Mitry and Weni (6 page)

What the fuck?

After securing the sheet again, she turned to face the two men. “How?”

“You were hurt bad, baby,” Mitry said before he sucked in a deep breath. “One of the others brought a doctor here, but you’d lost way too much blood. You were dying.”

Krysta didn’t know what to say next because her mind was in turmoil as it whipped from possible scenario to possible scenario, but when it kept going back to the only logical answer, she found herself voicing the question spinning around in her mind like a broken record.

“Did you turn me into a vampire?”

“No.” Weni took a step toward her but stopped when she backed away from him. “We aren’t vampires.”

“What are you then?” Krysta sank down and sat on the side of the bed as she waited for the answer.

“We’re soul sentinels,” Mitry replied.

“What?”

Weni sighed and walked back to his chair, nudging Mitry’s shoulder to get him to do the same. When both men were both sitting down once more, Weni cleared his throat. “We are soul sentinels and demigods.”

Krysta snorted with disbelief but when she didn’t see humor lurking in Weni’s gaze she wondered if they were just downright plain crazy.

Mitry must have seen disbelief in her gaze because he began speaking just as she opened her mouth to make a sarcastic comment. “We have been fighting the shadow demons for almost five thousand years.”

“Five thousand…” Krysta’s mind went blank with shock.

“We were alive when the pyramids were being built. All of us were actually slaves and we knew we would die in enslavement.”

Weni took over. “That was until an elderly man who was too sick and weak to work fell to his knees and took a whipping. We hated the injustice of what was happening and stepped in. Of course we ended up getting whipped ourselves until Ra, the sun god, appeared on the scene.”

“Ra?” Krysta whispered.

“Yes. Ra had been watching Apep controlling the pharaohs as they used humans to build their pyramids and amassed wealth. When we moved in to protect a fellow slave, Ra decided enough was enough. He took control, dispersing the riches amongst the slaves, stripping the pharaohs and overseers of their wealth and power before sending Apep into the bowels of hell.” Mitry shifted in his seat as if he was uncomfortable telling the story.

“We ended up in a place between life and death called the fade.” Weni stood and moved to lean against the wall next to the door. “Ra was there and asked us if we wanted to work for him to help keep the humans safe from the shadow demons. All we’d ever known was slavery and hunger so we jumped at the chance to work on the side of good after being controlled by evil for most of our pitiful lives.

“We were given the gift of longevity as well as phenomenal speed, strength, and keener senses. For the last five millennia we’ve fought to protect the human race from Apep and his evil followers.”

Krysta felt bad for her attitude after hearing their story and the ring of truth to their voices. She couldn’t deny the fact that the shadow demons existed because she’d been fighting against them herself. How could she deny what they’d told her about being soul sentinels and demigods?

“If you aren’t vampires, how come you have to drink blood?” she asked.

“We don’t have to drink blood at all,” Mitry answered. “In fact I think we’ve only ever taken blood a couple of times in all the time we’ve been fighting the demons. We eat and drink just like you do. The only time we’ll take a sip or two of blood is when we’ve been grievously wounded.”

Krysta took a couple of moments to process what they’d said and while she was quickly becoming a believer, they still hadn’t answered one very important question. She wasn’t telling them her name or anything else about herself until she had what she wanted.

“What did you do to me?”

Mit cursed under his breath when their mate asked the question he’d been dreading again. He’d hoped by telling her the story of how they came to be that she would be sidetracked and forget what she’d asked previously, but he could see by the determined light in her eye and the intelligence in her gaze that she wasn’t giving up until she had what she wanted.

He glanced at Weni, who nodded at him to explain. He took a deep fortifying breath and slowly exhaled, hoping to ease the tension in his neck and shoulders and keep his shit together, in case she went ballistic when she found out that they had mated her. However, first he desperately needed to know her name. As much as he would have loved calling her
baby
and Wen
little one
, he knew that wasn’t going to wash with her for long. He’d seen the way her lips had tightened when he delivered that moniker but since the connection between them was barely there, he couldn’t link with her or even hazard a guess. It didn't matter that Ra had told them what her name was. He wanted to hear it from her own lips.

“Please, will you tell us your name?”

She sighed as she stared at him and then met Weni’s gaze. “Do you have something I can put on? I don’t like being wrapped up in a sheet.”

Mit wanted to growl in frustration but he quelled the urge before he walked to the dresser and rummaged in it until he found a pair of shorts and a T-shirt that had shrunk in the wash. He tossed them on the bed and waited for her to answer with his arms folded over his chest.

She leant forward, snatched the clothes up, and headed toward the adjoining bathroom. Mit ran his fingers through his hair in frustration and was about to ask Wen a question when she paused in the doorway, looking back at them over her shoulder. “Krysta.”

The door closed behind her before Mit registered what she’d said. When he glanced at Weni again, his friend was smiling. “Did she just say Krysta? The way she said it sounded more like ‘twister.’”

“She did.” Wen chuckled. “I like it. It suits her.”

“What?” Mit frowned.

“The name Krysta is Polish in origin and means she knows. Our mate lives up to her name. It says that a woman with the name Krysta is usually wanted by most men but she wants nothing to do with them. Most people love someone called Krysta because she can be wild, fiery, and yet serious and loving.”

