47. Tez

47

Tez

I was either dying, or already dead.

I knew that because I wasn't up and fighting, and anyone that goes down in the middle of that kind of battle didn't have long to keep breathing.

So I kept pushing to surface, despite the pain and the fog that dissolved every coherent thought I attempted to form. Three times, I almost made it.

On the fourth try, my eyes opened to a smiling face framed by white hair.

My first thought was coven , but there wasn't a hint of red in the vivid-blue eyes. A Watcher? It certainly wasn't Cara.

"Off to sleep with you, young man." She placed a warm hand on my forehead. "You have some healing to do."

When she pushed me back under, I struggled, but not quite as hard as before. The purity of her gaze meant something. I couldn't quite understand how it was possible she was there, but I wasn't afraid of her, or what she could do.

Nemi decided it for me. The little warm ball of fuzz against my neck was making contented trills. It washed away memories of crimson eyes and bloodmagic throwing me into the wall.

One of the rules of combat was to know when you were beaten.

I sighed and let the darkness have me.

The music started softly, barely audible at first, but growing until it reverberated around me. The rhythmic sound of drums… and then, a voice. Deep and husky and yet feminine, a beautiful voice.

Bree. I knew it in my soul. She was singing, first a war song, and then, softening to a ballad. It twisted my heart and fired my blood, all at the same time.

And then, she wasn't alone. A surge of power that I recognized. Excalibur and Riggs.

Why did she sound so sad? My heart constricted. Caliel. She must be singing to Caliel. Was he okay?

The thought yanked me away. Because I didn't think he was okay. And I needed to know…

I blinked up at the lantern bolted into the rock wall. Time must have passed since the Watcher had put me under, but I had no idea how much of it. The music, though, was recent—it was still there, reverberating through my mind.

Calling to me.

When I closed my eyes, I saw through Bree's. She held Caliel's head against her leg, and they were surrounded by greenery. He lay as if he were dead, and something within me twisted. I seemed to have fared better than him. My head ached, and my thoughts were fogged, but I was alive.

Nemi hopped onto my chest and regarded me with beady little eyes.

Apparently, the Watcher hadn't been a figment of my concussion, because she suddenly loomed over me.

"Well, now. You are a determined young man. You should have been out for hours yet. How do you feel?"

Nemi fluttered up to a ledge a few feet overhead as I raised my hand to my head. "Like I've been trampled by elephants."

She smiled. "Cara said you were from the human realm. I've had conversations with elephants. They are extraordinary creatures."

I eyed her uncertainly, evaluating whether it was a good thing that she knew where I had come from. Or if it really mattered at all. As I looked around us, the song echoing through my mind changed.

I struggled to sit up, and swayed, raising a hand to my head when the ache became a sharp pain.

"Easy there." She laid her hand on my arm, and the pain faded away to nothing. "That's better. You took one hell of a knock. Your brain has been deeply offended by recent events."

Recent events? I remembered the Trinity, and a brilliant-red flash flinging me across the chamber. I'd hit, and hit hard…

I managed to prop myself to a sitting position, and as the Watcher plumped another pillow behind me, Nemi landed on my shoulder. She poked me with her beak, as if to encourage me to stop lying around and get the lead out.

Cara appeared to lay her hand on my arm.

"Caliel is with Bree?" I asked.

She nodded.

Suddenly, Bree's song changed as a deeper counterpoint to it joined in. Relief coursed through me—Caliel was aware now—singing with Bree, but the tune was tinged with sadness. "How is he?"

Her eyes said it all. "He's dying. His borrowed body is rejecting his life essence."

I closed my eyes. It meshed with what I sensed. "You guys came for us? Did you get Victor?"

It wasn't very clear, but she knew what I was after. "The entire place had emptied by the time they got there."

Dammit. They'd got away.

"What about Mykal?"

"He was still there. We have him here." She moved so I could see the far end of the room. I stared in amazement at the Gryphon leaning over the still body.

My instincts prickled. "Why did they leave him behind?" I asked.

"We think Finn discarded him," she said. "Whatever he tried didn't work—Mykal might be older, but he's also pretty messed up, mentally and physically. Aphostra—my Gryphon friend and healer—is working on him. He's in a coma, and she is having difficulties determining why."

That Finn would just let him be reclaimed didn't sit right with me. If his plans for Mykal hadn't worked out, why did he let him live?

Rigg's voice rumbled through me. Things moved pretty fast—perhaps they just ran out of time. Maybe Finn didn't expect Mykal to survive, anyway.

