Abyss - Book Five of the Alpha Series - MxM

Chapter 43 ( M)

Verando had shifted, carrying me into my room at my request. His body is shaking, and I flinch as I sit, watching him pace. 

The tension and rigid posture make me keep my distance as I slide down into a chair.

Taking deep breaths, testing my sore lungs, and reassuring myself that my ribs were not broken, my eyes finally settled back on my warlord. "Are you alright?" I ask him finally. 

My face is wet, and I touch my cheek, plucking a piece of stone from my flesh and grimacing as I toss it to the ground. The motion must catch his attention, for now he's staring, and he quickly goes into the washroom to grab a rag and a small pan full of water. 

He is the same, the embodiment of what I'm feeling. A feral creature dragged out of the depths, again and again, to fight for our lives and our rights. "Don't ask me that, not now, not when you were just starting to heal and now this-"

Before he can scold me any further, my arms wrap around his waist, much as it causes my sore cheek to throb, I was desperate for contact. "This is nothing.. hardly a scratch compared to what we've been through."

"Nic.." His tone is exhausted, fear clouds his voice, and I hug him that much tighter despite how my arm protests. "I sensed your fear, and then I heard all the commotion. I saw Acer- the red hair- I thought-" 

"It couldn't have been me, you'd be dead, too. You really should give me more credit, I'm more than capable of fighting off a fat guy and a single lycan?" It's a weak attempt to keep him from leaving this room and committing a crime, to prevent him from walking right into their trap. Naptalion had wanted me to die; that could very well still be the case. 

He exhales, the heat of his body melts into me, and I feel it in my core, the rage and malice of the wolf eating away at the part of me that's linked to him. The bloodlust, the desire for vengeance, I shiver, pushing it away, "That's intense..." I murmur.

Verando gives me a tired look, "Imagine being on this side of it. I want to kill him, I want to hunt him down and watch him suffer. Mr.Balan was going to kill you, and I want it known that I want to wield the blade or drop the noose when he's put to death. He will not escape me-" My warlord stops, my expression must mirror my exhaustion, I lean my cheek against his hip. 

Taking the rag, he carefully dabs at my bloodied cheek. "Are you alright?" His head tilts as he takes my chin in his hand, carefully tilting my head. "You're going to need Helen to look at that."

The thought of Helen touching me is almost as unsettling as Mr.Balan sitting in a comfortable jail cell. "I'm fine," I mutter, replaying his request, wondering what sort of punishment the man would face if any. "Do you truly think they will send him to the gallows?"

"He'll walk," Verando assures me, disgusted. "The man is very well connected, and Naptalion admitted as much that he had no interest in harming him. That is why I offered to do it myself."

"We are not above the law." I remind him shortly, frowning at his intensity but understanding it. "You were in the mafia- or, I suppose, are in the mafia?" I correct myself, settling back into my chair, offering him my arm as he carefully wipes at the blood from the cuts and scrapes of being thrown across the ground. It stings, but I'm thankful it's not broken.

"Randy, did you do stuff like that?"

"Yes." He doesn't elaborate. 

"They tortured Haryek. They killed him."

"I know. I smelled the elf's blood. It was too strong for him to have survived. Justice is served."

While I wish to respond, I can see the darkness in his eyes. He's never forgiven Haryek for what he did to me, for what he did to us. But without that, would we be together?