33. Thirty-Three

You will obey me, Vastian. You will do what is required. You will fuck the Queen and still come to my chambers. Say it! SAY IT!

Damian’s words haunted me. They filled my mind and consumed all my reasoning.

Aflem was our ally. The Elves and Vampyrs went back thousands of years—but one of them claimed Atreyis. I had a mind to start a bloody war over it. She”d scented him like the damned wolves did. The potent pheromone was all over him. It seeped into his pores, his hair. I couldn’t be sure if he’d returned the bond. The only way to know was to examine her for the mark.

Our kinds were similar—the mating ritual, the knowledge of the gods, and the power structure. But Atreyis wouldn’t participate in this willingly. And if he was forced? Gods help this woman to spare her from my wrath.

“She’s unconscious,” Ariel said from behind me.

That wasn’t important. Her unconscious state was better. Kneeling before the bed, I lifted her thin arms. “Did you notice a mark on her body?” I asked.

“What kind of mark?”

“Two spirals interweaving together.” Fighting back the urge to sink my fangs into her jugular, I kept searching and lifted her tunic to expose her stomach.

“I didn’t strip search her.” Her tone gave off the impression she was disgusted. Well, I was too.

Who would agree to trade sex for transportation? And with someone in Atreyis” condition? It was getting increasingly more difficult to keep my bestial brain locked away. The possessiveness worming through me wouldn”t do me any good, but after all that I”d endured, I couldn”t stomach the thought of another having Atreyis, especially under those circumstances.

Moving up to her neck, I tilted her head from side to side but still came up short. This was good. “Help me roll her over.”

Ariel offered a suspicious glance but did it anyway. Once the elf was on her stomach, I lifted her pleated hair, searching the base of her neck. If she’d claimed Atreyis, there would be a mark somewhere. It was part of their magical physiology. My fingers trembled now as I lifted the fabric covering her back. I fell back on my haunches when pink flesh was all I discovered.

“What are you looking for?” Ariel frowned, rolling her flat once more.

Palming my face, I whispered, “The mark. The claiming mark.”

“Like a mating bond?” She arched a brow.

“Yes,” I admitted.

“No offense, Vampyr, but Atreyis went through hell to get here just to find you. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he isn’t healing. I’m not sure if he ever will. He was trying to break into Aryn’s home with broken bones and a concussion, knowing this. But you’re worried that he mated to an elf?” Ariel scoffed with the last sentence.

I noticed everything. It was hard to ignore, but I needed to know. Atreyis wasn’t the only one who’d experienced hell over that past day. “This is between him and me, Ursid.” I stood now.

“And this is my home—my friend. If you hurt him, you get the bear,” she growled and stormed out of the room.

For the first time, I think, I was grateful that Atreyis was smoking. It helped dull the horrible scent of the elf on him.

His jaw was black and blue. A thick makeshift splint was wrapped around his leg and foot. He wore a button-up shirt that hung open, revealing the bandages around his torso. His bottom lip was split.

The sound his heart made when I walked across the space to him twisted my insides. He was scared of me. Chris gestured for Ariel, and the two of them stepped outside of the brownstone.

“Let me explain,” Atreyis started and went to put out the cigarette.

“Don’t. It… I need the smell of the smoke.” I wasn’t ready to sit beside him, so I stood there.

“Alright,” he said gingerly, returning it to his lips. “I was coming for you.” He sat up straighter, his brows pinching together when he did.

“Alora helped me escape,” I admitted. He deserved to know that she was the only reason I stood there.

He smiled weakly, but it didn’t meet his eyes. “She always has a trick or two up her sleeve.”

“You are unable to heal.”

“Yup,” he said, popping the P.

Sliding my hands into my pockets, I dropped my gaze to the floor. It was as if my entire being was split in half. On one end, I was yearning to touch him. To poke and prod him until I was satisfied he wouldn’t drop dead before me.

On the opposite end, I was furious. My fangs ached in my gums, and jealousy festered in my breast. He nearly slept with that elf. While Aryn tortured me, Atreyis was considering plunging his cock into her. Tasting her and kissing her.

A growl worked its way up my throat, but I stifled it before he heard.

“When Aryn took you, I knew you wouldn’t have long. I knew he’d hurt you. I panicked, alright? It’d take forever to get here from Belfor.” He took a long drag, the smoke wafting from his lips.

“Why did you do it?”

“I didn’t want to.” He swiftly brushed at his eyes. ”Nothing would”ve happened. I only said I would to get here—to get to you. Do you believe me?”

“I don’t.” My words were clipped. He”d fucked someone before in my presence, so I wouldn”t put it past him to have done so with the elf woman.

His shoulders jerked. “She wouldn’t have agreed to port me here unless I gave her what she wanted. And that was a proposal, along with an act of commitment. Thankfully, she stopped it before we—anyway, nothing happened.”

The growl came out, followed by a hand flying up to tug at my hair.

“Fuck, Vastian. I don’t want anything to do with her. I needed her to get here. To get to you.” He looked up at me. Those green eyes of his glittered behind a veil of tears.

“I’d rather you have left me all together than agree to that.”

“Leave you? With him? No fucking way.” He hobbled to stand now, wincing and grunting during the entire process. And my chest lurched seeing it.

Atreyis had never been so vulnerable, so battered. Gods, I wanted to pull him into my arms and will the injuries away. “I ran from my coven—my duty—to avoid doing what you almost did.”

He closed the distance between us, breathing heavier and balling his fists. “Don’t you get it?” he searched my face. “I’d do anything to find you. To save you.”

A hiccup escaped me as my fingers sought out his, entangling in them like he”d done to my heart. “Why? You don’t trust me.”

He took two more steps so that we were inches apart. “It isn’t about trust, you twat.”

“Enlighten me,” I whispered, brushing against his cheek with my free hand. The urge to kiss him was becoming too hard to ignore.

Leaning into my touch, he sighed. “I’m afraid of what you will think of me. I’m afraid of judgment. That”s why I don”t talk about it with anyone, even you.”

I dropped his hand so I could cup both of his cheeks. “You nearly sold yourself to an elf. Yet here I stand—desperate to kiss you. You could tell me you’ve destroyed an entire world, and this yearning would remain.”

“It was a fucking awful decision.” His voice cracked, and he grabbed my waist, slamming his face into mine.

He was so hungry for me. The way his tongue twirled and begged to be meshed with mine and how tight he held me. Soft whimpers and moans filled my ears. The elf’s scent should have deterred me, but I was determined to rid it with my own. As gently as I could, I cupped his rear and hoisted him onto my hips.

Pulling away from me slightly, he brushed his fingers over my brow and lips. “I can’t fuck like this. I”ll die of embarrassment.”

“I’m not going to fuck you, Atreyis.”” I couldn’t help but laugh. “But I am going to bathe with you. And I’m going to mend you.”

He cocked a brow. “What?”

“Her scent is everywhere. I cannot stand it,” I whispered into his ear. “You will only smell of me. Then, once these bloody wounds are gone, we will run.”

By the way his cock stiffened against me, I’d say he was on board with the idea. “Give me this fucking mouth,” he ordered and pulled me to his lips once more.