Chapter Five

Damon was still trying to process everything the keeper had explained to him when he'd woken in that eerie room. For a brief moment after his eyes opened, Damon actually thought he'd died and was in hell, though he was pretty sure he hadn't done anything in his life to deserve eternal damnation.

But he had felt all those trapped souls trying to get to him so they could possess him. The sensation had been like a constant tremor against his skin, like a dark energy tapping along the exterior chambers walls trying to find a weak spot to enter.

It had been the strangest and worst feeling he'd ever experienced. Although the keeper had assured him the souls couldn't get into the room, Damon still spent the entire time praying it was true.

Then the keeper had conjured a cold drink for Damon's parched throat before he sat there on the couch next to him to explain why he'd been so aggressive and what exactly was done to him.

During their conversation, Damon had been a little bewildered about something called the mayotenz but was able to understand the gist of what the keeper was saying. The Ultionem had been trying to get him out of that sleep Vicino had placed him in.

Damon remembered that single chilling word the vampire creature had whispered to him. Sleep. The word sleep should not send chills down anyone's spine. Never in his life did he want to hear anyone say it to him again.

It was hard to wig Damon out, but he was wigged.

Then Panahasi had left the underworld, confusing Damon at his abrupt departure.

"Your mate's blood had no bearing on your sealed bond," the keeper explained. A stone settled in Damon's stomach. He knew he wasn't going to like what was coming next. "Panahasi is Life, embodying all living beings. Because your mate was present at the time, and you were unclaimed, when he contributed his blood to the spell, the mayotenz sealed your bond with your fae."

"Did he know this would happen?" Damon asked angrily.

"Yes and no," the keeper replied with sorrow in his eyes. "It has been over a few millennia since he's performed the spell, and some things slipped his mind."

Damon shot off the couch. "Slipped his mind? It wasn't like I was dying. He could have brushed up on the spell before he rained hell down on me! Before he ripped away something I've been waiting my entire life to share with my mate when I found him!"

Damon shook himself out of his thoughts as he stood on the cliff, wishing to god he'd known everything when he'd been pulled out of Vicino's sleep.

"Are you saying it wasn't me who deprived you of experiencing…" Casimir's voice trailed off as he glanced away but not before Damon caught a glimpse of shame in his eyes.

Most of Damon's rage toward Panahasi was for stealing the experience of bonding as a couple from him and Casimir. But deep down, a part of Damon was also furious at himself for how he'd treated his mate for thinking Casimir was the culprit.

Because he'd felt their bond sealing as he was pulled from the sleep, he'd assumed it was Casimir's fault. That his mate's blood had completed the claiming between them.

Damon shouldn't have assumed. He should have gotten answers first.

"I don't know how I'll ever make it up to you," he said, guilt weighing heavily in his voice. "I said some horrific shit to you." I hate you, Casimir! I wish you'd never come into my life! How could he ever come back from that? He felt like a monster for saying those things to his own mate.

Casimir held up a hand, palm out. "Just tell me yes or no. Did I betray you? Was it my fault our bond sealed?"

"No. You didn't betray me or seal our bond," Damon answered, his voice strained with remorse. He wouldn't blame Casimir if he never wanted to speak to him again. Damon had been terrible to his mate this past week and he hadn't deserved any of it.

Casimir flew at him on his fairy wings, making Damon brace himself. He thought his mate was about to kick his ass. Instead, Casimir pulled Damon into his muscled arms and hugged him hard against his solid chest.

"I was a nightmare toward you," Damon choked out.

When Casimir gently tilted his chin, Damon gazed into those amazing cerulean-blue eyes. "You had an uncontrollable power inside of you while dealing with so many changes. You thought I had betrayed you. All that matters to me is your wellbeing. What happened while you were struggling is behind us now, nékah ."

"But I'm still struggling," Damon pulled away from his embrace. "The keeper gave me instant knowledge on how everything works inside of me, but I'm still all those things. I no longer feel the aggression, but I still have wings, can still produce fog…and I still crave blood."

"Do you think that matters to me?" Casimir frowned.

"It should." Damon glanced at him. "I can smell the intoxicating scent of fae, and I want to drain every last drop of blood from your veins." He wrapped his arms around his stomach. "The part of me that craves it doesn't care that you're my mate."

Casimir chuckled, a sound that both surprised and confused Damon.

"You know, it's funny how you can say that, and yet I still find you irresistible," his mate said with a grin.

Okay, Damon would definitely address the irresistible part later.

"How is that funny?" He furrowed his brow. "I just admitted to wanting to drain you."

