“We know who he is.” Lizzy motioned to Maxim. “But who the hell are you?”
Peri smiled. “I like you. You’re going to fit in nicely, too.”
“Awesome. Give me a cookie later, once we’re out of Dr. Frankenstein’s lab,” Lizzy said dryly. “But seriously, who are you?”
“I’m Perizada of the high fae, and I’m here to save your ass. So tone it down and let’s get ready to move. Is she alive?” Peri motioned to Alice, and Maxim snarled.
“Calm yourself, wolf,” Peri told him without taking her eyes off of Alice. “She’s deathly pale.”
“She is.” Lizzy’s voice softened. “She was awake only moments ago. But then she blacked out again.”
“We need to get her the hell out of this place,” Peri said. “It’s a war zone out there.”
Maxim hurried over to Alice’s side and sat on the edge of the bed beside her. He couldn’t believe he was finally with her. His true mate.
“Even after everything I’ve seen, it’s still weird to see stuff like that happen.”
Maxim didn’t turn to see what Lizzy was talking about. He frankly didn’t care.
“His markings?” Peri pointed.
“Yeah, they changed right before my eyes.”
Maxim hadn’t even considered the markings when he’d discovered his mate. But if his had changed, then it meant hers had appeared somewhere on her form as well. That was something they could explore when they were no longer in danger and she was back to perfect health.
Leaning closer, Maxim inhaled her scent, subtle and sweet. It was weakened now but still uniquely hers. It whispered to his soul of mate, home, and a precious gift. She was everything he had waited lifetimes to find.
Maxim’s hungry eyes found her face again, tracing each angle and curve. The elegant arches of her brows and cheekbones, the delicate point of her chin. And her lips, slightly parted as her breath whispered in and out, soft and pink and utterly kissable.
Something inside him eased just drinking in the sight of her. Maxim watched the slow rise and fall of her chest, reassuring himself of her continued breath. She was battered and broken but still gloriously, blessedly alive. And she was his. However long and dark the road had been for either of them, it had led him to her side at last. The Great Luna had destined them for one another.
Tenderly, he smoothed back a lock of hair that had fallen across Alice’s cheek. “Soon, love,” he murmured. “Just hold on a little longer. I’ll take you far from this cursed place.”
She didn’t stir, but Maxim knew she sensed him on some level. Their bond, though new, hummed between them. He only prayed it would be enough to guide her back to him from whatever place she’d escaped to in her mind.
Jaw clenched with determination, Maxim moved to stand. He was about to lean over and pick her up when the door to the room blew open. Maxim immediately went into attack mode. He sensed Lizzy, Finn, and Peri doing the same thing.
A man wearing a torn and tattered suit, which no doubt cost a fortune, stood in the doorway. Oddly enough, his hair was in perfect shape. There wasn’t a strand out of place. “Get away from her,” he commanded. He hissed when no one obeyed him. Maxim’s wolf saw the fangs and then smelled the scent of the vampire.
“You’re Cain,” Maxim said to the vampire king.
“And you’re obviously incredibly bright. Let’s get you an award for your astuteness.”
Rage erupted in Maxim at the flippant words from the vampire king. He spoke as if his life wasn’t forfeit. Somehow, even in his disheveled state, his arrogance remained intact.
Cain’s fangs flashed as he hissed. “I’ll say it one more time. Get away from her.”
The order barbed Maxim’s temper past reason. His vision hazed with crimson fury, a snarl ripping from his throat. No one would keep him from his mate, especially not a parasitic leech.
In a blur, he hurled himself at Cain, shifting his hands to claws and teeth to sharp, deadly canines. The vampire had just enough time for his eyes to widen before Maxim slammed him brutally into the unforgiving wall.
Cain’s head banged against the concrete with a sickening crack. But Maxim gave him no chance to retaliate, his claws raking across the skin of Cain’s face. Maxim’s wolf was mindless in its rage, bellowing its triumph as it shredded soft flesh. This monster had nearly allowed his mate to be murdered by one of his own. His death would come swiftly.
Caught in the throes of bloodlust, Maxim barely heard the others shouting. Vaguely, he felt small hands batting at him, trying to intervene. With an enraged swipe, he flung the nuisance away. No one would stop his vengeance.
Just as he lunged for Cain’s vulnerable throat, an invisible force like a battering ram struck Maxim’s side. He flew across the room, colliding painfully with the opposite wall before crashing to the floor. Shaking off plaster dust, Maxim regained his feet with a snarl. But before he could renew his attack, Peri stepped between him and the vampire. Magic sizzled threateningly in the air around the ancient fae.
“Enough!” Her voice resonated with power, arresting him mid-lunge. “Cain’s death puts Alice at risk. Stand down!”
