Chapter Thirty-Five

A thunderous crack exploded through the tense standoff. Before I could react, Harvey was flung sideways, smashing through a pine in a spray of splinters and bark. He hit the ground hard, screaming as he clutched his mangled arm.

What the hell?

Thaden stood where Harvey had been a heartbeat before, eyes blazing, muscles taut and ready for another attack. His gaze raked the clearing, taking in Cole's unconscious form and the rest of us—no, them, I was still invisible—frozen in surprise.

"Get the fuck away from him," Thaden growled, his voice laced with lethal menace. "Now."

Kallan flinched before catching himself. "This isn't your fight, vampire."

Thaden's icy eyes narrowed. "It's mine, because I say it's mine. That shifter is mine, that bloodied fucking blade is mine, and your broken corpse is mine if I choose to make it. I'm Prince Thaden of the Moritego Clan, and you're down two men. And you're in my fucking way, so I suggest you move. Now."

Kallan paled, hands raised in a placating gesture as he edged backward. "He's yours. We were just leaving." He cast an urgent look at Eva and Wes. "Weren't we?"

They nodded hastily, Eva moving to help a moaning Harvey up as Wes limped in her wake. Kallan sheathed his knife, his motions stiff. As they retreated, his eyes flashed with fury.

"This isn't over," he spat.

Thaden's deadly focus followed them until they disappeared into the fog. Only then did he relax his posture and turn to Cole.

I blew out a breath. "At least your timing has improved."

He stiffened. "Cali?"

Oh, right. Invisible.

"Here," I said, and his eyes trained on the space I was occupying, right next to Cole. "It's, um, a long story."

"I don't suppose it has anything to do with why Thessalia and I saw two worried looking shifters trekking east of here?"

"Well, I don't have the first idea where east is," I said, causing Thaden to roll his eyes, "but kinda. Where, er, where is Thessalia, anyway?"

"You're the one asking where people are?"

"Humor me," I said, rolling my eyes in a gesture that was entirely wasted, what with the whole invisible thing I had going on right now.

"She's following the other two at a careful distance."

"…Why?"

"Because she didn't think they'd appreciate her gatecrashing their party, and because the three of you—and that poor Alina girl, I suppose—are walking trouble magnets."

"And you care because?"

He shook his head, his eyes taking on a predatory gleam. "Question time is over, sweetness. Tell me what you're doing out here, and why no-one can see you."

I reached into my shirt and pulled out the necklace. "This, I think."

"Am I supposed to be seeing something right now, sweetness? Because I'm not in the mood for games."

"Oh. Sorry." I blushed, glad he couldn't see me. "I mean, Zane gave us all a necklace. I think it has something to do with that."

"Like this one?" he asked, pulling an identical necklace from beneath his own shirt.

"Yeah. Cole got hurt earlier, and it got worse while he was carrying it, I think because he's scared of not being strong enough to lead, which is crazy because he's the strongest guy I know." I frowned. "I'm thinking maybe not the brightest though, because he should have just let someone else carry it before things got this bad, and—"

"Cali."

I cut off and looked at him.

"Tell me why you're invisible."

"Oh, well that's obvious, isn't it?" The look he gave me told me apparently it wasn't, and I decided that Cole was at least brighter than him. Once again glad he couldn't see me, I sucked in a breath and looked down at the floor. My voice came out small. "I'm scared I don't really belong in this world, and one day I'll just disappear entirely."

There was utter silence in reply, and I lifted my eyes, wondering if my voice had disappeared as well. Instead, I found Thaden staring at me, raw pain in his eyes. He swallowed.

"I made you feel that way."

"Don't get too full of yourself, fang. You didn't do this all on your own."

He brushed aside my pitiful attempt at levity. "I was a part of it. Dammit."

He raked his hand through his hair, paced a few steps, and then whirled back to me. "You have to understand—"

He shook his head and turned away again, pacing a few more steps. "It's not about you, it's—I mean, it is, but only because—"

He let out of a hiss of frustration and came to a stop right in front of me. "Sweetness, I'm the fuck up, okay? Not you. I pushed you away because I was weak, not because you are."

His eyes found mine, even though I knew he couldn't see me. "After everything I went through before, I thought getting addicted to your blood was the worst thing that could possibly happen to me. Until I turned up here, and I couldn't find you. I thought you were— I thought those animals had—"

He broke off and turned his head away sharply. "I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you," he said softly.

"Why?" I demanded. "Because your bloodbag would be gone? That's all I am to you, right? You made it clear enough over the last few months. Filthy little dhampir, good for a quick fuck in the library and nothing else?"

He drew back like I'd slapped him. "No. I don't feel that way."