"You could try, nétya . But all that will happen is you on your back, getting fucked," Casimir replied with a smirk, his blue eyes filled with promise. "So be very careful. If you try to attack me while others are around, they will see quite the show."

Damon's eyebrows shot up. "Not in this lifetime."

Still, he couldn't forget how quickly Casimir had taken him down when his hunger became uncontrollable. The warrior's strength was enough to overpower a frenzied vampire and keep him pinned down with ease. If Casimir hadn't loosened his grip, Damon would never have been able to break free.

He pointed at Casimir with a circular motion of his finger. "We'll get back to your Rick Blaine. For now, tell me what that word was you just called me."

Although he felt a primal pull toward his mate and wanted Casimir in the worst way, Damon still felt like a freak.

" Nétya ," Casimir replied, a small smile playing on his lips. "It means wolf."

"And the other one? I'm assuming it means mate."

"In a sense, yes." Casimir nodded as he settled back onto the rock shelf. " Nékah roughly translates to ‘most cherished.'"

"Why doesn't Raidh call Jaytee...that word?" Damon couldn't recall ever hearing Raidh speak in fae language around him.

"I was isolated from the Unseelie and raised in another part of the realm," Casimir replied. " Nékah is the word used among the Méityah, but it's never spoken out loud."

"I heard Nazaryth call you that Méit…however you say it. What is it, and why don't you use the mate word?" Damon sat next to him, relieved he almost felt like his old self again. He was still dealing with some of the crap over the past week, but he finally had a better handle on the circus inside of him.

"Méityah means guardian." Casimir gazed off into the distance as if lost in thought. "When we were created as a fae race, guardians were born to protect the king. At that time, it was King Vesela. He was truly a great man among dark fae. A strong leader who took his duties seriously and ruled with fairness."

Damon liked hearing about Casimir's race. It expanded on what he'd learned so far from Raidh and Elvine. He also liked hearing his mate talk. Casimir had a slight accent, causing him to pronounce some words with a lilt.

"Then why don't you use...that word for mate?" Damon shook his head. He wasn't going to remember the words his mate used, let alone how to pronounce them correctly.

" Nétya ," Casimir pronounced slowly, emphasizing each syllable.

"I'm not dimwitted." Damon grinned. "That one is easy to pronounce. It's all the other words you use that trip me up."

"You'll grasp the language in time." Casimir winked.

Damon's gaze traveled down his mate's body, his eyes feasting on all those honed muscles, which were even bigger than his own. He was dying to wrap his fists in that long hair as he fucked the warrior into exhaustion.

Casimir looked Damon over in the same needy way. "Méityah are born, but no one knows if their child will be a guardian until the mark appears."

Giving Damon his back, his mate pulled his long hair aside. It was more than just a mark. Covering his entire left shoulder blade was a tattoo of beautiful fairy wings with intersecting swords piercing them.

Well, it looked like a tattoo, but Casimir had said it just appeared when he was a child. It wasn't something he had chosen to have permanently etched onto his skin.

"That's how you know you're a guardian?" Damon couldn't stop himself from reaching out and touching the tattoo-looking mark, and then he jerked his hand back when the tiny wings of the mark fluttered. "Is that supposed to happen?"

Casimir smiled. "If my mate touches them, then yes. The are a part of me, like my larger wings are."

With a wide grin, Damon touched them again, and once more they fluttered. "Am I crazy, or can I really feel them moving under my fingers?"

It wasn't just a sensation of skin moving but of wings fluttering under the pads of his fingers. Freaky, but cool as hell.

"They're moving," Casimir confirmed. "And to answer your earlier question, if you've spent your entire existence in training and then at the king's side, you can't call your mate nékah if you've never been given the opportunity to search for them."

"Nazaryth called you another name too, but I can't remember what it was. I swear it sounded like bestie."

" Béskym ." Sadness filled Casimir's eyes. "It means commander. I was born the commander of the Méityah. The wings on my back are green, while those of all other guardians are blue."

Damon dropped his hand. "If you're a guardian, why are you here and why are you being hunted?"

No one was going to touch a hair on Casimir's handsome head.

"We are taught to obey the king's every command and protect him with our lives," Casimir explained. "Over two thousand years ago, King Emrys instructed his guardians to kill the entire council over a disagreement. Eight of the guardians defied him, refusing to slaughter innocent people. When we did, the king condemned us to death. We fought our way out of the realm and have been in hiding ever since."

His mate had been in hiding for two thousand years? Jesus. Casimir had said he'd stayed on the move because he was being hunted. But for two thousand years? That had to be a lonely-ass existence.

"Elouan is a guardian, a loyalist, and he just found me and tried to execute me." Casimir gritted his teeth. "But as a backup plan, he paid vampires to drain me dry. That's the battle you just found me in. He said he only paid five, but there was a swarm of them."

