Eclipse moved toward her. “Everything all right?”
Orianna nodded, carefully moving down the wooden treads. “I’m hoping she’ll sleep now that she’s taken her meds. Once she does, I’ll check in, but I need to stay up there to greet Erik if he does show up.”
A soft growl escaped him, but he couldn’t help it. The thought of Orianna going up against her father without him at her side … it bothered him immensely.
“I’ll be fine,” she said softly. “He won’t hurt me.”
She didn’t know that. Depending on what Erik McKay was after, it was quite possible he was a loose cannon. If the guy owed money, chances were he was being hassled for it. If he didn’t pay, that put anyone in his life in harm’s way.
Orianna took his hand and tugged. Confused, Eclipse moved with her.
She stepped into a small alcove beneath the stairs, giving them a modicum of privacy though Magnar and Miklós could still hear everything they said.
“I’m not sure I’ll make it through the day…” Her eyes completed that sentence, filling in the blank spaces and sending warmth through Eclipse’s bloodstream.
He knew she was referring to theamnigh. There was no denying it was intensifying. The fact that he’d been feeding from her had robbed them of the slight reprieve they would’ve had once it became too much to bear. There was no timetable that outlined how long they had before it overtook her the way it had Penelope right before Obsidian had mated with her.
Personally, Eclipse was hoping for time. A lot of it. He wasn’t eager to undergo thelintamair. Didn’t matter that it would forever tether Orianna’s soul to his, the mere thought of taking her life wasn’t something he could contemplate. He remembered seeing Obsidian in the moments leading up to the mating ceremony. His brother had been a mess, complete and total wreck. No doubt in Eclipse’s mind, it was his reaction to doing the most difficult thing he would ever have to do.
Orianna’s soft blond hair felt like silk as he brushed it back from her face, his fingertips moving to the warmth of her cheek. “If you need me, I’ll be right here.”
He didn’t bother to mention that he would need to feed before sundown. His strength was already waning, but he would hold out for as long as he could.
As though programed to respond to the thought of her blood, his fangs descended, throbbing with the urge to sink into her vein.
“You need to feed,” she said softly, her arms sliding around his waist.
He shook his head. “I’m fine for now.”
Eclipse knew the impact it had on her. Orianna’s entire body responded to him feeding from her, and right now they lacked the privacy he required. No way would he allow Miklós or Magnar to listen in on their private moments. Not if he could help it.
His ears perked up at the sound of Elizabeth’s voice coming from upstairs. “Your mother’s calling you.”
“Shit.” Orianna sighed. “Okay. Let me sit with her. Once she’s asleep, I’ll come back down.”
Because he had no other options, Eclipse released her, then watched as she made her way up the stairs. When she opened the door, he saw the glint of light coming into the house.
Which reminded him he was trapped and the female he loved was out of reach.
Kaj paced the storage room beneath theempty warehouse, his gaze continuing to swing over to Mirakel, Huracan, Blaz, and Kidel. They were what was known as the Zenith, the group of warriors whose sole responsibility was to protect the Alpha of the race. Or rather, they were what was left of the group, anyway. At one time, Kaj had been one of them, amongst an army of invincible vampires. Now there were only four remaining.
He still couldn’t believe the males were there, alive and well from what he could tell. The last time he’d seen them had been right after the raids on Kardobahn’s camp. Despite all their efforts, they’d been too late to save Kaj’s father, his baby brothers, but just in time to encounter a second wave of shadow beasts that had come to set fire to the camp, ensuring no lives were spared. At the time, Kaj had thought the warriors had died in their attempt to save him, their recently appointed Alpha.
It had been a solid week since he’d stumbled upon Mirakel in that dungeon, and since then Kaj had been trying to understand how he’d lost touch with them for so long, how he hadn’t known they were still alive. More importantly, why they hadn’t made every attempt to meet up with him.
“Why’d you stay gone?” he asked, still trying to come to terms with it all. While he was grateful they were alive and kicking, Kaj still had his reservations about who he could trust.
“We got separated that day,” Mirakel explained. “When the fires were burning, I didn’t know whether they”—he motioned toward the others—“were alive or not, but my mission is to protect my Alpha, so I went in search of you.”
“Did you go back for them?” Kaj inquired.
Mirakel shook his head, misery glittering in his neon blue eyes. “I wanted to, but my objective was to find and protect you,phaal.”
Yes, Kaj understood all too well their mission. The Zenith were trained to lay down their lives for the ruler of the race. When Kardobahn had been killed, they’d been leveled. Hard not to be when their only objective was to ensure the Alpha’s safety and that of his family. In that regard, they’d all failed Kaj’s father even though they’d nearly lost their own lives in the process.
That day… Fuck, he could still see the aftermath in his mind as though the image had been superimposed on the backs of his eyelids. The devastation—
“I did the same,” Huracan said, pulling Kaj’s mind back to the present. “Went in search of you. But I found Kidel, instead. Injured, nearly dead.” The male lowered his eyes. “I couldn’t leave him,phaal.”