"Really? Because you could have fooled me." I exhaled sharply and crossed my arms over my chest. "You saw what you were doing to me, and you didn't care."

"I did care, sweetness. I do care."

"Right. I heard the things all the vamps in the feeding den called me."

"And did you ever hear me call you those things?" he asked, his eyes flicking over the spot I was in.

"I—"

"I don't care what you are. I care who you are. The first woman I've ever cared about like this. And I pushed you away because you deserve better."

"Better than a prince?" I arched a brow.

"Better than an addict."

I swallowed as his eyes cut away again, and he forced them back, seemingly with great effort.

"I don't have any right to ask you to feel for me what I feel for you, not after what I've done, I know that. But I hate the way that things are between us, sweetness. I hate that I let them get this bad, and I know it's on me. I won't ask you to give me another shot, but do you ever think you could forgive me, as a friend?"

I stared at him, the man who'd scared me, excited me, empowered me, and then broken my heart. And I wanted to hate him. Because dammit, I deserved to be able to hate this asshole after everything he'd put me through.

But I didn't. Couldn't. Because the fear and hurt in his eyes was as real as any I'd felt.

"If you ever hurt me again, I will kill you," I promised him.

"If I ever hurt you again, you won't have to," he vowed. "I'm not asking you to love me, but I will always love you. You are the bravest, fiercest, most infuriatingly stubborn woman I have ever met, and I will take whatever part of you you're willing to share."

I reached up towards his face, and his eyes tracked my movement, then widened. I froze at the exact same moment, staring at the hand that he was staring at. My eyes darted to him.

"Wait. Can you see me now?"

He swallowed a ragged breath. "And what a sight you are."

Then his eyes zeroed in on my calf and narrowed.

"You've been bleeding this whole time and you didn't bother to tell me?"

"Well, we were kinda busy. Anyway, I figured you could just smell it."

He growled impatiently. "This whole area reeks of broken bodies. Sit."

I sat beside Cole and allowed him to roll up what remained of my pants leg. He crouched beside me and looked the still-bleeding wound over with a practiced eye.

"It's small but deep," he said. "I could seal it with my saliva…if you want."

The thought of his tongue on my flesh had my breath shortening and an entirely not-helpful reaction happening at below waist level. I gave a shaky nod.

"Yes," I whispered, feeling my cheeks pinkening. Thaden met my eye and I saw the barely contained lust there, and it was all I could do not to pull him against me, damaged leg be damned. His lips quirked up at one side.

"Patience, sweetness."

And then he ducked his mouth to my leg.

"Cali, look out!" The shout came from the treeline and I twisted round to Jax bursting through, eyes locked onto Thaden bent over me. "Vampire!"

"Now his timing…" I murmured, and Thaden straightened with a chuckle.

"Oh, it's you," Jax said, slowly to a walk, with Alina right behind him. "Can't go anywhere without a vamp showing up."

"More than you know, pup," Thessalia's voice said, and then she, too, stepped from the treeline. The shock on Jax's face made a laugh burst from my mouth.

"How long have you been there?" he demanded.

"Since about a mile east of here. Outbound." She smirked at his horror. "Never mind, pup. I'm sure you have other skills."

She plucked Jax's sack from his shoulder while he stood there, dumbstruck, and tossed it to me. "They found the mushroom you wanted."

Relief made me weak, and my hands shook as I pulled the carefully wrapped bundle from the sack. Thaden took my hands and carefully extracted it.

"What do we do with it?" I asked, and he unwrapped it.

"Auxilium mushroom?" he asked, and I nodded. "We need to crush it."

Alina handed him a pair of stones before he could finish speaking, and he nodded his thanks. Carefully, he crushed the mushrooms between them, turning them into a pulp.

"Rub half into his gums," he told me. "I'll extend the wound and smear the rest over it. Anything we can do to get it into his bloodstream more quickly."

I nodded, quickly scooping up some of the mush and rubbing it along Cole's gums. Thaden loosened my makeshift tourniquet and slashed his fangs along the puncture wound, widening it into a four-inch gash. I watched anxiously as he covered the open wound with the remains of the mushroom.

"What now?" I asked.

"Now we wait. It should work within the hour."

"Thank you," I murmured, and then looked over at the others. "All of you. Cole owes you his life."

"Let's save the thanks until after the assessment finishes," Jax said.

"Yeah, good idea," I said, though somehow, I knew the worst of the danger was past. We'd survived everything the necklace and Astor had thrown at us—and I hoped the same could be said for Kallan, because I had a score to settle with him.

I sat back beside Cole, and prepared to wait out the final hours until dawn.