Rage boiled in Damon. The keeper had created a portal for him to leave the underworld, and Damon emerged just above the raging battle below. It was the intoxicating scent of fae that had caught his attention and alerted him that his mate was somewhere in the chaos. "I stumbled on the battle from above, but I had no idea what was happening. I just saw you surrounded and acted on instinct."

Casimir sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "I honestly didn't think I'd make it out alive. As you can see, I have bite marks all over me."

"Where?" Damon slid his eyes over his mate's body but for a different reason this time. Casimir's skin was flawless and beautiful, but Damon couldn't see any fang marks or any kind of fang hole anywhere.

With a perplexed scowl, Casimir examined his left arm and then his right. "I felt my skin being pierced repeatedly. I even felt my flesh being torn at my neck." He pressed a hand at his neck, pulled it away, and frowned. "I don't understand."

"Let me check." Damon scooted a little closer, brushing his mate's soft hair aside to examine his neck. Then he drifted his fingers over smooth skin. "Nope, don't see any tears." He slid his hand over his mate's shoulder before he pulled it away. "We're already bonded, but it's my saliva that gives my mate healing properties. I'm just as stumped as you are."

Casimir looked down at Damon's knees as he said, "I don't have any magic that might explain why the marks have disappeared. Before we escaped the realm, the king yanked out our magical abilities, leaving us as powerless as humans."

If Damon could get his hands on King Emrys, he would beat the living shit out of him before ending him. It already sounded as if Casimir had gotten a raw deal in life. Then the king had to go and strip away his magic? That only made Damon want to protect him even more.

"Maybe one of the abilities inside of me passed something on to you when I fed from you right after I woke up."

"Possibly." Casimir nodded.

"Wait." Damon frowned. "I wasn't aware dark fae could use magic to heal. When Raidh was attacked by those vampires, he was down for three days healing."

The entire family had been worried. The fairy was so small that Damon had just wanted to wrap him in cotton.

Now he wanted to wrap Casimir in an even bigger ball of cotton. Maybe some bubble wrap, secured by duct tape, and then attach lasers to him so anyone who wanted to do the warrior harm would be cut down.

He really needed to let go of his obsession with lasers.

"I keep telling you, nékah ." Casimir looked down at Damon from where he was sitting. "I am different. I am a…" He grinned playfully. "Can you remember the word for guardian?"

"Can you remember I just rescued your ass so I don't have to take any pop quizzes?" Damon winked at him.

He yelped when Casimir lunged at him, taking him down to the ground. Damon landed on his back, laughing and twisting when his mate started tickling him.

"Uncle!" Damon hooted as Casimir tucked him halfway under his large frame.

Casimir's smile was dazzling, his blue eyes alight with laughter. "Who is this uncle you call for?"

"Oh my god." Damon laughed even harder. "You say uncle to stop someone from tickling or hurting you. My brothers and I have said it a million times."

It honestly felt fantastic to be so cheerful and teasing after what he'd been through, like his outburst of laughter had purged a ton of demons that had been gnawing at his insides.

Casimir's smile faded. "Your brothers hurt you?"

There was no way to explain sibling rivalry to someone who had no siblings. "You and the other guards didn't goof around?"

"There were shared chuckles once in a while when we found ourselves with extremely rare downtime," Casimir replied. "Training was harsh, leaving no room for lightheartedness, and when guarding the king, you remained steadfast and professional."

Damon brushed his mate's hair over his shoulder, studying him. "Have you ever had a good time where you just cut loose and had fun?"

That was Damon in a nutshell. He took his responsibilities seriously but grabbed every opportunity to enjoy life. It was his family who'd given him so much joy, teaching him to appreciate every moment.

"I'm having fun with you," Casimir replied with a tender smile. Then he cupped Damon's face, his hands warm and strong against his skin. "For the first time in four thousand years, my heart feels so light."

A sarcastic reply came to mind about his mate's age, but Damon bit it back. He didn't want to ruin this moment. There was so much longing in Casimir's eyes, so much pain and loneliness. Damon wanted to wipe that look away.

"I'm just sorry I put you through hell first." It would be a very long time before Damon got over the pain and heartache he'd caused his mate.

Casimir narrowed his eyes. "Didn't I already tell you the past week is behind us?"

"I won't bring it up again…for now, as long as you don't give me another pop quiz." Damon chuckled and tugged gently on his mate's beard. "We're two hairy-ass men." He caressed his fingers through the strands, astonished it was even softer and longer than his own.

Damon pulled his hand away as Casimir lowered his head.