He sounded distracted. The music had altered its tone. My heart synced with it, and it coursed through me, bringing every nerve ending to life. I sensed Bree's determination to save Caliel.

Maybe I could help. Cara backed away as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. Which was when I discovered that I was totally naked beneath the blanket.

Her lips twitched as I yanked the covering back across my hips. "I'll get you something to wear." She vanished through a doorway into what looked like a storage room.

The other Watcher hovered nearby and continued to regard me uncertainly. But I barely noticed her—because a rush of relief surged along the link from Bree. Through her eyes, I saw that Caliel was awake.

My own relief was short-lived, because I sensed her fear. He might be awake, but there was something very wrong. Fuck. I needed those clothes.

Then Caliel kissed Bree. Desire overtook the fear, flooding through me with such power that I gasped. I suddenly had bigger concerns.

Much bigger.

Cara appeared with clothes, and I hovered indecisively with the blanket clutched over my— erección —that definitely wasn't meant for public display. Now I had to get out of here for an entirely different reason. Caliel clearly did not require my assistance. I, however, needed to be somewhere more private.

By the twitch of her lips as she handed over the shirt and pants, the damned Watcher was on to me.

The sensations coursing along the link promised that this situation was destined to get much worse before it got any better.

"Come on, Bess," Cara said, grabbing the other Watcher's arm. "Give the boy a minute or two." They returned across the room to attend Mykal.

Nemi hovered overhead as I hopped off the cot, yanking the sweatpants on so savagely that I heard a seam protest. Then I grabbed the shirt and staggered out into the hall.

Rock walls and doorways—I swayed with the combination of weakness and lust that surged through me. Bree's hand closed around Caliel's cock, and it was as real as if she leaned over me…

Fuck . I passed a rather surprised Centaur working on a door, searching desperately for a closet or some other dark corner. It was Nemi, flying ahead, who found it for me—a storage room already fitted with a door.

It stood ajar for as long as it took me to throw myself into it. Just as Bree's lips closed around the most sensitive of places. I groaned as I slammed the door shut and collapsed onto the floor, my hand groping beneath my sweats.

I wasn't just Caliel, or Bree—I was both of them, rapid-fire sensation coming at me until I was writhing on the floor, my hand desperately trying to bring me relief, even as I knew it wouldn't come until they did…

It cranked tighter and tighter, until I shuddered with need.

And then, Caliel bit her.

I cried out as I shattered along with them, pulse after pulse, until I lay panting on the cold stone floor.

Nemi chirped at me from one of the shelves. She must have gotten an eyeful. My face flushed. The IBTM club was most definitely a bitch .

But something had changed. Caliel was different. I could feel him now. He was part of the bond.

It flooded me with hope.

I yanked the shirt over my head, opened the closet door—and almost walked right into a mountain of a man.

I looked up and up. Bigfoot's yellow gaze glowed softly at me. He appeared amused. How long had he been standing outside the door?

"Told you I heard moaning," the tiny Faerie hovering above him piped.

You were moaning? Dammit, trust Bree to pop in at that moment.

I was certainly moaning, Caliel stated. He sounded smug, but also a little surprised to be part of the discussion.

Just wait until you're healing someone's grandma while Bree and I go at it like rabbits, I growled at him.

Hey, at least you had a closet. Riggs sounded distinctly out of sorts. I was hiding behind a tree. But these Legion clowns figured it out, anyway. I'm never living it down.

Legion clowns?

Yeah, Riggs growled . While you've been lying on your butt, I'm here with Riley, Jumping in the rest of our army.

Bigfoot eyed me and said, "I heard about what happened, so it's good to see you are okay."

"Thanks," I answered, as we ducked aside to let a group of big guys pass us. They had the same look to them as Slade. Shifters, but not Dragons or Dires. The entire complex bustled around us—it was in full and desperate preparation for war.

They're assembling the army into squads, Riggs explained as he and Riley organized another group to Jump. Tyrez and Cody have them running drills to get the new Dragons working fluidly together with the Centaurs, Dires, and Sabres.

Sabres. That must be who had just passed us. I couldn't imagine a war where Dragons fought Dragons. How was I going to be of any help in that?

Sid heaved a sigh as his eyes tracked after the Sabres. "We are going to need all the help we can get. Maybe your rapport with birds will help us fight the underworld."

I gritted my teeth. "If I'm going to help with that fight, it isn't going to be by summoning birds."

He raised a brow. "Did you have something else in mind?"

You are an excellent fighter, Tez, Caliel said.

Knives are no bloody good against Dragons and Dires. I looked up at Sid. "I don't suppose there is a library around here?"

He met my eyes, and then, he grinned.