but he’ll still need to sleep off the effects.

We should have a few hours before he wakes up.

Plenty of time to get some rest before we have to deal with Acacia’s bullshit.

” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Before you even argue, I know how exhausted you must be, Ru. You need sleep just as much as the rest of us. We’ll take turns keeping an ear tuned to Josh. ”

Cicely approached from my other side, taking my hand and drawing me to my feet. Come rest with me. He whispered into my mind. We could all use a little while to recharge. And I want to hold you in my arms, my witch.

I sighed. Sanka was right. I wanted to argue, wanted to stay by Josh’s side until he woke. But Cicely’s voice in my head was tinged with his own fatigue and longing. So, I let the faun lead me into one of the other rooms and pull me down into the nest-like sunken bed.

I snuggled into the cushions with a sigh, Cicely curled around my back, radiating love and relief. The bed was deliciously soft and cozy, and the second I started to relax, the full weight of my tiredness hit me like a ton of bricks.

A knock at the door had me tensing up again.

The soft rumble of masculine voices reached my ears, but I forced myself to relax when the door closed and I heard soft footsteps padding our way.

I was not at all surprised when I felt Sadavir approaching, while the others dispersed to the rest of the rooms in our suite.

Whether it was because of our new bond, or all we’d been through recently, he didn’t seem to be able to let me out of his sight for long, and I suspected the others didn’t want to witness our closeness—yet another problem for another day.

“Who was at the door?” I asked around a yawn. The wave of fatigue that I hadn’t let myself feel until now pulled at me, trying to drag me under.

A messenger, Cicely relayed for Sadavir in mind speak. Sadavir says he and his new true mate have been invited to a formal dinner with the naga elders and the royal family.

I sat up at that, bracing myself on my hands as a jolt of nerves lit through me, washing some of the tiredness awa.

A formal dinner with Sadavir’s family. And the elders of his clan.

All of the previous self-consciousness I had felt before coming here rushed back again.

But Sadavir’s warm aura enfolded me like a comforting hug as he crawled into the nest of cushions with me and Cicely.

“Don’t worry,” he voiced aloud. “They will love you.”

Cicely shifted beside me, probably signing to Sadavir.

The naga chuckled and Cicely spoke in my mind again, including me in the conversation.

I asked him to let me come with you. I can translate for him if it’s needed, and I can keep you included in the conversation if everyone starts signing.

He stroked a hand through my hair. And I can tell you what’s going on around you, so you’ll feel more comfortable.

I nodded. “Can he come?” I asked Sadavir. “Or is that some breach of etiquette or something?”

“He can come,” Sadavir said, a bit of humor lacing his voice. “But the gathering is for family. They may assume you are mine, Cicely.”

Amusement laced Cicely’s voice in my mind. Oh no… anything but that. He nudged my shoulder. As if that’s not exactly what I had in mind.

I huffed a laugh. “You two are ridiculous,” I said, stifling another yawn behind my hand. “I don’t own you Cicely. And Sadavir isn’t going to toss you out because you’re too close to his omega and he’s not your alpha.”

If a smirk had a sound, it was the sound of Cicely’s voice in my mind. But… what if I want him to be my alpha?

A soft chuckle told me Cicely hadn’t kept that comment private. “It would be my honor to call you mine, little faun. You have my protection and my power.”

Still not little, came the saucy reply, which I was sure he also signed to Sadavir. Cicely’s humor took the edge off the weight of Sadavir’s formal declaration.

I smiled softly as I snuggled down into the cushions once more.

Someone pulled a fluffy crocheted blanket over me and the two men stretched out on either side of me, stroking my back and brushing their fingers through my hair until I couldn’t stay awake any longer if I tried.

Comfortably held between my two mates, I fell asleep almost instantly and slept like the dead.

When I woke up, I sought Josh out immediately. Cicely tactfully mumbled something about going to get ready to greet Sadavir’s family, and left us alone to tend to Sadavir’s other beta. I hoped he wasn’t having second thoughts about declaring himself to Sadavir.

Brushing that worry aside, I knelt down next to the sunken bed where the poor vampire was just beginning to stir, my healing magic at the ready.

I had given him some healing before my nap, and he had been sleeping off the effects of Sanka’s spell for a couple of hours now, but I could sense he had a splitting headache, and that he was still a bit depleted from his recent experiences.

Sadavir stayed close by my side, ready to comfort Josh, but also there to yank me out of harm’s way if the vampire woke up… out of sorts.

Yukio’s voice startled me and I realized I had been so focused on Josh that I didn’t notice the cool energy of his aura slipping into the room. “I’ll stand guard outside,” he said, in a tone that sounded apathetic, but that I suspected might cover more than a little bit of worry.

“The went off to explore the underground enclave,” he added.

“Martina and Robin insisted we should know our way around—and know all our escape routes—in case some new disaster befalls us.” His dry tone said he believed it was only a matter of time before some new challenge arose. I hated that he was probably right.

As Yukio slipped out into the hallway, I sensed how Josh swam through the layers of sleep toward wakefulness.

I knew he was awake even before he let out a low groan, thanks to my healing magic.

A sense of movement, and the information granted to me by my powers, told me he was holding his aching head in his hand.

Reaching out, I found his arm and felt along it until I could touch the bare skin of the back of his hand, where my magic could reach him with greater ease. Warm magic rushed between us, healing his headache and easing some of the lingering depletion.

Josh froze, and I felt Sadavir crouch down next to me.

“How are you feeling?” I asked softly, not even sure where to begin, what to say to him, after all that had happened in the last couple of days.

A dry chuckle was his only response for a moment.

When he finally spoke, his normal baritone was laced with the sultry tones of a hungry vampire, and a sort of jaded wryness that was at odds with the earnest beta he had once been.

“I’ve been better. But then again, I’ve absolutely been worse, many times.

Most of them within the last… I don’t even know how many days it’s been.

But recent. Let’s just say the worse days were recent. ”

“A day and a half,” I supplied. “Nearly two days. We’re in the naga enclave.

” I nearly told him our location, but pressed my lips together at the last second.

The whole purpose of the curse Sanka had laid on him was to keep Acacia from being able to retrace our steps and find the naga’s hiding place.

He gave that dry laugh again. “Fun.” Then he sighed.

“At least Acacia fucked off for a while. She said she’d be gathering information and deciding what to share with Robin while she left me to the psychologically damaging experience of spending nearly two days conscious but devoid of any and all sensory information. ”

I grimaced. “Josh. I’m so sor--”

“Don’t,” he cut me off, fabric rustling around as he sat up.

“It’s not your fault, Ruya. And… Sanka’s spell was a better solution than anything I could come up with.

I just assumed I’d need to be beaten up, injured badly enough I couldn’t follow you, restrained somehow, and abandoned to keep me from following you and giving Acacia the information she wants.

At which point, I’d have been useless to Acacia, and she’d either call me back for some other awful errand, trade me to another vampire to use, or dispose of me with a nice beheading. ”