6. Zero

Chapter six

Zero

As I blink my eyes slowly, I take in my surroundings and recognize that I’m in my bedroom.

How did I get here? Even though my bed is warm—maybe too warm, I surprisingly feel more rested than I have in a long time. Someone stirs against my back, and I go still. I’m being spooned from behind and there are slim arms wrapped around me. Clearly the person behind me is smaller than me. Am I still dreaming? I don’t even remember finding someone let alone taking them back home.

Memories slam into me.

Autumn’s request that I protect a vampire. No, not just any vampire.

Calix. Calix. Calix.

My mate. Our mate.

Then I remember my reaction and my stomach roils. The gut wrenching sobs, the way I fell apart. Fifteen years of holding in all that pain, anger, and grief. So much grief. And the guilt. It was too much.

My Calix has been walking this earth all this time. He isn’t dead. He’s here, and he’s in danger.

I spin around in his arms, and am met with beautiful blue eyes. Eyes that promise me the world. A future. The thoughts are whimsical and ridiculous, but then Calix’s lips tilt into a smile, and I know they are true. He reaches out, trailing slender fingers across my cheekbone before he brushes the hair out of my face. We don’t say a word, and at this moment we don’t need to. By the way he’s looking at me, he has to know we are mates.

But does he remember me? Has he thought of me at all since he was taken. I squash the thought. How selfish can I be? I don’t know what Calix has been through, what kind of torture he’s had inflicted on him, and that knowledge is almost as devastating as the thought of him dying that night fifteen years ago.

“What’s wrong?” He asks as he sits up and flips on the lamp next to him. He’s fully clothed, in a white shirt and a pair of jeans.

“How long was I out of it?”

He studies me for a moment, his blue eyes intense and questioning. I think he knows I wanted to say something else. “A little over six hours now,” he replies.

Shock reverberates through me, the warmth on my back a reminder of the way he curled against me. “And you stayed with me the whole time?”

“I did.”

“But why?” I lean forward, silently begging him to understand. To recognize me as the friend he once cared for. Something catches my eye, and I glance over at the mirror above my dresser. My scales glimmer in the light. Of course he won’t remember me. When we were friends, we both thought I was a human.

Since my parents died when I was little, I never discovered my dragon heritage until my late teens, and even then, I needed to keep it a secret since dragon blood was considered very rare.

“I stayed because you are my mate,” he says simply.

While my inner dragon roars with joy, disappointment hits me. I don’t know why I want him to remember me so badly. Maybe because I’ve spent most of my life dedicated to him?

A knock sounds at my door. “Hey, Bossman. You in there?” Gideon calls out. “Silver and I just got home, and we are about to eat downstairs if you want to join us. Lyla and Ruby stopped by and dropped off a boatload of food.”

Calix arches a brow. “Lyla is Rook’s sister, and Ruby is Lyla’s girlfriend. Rook probably told them that my dragon would need to eat as soon as I came to. Gideon and Silver are my teammates.”

Calix squeezes my hand, and I squeeze his back.

“Yeah, be down there in a minute,” I call out. “I have a guest here with me. Someone I need to introduce you to.”

Silence falls before I hear a low chuckle, followed by footsteps descending the stairs.

Odd.

Calix laughs. “You know you implied that we were having sex in here, right?”

I choke. “I what?” I quickly replay the words I said out loud. “Oh.” My team is used to my player ways, but I need to make it very clear that Calix is my mate. He’s someone special, not someone meaningless. Calix has been and will always be my world. Fate made sure of that.

Calix gets out of bed and eyes my naked torso—I must have ripped it off me in my sleep. “That’s okay,” he teases, a sexy smirk on his face. “They can think that we had sex in here. I don’t mind.”

My lips twitch. Usually, I’m the flirty one in the room. This is new. The Calix I once knew was very soft spoken and shy. This Calix? Gods, he’s sass and dominance. This Calix is temptation on a golden platter. I get the sneaky feeling I met my match.

***

“Let me get this straight,” Silver says as he sips on his wine. “Autumn and Rook asked you to watch over a vampire? You. They know what you did for a living, right?”

Gideon, Silver, and I are sitting in the dining room waiting for Calix to join us. He had to make a quick phone call, but I have a feeling he was giving me time to tell my team about us. I quickly explained that Autumn asked for a favor, and that when I got there, I found out it was Calix I had to protect.

Gideon narrows his eyes. “And suddenly, this vamp that you just met is upstairs in your bedroom? This doesn’t sound like you—”

“Yeah, well the guy you sound like you’re describing is a prick. I don’t have anything against vampires, just rogues,” I snap.

Silver arches a brow. Fucking Fae. He can probably smell the lie on me. My face heats up. Calix can probably hear everything they are saying since they have such excellent hearing.

I throw my hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. That guy you’re describing sounds like me. The old me,” I correct. “I’m going to try my hardest to embrace this new chapter in my life.”

Gideon studies me. “What’s changed?”

“Calix is my fated mate,” I whisper. I repeat it louder. “Calix is my mate.”

“Wait, Calix,” Silver says. “Why does that name sound so familiar?”

Gideon’s mouth drops open. “Calix, as in the Calix that—”

Calix appears at the door frame, forehead scrunched, looking confused. His golden wavy hair is loose around his shoulders. He’s so different looking from the kid I used to know. Back then Calix’s hair was short. Despite his lanky slim frame, he had these adorable chubby cheeks. Now, he’s still slim, but with sculpted muscles. His face has gorgeous angles and high cheekbones.

He’s breathtaking.

“Hey,” I say, jumping to my feet.

Calix bites his lip. He turns his attention toward Silver and Gideon. “Hey guys. It’s nice to meet you, but do you mind if I chat with Zero alone? As he said, we’re fated, but we only just met. And I’d like to get to know my mate.”

Gideon gives me a questioning look. He knows all about Calix and how he was taken from me. He knows that Calix is the main reason I joined the Elite Guard and became a rogue vampire hunter. As my friend stares at me, I don’t know whether to nod, indicating that yes, this Calix is my Calix . Or if I should shake my head, silently pleading he doesn’t say a word.

Calix must see the turmoil in my eyes, because he saunters up to me, hips swaying in a seductive pull. Once he’s directly in front of me, I hold out his hand. “Come, dragon. You have several things to explain to me.” His tone is commanding, laced with a sensual undertone that has me growing hard in my pants. I lace his fingers with mine, feeling somehow settled yet insanely turned on.

Holy shit, is this what it feels like to have a fated mate?

Without saying a word, I let my vampire guide me by the hand and out of the room. Behind me, Silver whispers to Gideon. “Well fuck me, that was hot.”

My eyes pop up to Calix’s face. There’s a knowing little smirk playing on his lips.