Dax broke every speed limit to get to Protective Solutions. He’d laid the human in his back seat, and he kept glancing back the whole time he drove. The man lay frighteningly still. At every stoplight, Dax reached back to make sure he was still breathing. He was, but it was shallow, and his skin felt clammy.
His own heart kept racing, and his palms sweated on the steering wheel. Fear was ripping through him in quite a profound manner, and he had no idea why.
He was overwhelmed with worry, and he didn’t even know this human’s name.
When he finally arrived, he jumped out of his SUV and opened the back door. The human was still breathing, but his face was sickly white. Dax carefully lifted the human into his arms. He cradled him close and hurried into the building. Xavier and Alaric were waiting for him. Xavier pointed toward a first-floor conference room that held a couch.
The man started to convulse as Dax raced that direction.
“Shit!” Dax gritted out. He held the human closer. His sense of urgency still had him reeling because he didn’t know the man. But he’d felt something when they’d looked at each other in that alley. Something he was too hopeful to name.
“Dax, you have to lay him on the couch.” Xavier gently touched his arm. “He needs healing right now.”
Dax reluctantly laid the convulsing man onto the gray couch, then stepped back to watch anxiously. Alaric knelt and put his hands on him. It took only moments for the human to still.
The relief that swept through Dax made his knees feel like jelly.
Xavier pulled him aside. “What’s going on? I’ve never seen you this agitated.”
All Dax’s words tangled in his throat. He swallowed back the lump before trying to answer. “I have no idea what’s going on. I’ve never seen this man before tonight, but you should have seen the way he looked at me right before he passed out. I think he could really see me. I think he’s one of them.” He paused and cleared his throat that still felt knotted. “There was absolutely no fear in that look, Xavier. It was like he was looking into my soul. So I just…” He trailed off, unable to put his hope into words.
Xavier tilted his head, making his hair brush over his chest. “You did right in bringing him here. You said a chimera attacked him?”
“Yanked him right out of his chair and pulled him into an alley—” He broke off when Alaric stood.
The elf turned to them, his face pale. “That took a lot of magic. He took in a lot of venom, but you got him here in time. He’s going to be fine.”
Xavier looked down at the human. “We’ll take him up to my office to recover.”
Dax shut his eyes and took a deep breath before he gave in to the urge to hug Alaric, who chuckled and patted his back.
“Thank you for saving him,” Dax whispered.
He felt slightly foolish but was unable to stop himself. He had no idea who this man was or why he’d been attacked by a preternatural, but everything in him was yelling that his whole life was about to change.
Chapter Four
Everett
Everett dreamed of a bald giant with the most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen. In his dream, he was cradled to the man’s wide chest, and he’d never felt more cherished or safe. He was so used to being alone, but the strange dream man chased the long-suffering feeling away completely. Everett didn’t even mind that he was being carried like a child. He liked the strength of the rock-solid arms around him. And the giant smelled so good, smooth and musky, like when his grandfather had burned mahogany wood in the fireplace. That scent added to the feeling of comfort.
But the dream changed, and he knew for sure it was a dream then because the creature that came for him was something out of his nightmares, with two heads on top of its thick, muscular body and a snake for a tail. Claws ripped into Everett as he screamed and screamed.
He wrenched awake on one of those screams.
“You’re safe,” a deep voice soothed as a big hand cradled his shoulder. Still out of it, Everett instinctively curled thatdirection, seeking more comfort. But then, his faculties abruptly came back online, and he jerked away and opened his eyes wide.
“Where am I?” He blinked at the bald man kneeling next to the couch he lay on. The giant with the beautiful eyes. Had this man really been carrying him? His face was…wildly attractive, with full, sensual lips, a pleasing round chin that offset sharp cheekbones. But those eyes—they were big, spring grass green, and had the longest black eyelashes Everett had ever seen.
“At my place of employment. It’s a safe office. I’m Dax.” Dax stayed crouched but leaned back out of Everett’s space. The concern in those eyes was a warm spill of sympathy that sent a hint of relief in to chase away Everett’s alarm. “You were attacked. Do you remember?”
Everett looked down at the arm he remembered being bitten, but it looked fine. His sleeve was torn, though. He rolled up the material and ran his fingers over the smooth skin. There were no wounds. “It must have been a waking dream or some kind of hallucination. There was this…creature that couldn’t be real. I remember fangs sinking into my arm, but it’s fine.” Bewildered, he looked back up at that gorgeous face. “You said I was attacked?”
“I was working at that restaurant and saw you pulled into an alley.”
Truly alarmed, his mouth dropped open. “Was it more than one? Were they trying to mug me?”
“Have any enemies?”
