Born of Silence (Immortal Guardians) (28 page)

Slipping through the crowded room, Garrick followed Dani down one of the wide corridors. She did go into the ladies’ restroom, so he held back, not wanting to be one of those creepy guys who waits for women to come out of the bathroom.

He couldn’t get her kindness out of his mind. She was so understanding, not blaming him for his sister’s death when it was so clearly his fault. She hadn’t judged him. Instead, she’d offered him comfort.

Dani came out of the restroom
minutes later
, smoothing her dress down the front. By the time she spotted him, he was already clipping toward her. “What are you—”

His body collided gently—sort of—with hers, and her back hit the wall. Garrick’s mouth was on hers in an instant as he took her lips in a powerful kiss. She moaned in surprise when he gave her the briefest break, and then he set to her again, his hands roaming her body as his lips and tongue played with hers.

He smiled as her fingertips touched his chest lightly, and then rubbed gently up as she reached up to grip his shoulders. He wanted more. Wanted to touch her more. Wanted her to touch him more. Wanted more everything. Wanted more
anything
.

She tasted like heaven and felt even better in his arms. Gods, he’d never met someone so irresistible, or anyone who was so wrong—and so right—for him. H
is lips left hers
and
he
trailed
them
down to her neck as she lifted her head in invitation. He brushed his lips over her skin, inhaling her delectable scent as he went.

“Garrick,” she breathed. “Don’t stop.”

He wouldn’t. He couldn’t stop. He hadn’t been able to clear his mind of the vision of her writhing against the window in their cell when he’d been so desperate to hear her moans. The silent seductress had him eating out of her hands from that day on. He wanted to hear her as he made her come over and over again. Wanted her hands to grip him and claw his flesh. He opened his eyes, taking in the sight of her as she arched into him, a golden shimmer cascading over her skin as she moaned. Taking her lips again, he brought his hand up to hold the back of her head as his other hand brought her hips closer to his.

A man
cleared
his
throat a few feet away.
Garrick
grudgingly pulled away, smiling as Dani tried to keep them together. She clearly hadn’t heard the
newcomer
clear his throat.

Releasing a slow breath, Garrick resisted the urge to continue what he was doing, and turned toward the guard instead. “How can I help you?”

“Your presence is requested in the hall,” he said. “My lord has decided to call court.”

Garrick’s eyes narrowed. “Now? In the middle of the ball?”

“Yes
,
sir
.
” He stepped forward and gripped Garrick’s arm.

Dani had finally stirred and looked back and forth between Garrick and
the palace guard
. “What’s going on?”

He
shrugged before the guard led him away, down the corridor and toward the large hall where the festivities had settled to a quiet hum. As soon as he entered the room, though, Cedric stood, summoning Garrick to stand before him. Dani followed tight on his heels
, b
ut instead of stopping where Garrick did, she went straight up to Cedric. “What are you doing?” she hissed.

“Quiet, my lady,” he said, moving her to the side of him. “If you can’t behave yourself
,
I’ll ask the guards to hold you.”

She glared at him, his cute little Harpy, before returning to Garrick’s side. He
glanced
down at her, giving her the most reassuring smile he could muster.

“Garrick,” Cedric’s voice boomed. “Son of Princess Fay and the honorable Mel Cyne of his majesty’s guard, and cousin to the Blue Blood King. Do you acknowledge that you are the man of whom I speak?”

The hall had grown silent now, everyone’s attention on the trial now taking place.

“I am,” he replied, his chin
lifting
in response.

“Lady Fay, mine own aunt and Princess of the Blue Bloods, do you claim the man before me to be your son?”

Garrick’s mother stepped forward, nodding to Cedric. “I do, your majesty.”

Cedric nodded back at
her. “And Lord Mel, dearest friend, uncle and honored guard of the
Royal Court
, do you attest that you sired the man before me now?”

“I do, my lord,” he replied.
No one could have missed the coldness in his father’s voice.

“Then may the gathered be witness to the trial of Garrick Cyne, cousin of your Royal King
,
and traitor to the crown.”

The most beautiful woman in existence was looking at him with a mix of fear, love, and confusion.

Raine sat on the edge of the hotel bed, watching him as he paced back and forth. He could feel the tension in his forehead, his brows had been drawn low for so long.

“So I’m not Damion,” he said.

“No.
”

“I’m Ferox.”

“Yes,” she said, a small smile curving her lips. “And you’re my mate.”

He stopped pacing and faced her. He’d been with her for roughly twenty
-
six hours and had refused to get any closer to the woman than four or five feet. His body had been demanding he get much closer, but his mind screamed in protest at the thought of making himself vulnerable.

She
’d
rented a hotel room until they could sort out this whole mess, and during that time she’d repeatedly tried to get
near
him, as though her own body wanted to be close in proximity. The sun had risen for the day, and though it had been a difficult battle, he’d remained awake, refusing to sleep in the presence of this stranger.

Or at least, he thought she was a stranger.

“And we have sons?” he asked again. She’d told him that they had sons, but he couldn’t picture them. Fathers should always be able to picture their children. Just like husbands should recognize their wives.

“Yes,” she replied. “Draven,
Ethan
, and Riley
.”

His mouth quirked at their names, and Raine smiled broadly. “Are they young?”

