Too restless to remain still with the fight looming, everything in him focused on keeping Ely safe and here at the house while he was gone. Or better yet, get her to leave this world and wait for him on Earth. He stroked back the strands of hair escaping her ebony braid, hating that she had to hide behind a disguise in this world because of the peril to her kind from these demon assholes.
Exhaling roughly, he pressed his lips to her brow, got off the bed, and headed for the bathroom.
A few minutes later, barely refreshed from his warm shower—hell, in this place there wasn’t any other temperature level except hotter—he put on another pair of jeans, socks, and boots, grabbed a t-shirt, and made his way to the kitchen. The smell of freshly brewed coffee drifted to him.
Aba looked up from his seat at the table, stirring his coffee. Nate knew the mug must contain a ton of sugar. His sire possessed a sweet tooth that made his chompers ache.
He tossed his t-shirt on a chair back and scratched his bare chest. The wound on his side from Derrodus’ weapon still ached though a scab had formed over it. At least the dizziness had eased.
He eyed his sire. “You were gone most of the night?”
“Aye,” Aba murmured. “Had some things to take care of. You and Ely okay?”
“Yeah.” Nate got out a mug from the cupboard and poured his coffee. Beaker palmed, he leaned against the counter and took a deep swallow of the hot, black liquid. But his attention shifted to the doorway and corridor leading to his quarters. Even though he knew Ely was asleep and close by, this short distance away from her had him on edge, everything within him yanking at him to get back to her. Keep her safe. Claim her—
“How does one recognize a fated mate?” he asked his sire, reeling in the desire gripping by him the balls.
“With us demons, they’re known as consorts, and there’s a mating fever, and both are affected badly. We are a violent breed.” A droll smile. “But you are different, so it’s hard to say—”
“Yeah, started out as human, and reborn as a malevolent demonic beast,” he muttered, then shook his head as his sire’s smile faded. “It’s all right. You didn’t know what the symbiont would do to me.” All that fucker within wanted was gore and death. At least his rampant need was his own. “Aba, I want you to take Ely back to Earth—”
“There’s something you need to know,” Aba said simultaneously, then he shook his head. “What you just requested? You know she won’t leave. That female is as stubborn as you.”
His jaw clenched in frustration, aware he was grasping at straws. But what Aba saw as him beingstubbornwas Nate having his hands tied and bound to an old, avaricious bastard who valued his possessions more than a being’s life. And to keep the male who’d been a father to him safe, he had to do as Azgor wanted.
But Ely? Shewasmaddeningly stubborn.
With him mere hours away from taking part in a deadly fight, yeah, she would refuse to leave. But he didn’t want her to see this cold, monstrous side of him. More, he didn’t want Derrodus’ sights on her.
He set his mug on the table and stuck his fists in his jeans pockets. “That bastard Derrodus put a bounty on her. If she appears at the pit with you, he’s gonna know and would use the time I’m focused elsewhere to get at her. Hell, I know she can take care of herself, but dammit, I don’t want his filthy hands on her! You know he would torture her just to get even with me. And that I won’t have.”
“She is a Guardian,” Aba reminded him.
“I don’t care if she were the creator of this damn place! I don’t want a scratch on her!” He thumped the table, his usual, formidable control shattering. Head lowered, he shut his eyes, dragging in deep gulps of air, struggling for calm.
“I will keep her safe,” Aba promised.
Fists braced on the wood, Nate lifted his gaze to his sire. “You haven’t been active as Azgor’s enforcer for decades.”
“Don’t write me off just yet,” Aba drawled. “Enforcer was just a mockery of a title. I was aSicarilike you,cnati. So, there’s still some fight left in these old bones.”
A wry smile broke free. When he was so much younger and needed to feed, Aba stopped at nothing to kill those he first fed off, especially when they came after him to kill him at the insult of a ‘human’child feeding on them.
“I remember.” Nate changed the conversation. “What is it I should know?” He asked, then lifted a hand, stopping Aba’s reply, his gut churning. The blood moon pulled at him to get moving, and his beast side battered at his mind shields for release.
Not fucking now!It would have its moment when the time was right.
A snarl ricocheted through his skull like metal shards nailing him in the brain. Shit! He clenched his teeth, jabbing his fingers against his temples. Several deep breaths later, he straightened and met Aba’s troubled gaze.
“The blood moon grows stronger,” he said, glancing outside through the window where everything remained shrouded in a darkening pink glow, then back at Nate. “It’s time.”
For the fight? “Yeah, I know.” He picked up his t-shirt from the chair backrest, then said, “She is my heart, Aba. Keep her safe.”
“I will,cnati.”
Nate swallowed, fighting back the emotions clogging his chest. “Keep her away from the fight. I don’t want her to seethat—seeme.”
See the cruel side of me.