“No. Unless you’re considering vampire standards. Draven is six-hundred and seven. Ethan is
three-hundred and ninety-eight—
”

“Ha! That’s impossible. People don’t live that long.”

“
Humans
don’t. We do.
We’re
immortal, Ferox.”

“Oh sure, and I suppose you’re about to tell me that I’m seven-hundred years old?”

“No,” she said, only proving that she was lying about all their ages. No way in hell did anyone live that long, even if they were so called “immortal.” “You’re nine-hundred and fifty years old. I can figure out the exact number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds if you’d like.”

That stopped him. She was
serious
. His eyes had nearly bugged out of their sockets, the air assaulting them making him blink rapidly. He opened his mouth to speak again, only to close it. He felt like a damned fish.

“And I’m eight-hundred and fifty-six,” she added.

He played the part of a guppy for a few seconds more, raking his gaze over the woman. “Well, you look pretty good for being old as dirt.”

She laughed. The sound both filled him with pride that he was responsible for it and also scared him a little. He stepped back toward a chair and sat down with a
hmpfh
, dropping his forehead into his hands.

“Why did you think you were Damion?” she asked. “Do you remember anything that’s happened?”

He gazed up at her
. She already looked at him as though he was crazy. Sure, she appeared to be saddened by his craziness, but it didn’t change the fact that she still thought it. Shrugging, he said, “I woke up one night buried under a bunch of rubbish from a b
uilding. I think a bomb
exploded or something. I had to crawl out, and
when
I finally reached the top, I sat there for a while. I didn’t know who or where I was, so I just ran away.” He thought back to that night. His first night of actual awareness as he took in the world around him. “But, I was too weak and I didn’t make it very far. I passed out in a park and a boy found me.
”
Raine sat on the bed and clasped her hands together, her brows rising in interest.

“
He and Eugene, his grandfather, took me in and fed me until I felt better. But then some weird things started happening to me. Not
.
.. normal things.” He paused
, seeing if
she
needed any explanation.

“You craved blood.”

He nodded. “That’s when I decided to go back. To the place I woke up, I mean. I spent
a few nights digging through
debris.” He reached into his trench coat and gripped the journal as he held it out for her to see. “And that’s when I found this.”

Raine stood and slowly approached him. She
had to sense
that he didn’t trust her, so she was mindful of her actions. She
studied
the red bound book. “You gave that to Damion centuries ago.”

He
gawked
at her, sho
cked that she’d seen it before.
He could have noticed the recognition in her face even if she’d pretended
she’d never seen it
.

Maybe they really were mates.

“We still lived in Vampur,
” she continued,
“
and it was yours and Damion’s birthday. You two are twins. Identical twins.”

“I have a brother?”

“You have many. Damion is your blood brother, but there are others that you call brother as well, and they fight alongside you.”

“Warriors,” he said quietly. A chill ran through him as he recalled the odd feeling he’d had in the warehouse. He’d seen a ghost of an image, where he stood with a group of men, all of them clad with weapons. “I’m a warrior?”

Raine nodded. “You’re a Guardian and a king.
Oh
,” she said, suddenly paling. “You craved blood. Did you
…
feed?”

Feed? Oh
, he thought, suddenly realizing what she meant. She wanted to know if he drank blood. Why did the prospect of that make her appear so hurt? “Yes,” he replied honestly.

Her shoulders slumped and she turned away. “Oh.”

He had the sudden urge to comfort her, to take her in his arms until her pain was no more. But as it was, he’d made it as far as standing up and taking two steps toward her before his own uncertainty stopped him. Emotions warred inside him. Comfort her? He certainly wanted to. Stay away from her until he had his own identity figured out? A part of him wanted that. Take the woman to bed and figure it out together? His body gave him an astounding “Yes,” but he trampled it down. How could he take the woman to bed when he didn’t know her? When he didn’t know himself? It wou
ldn’t be fair to either of them,
even if they both wanted it.

Raine quickly turned around, her ey
es filled with pain. “Ferox, I
let Damion feed on me.”

Though he didn’t know what the hell was going on, some part deep inside him surged in anger. That the woman he desired above all others gave her blood to another? That another’s teeth had marred her skin? He felt the urge to peel his lips from his fangs. “You fed my brother?” When had his voice gotten so hoarse?

“I did,” she said, a small tear escaping down her cheek.

Why
did that bug him? There was just too much going on here, too much for him to comprehend. “Doesn’t he have a mate?”

“No.”

“Well, then I should thank you for keeping him from going hungry.”

She stepped forward, placing her hands
on his shoulders.
Her palms were warm on his chest, and her scent was mesmerizing. He could’ve stayed there for eternity. “Ferox, you don’t understand. I let him
drink
from me. I let him…
.
We did other things.” Her gaze dropped to the floor as more tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry,” she said, throwing her arms around him.

He
held
her tight as she cried into his shoulder. She fit comfortably in his embrace as though they were molded to fit one another. A small piece of his uncertainty melted away as he held
…
his
mate
.

“I’m going to kill him,” she said against his shoulder. “And I’ll make it hurt.”

Ferox stepped back, holding her at arm’s length. “You want to
kill
my brother?” Why did a part of him not only agree with that plan but
also
want to see it through himself?