“How do you know that?” Mit asked.

“Don’t you ever surf the internet?” Wen asked.

“Not really. I just look for what I need to know and once I’ve found it…that’s that.”

Wen smirked and then groaned. Mit was about to ask what was wrong but when he heard the shower running he didn’t bother. He knew that his friend was imagining their mate all wet and naked. It wasn’t hard when they had seen her in her underwear the night before and slept beside her all night long. Or at least tried to. It had been hard in more ways than one—pun intended—having Krysta’s scantily clad body up against his own for hours on end.

“Do you think she’s going to be pissed off?” Weni asked.

“I don’t know. Probably, but hopefully when she realizes she would have died unless we mated her, she’ll be more accepting.” Mit sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.

“Do you think we should wait for her or just head out to the kitchen?”

“We need to wait and explain to her first,” Mit said. “I could feel her through the bond sometimes and from the frowns on her face she could feel them, too. She’s not stupid. She’s going to figure things out soon. It would be better if she heard about what’s happened from us.”

“You’re right of course.” Wen groaned. “I just hope she doesn’t try and lob our heads from our shoulders once we’re done explaining.”

“You and me both, my friend.”

* * * *

Wen had a hard time keeping his expression stoic when Krysta came back into the room, a cloud of perfumed steamy air wafting behind her. She was so fucking sexy with her red hair hanging around her shoulders in wet disarray. Her legs were lithe and not surprisingly toned. She rubbed the towel through her hair and every time she moved her arm he could see her breasts moving under the T-shirt Mit had given her to wear. The shorts she had put on were too big for her frame and he could see that she’d rolled the waist to make them fit and still the legs were halfway down her thighs.

Her complexion was so peaches and cream his mouth watered for a taste of that delectably sweet-smelling skin, and her lips were formed into a perfect bow with the lower lip fuller than the top, though her top lip was also plump and enticing. It was her buxom breasts that his eyes kept going back to and he had to make a conscious effort to keep his gaze on her face.

When she dropped the towel and started running a comb through her shoulder-length hair, Wen had to turn away from her in case she got an eyeful. His cock was so hard there was no way in hell he would be able to hide the hard, rigid length that was pushing against the denim of his jeans.

He took a few moments to go over the last couple of fights against the shadow demons in his head and when his cock had deflated enough to be less obvious he turned back around. He nearly sighed with relief to see that Krysta had finished combing her hair and was sitting on the end of the bed staring at Mitry.

“You’re not telling me something. In fact you’ve left a shitload of questions unanswered.” Krysta frowned as she met Wen’s gaze before scowling at Mitry. “Start talking. Begin by explaining to me how I haven’t got any injuries.”

Mit drew another deep breath and began to talk. “Ra decided it was high time that we were rewarded for our loyalty. The others met their mates and are now all happy in loving relationships.”

“Wait! What! I’ve only seen three women with you all.” Krysta rubbed her hands on her thighs.

The action was mesmerizing and drew Wen’s attention to her sexy legs. He cleared his throat and lifted his eyes from those shapely pegs and met her gaze again. “Those women are mated to two of our friends each.”

Krysta’s mouth dropped open in shock before she snapped it closed with an audible click. “Okay, so what has that got to do with me?”

“The doctor couldn’t help you. You had already lost too much blood.” Mit turned to look at Wen, urging him to continue.

“So how the hell…”

Wen held his hand up to waylay whatever Krysta was about to ask. “We knew the moment we saw you fighting the demonic you were our mate. We couldn’t just stand by and watch you die before we had the chance to get to know you.”

Krysta’s mouth opened and closed several times before keeping it closed, her lips pulled into a tight line.

“Ra must have been watching because he turned up and told us the only way to save you was to claim you,” Mitry said the words so quickly they almost ran together.

“What?” Krysta gasped out the word, her face paling as she stared at them in astonishment.

“We claimed you by biting you at the crook of your neck and shoulder. As soon as we had done that the transformation began. Ra wasn’t sure you’d make it through that because of your injuries, so he healed you.” Wen finished explaining and waited for the explosion.

* * * *

Krysta was too shocked to react to their revelations. She had no idea what they meant by transformation and wasn’t sure she really wanted to know. Her heart was racing in her chest and she was panting. The walls of the room felt as if they were closing in on her and before she knew she was going to, she shoved to her feet and raced out the door, down the short hallway, and through the exit. Sweat beaded her forehead and upper lip when she realized she wasn’t outside but in another corridor that was so long she couldn’t see the other end.

She turned left at a fast clip, surprised by how quickly she was able to move but her emotions were all over the place and she couldn’t stop to appreciate how good and strong she was feeling or how fast she was walking. She broke into a jog and when she glanced to the side the wall seemed to blur as she ran. When she saw the turn to the right, she took that and came to an abrupt halt in the entrance of the large empty room.

It was becoming a habit for her mouth to drop open and she didn’t stop herself from doing so again when she saw the beautiful room she’d just entered. There were colorful ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs on the walls but it was the center of the room that drew her attention.

The ceiling was made of glass in the shape of a pyramid and she could see water covering the peak in a thin layer and the three sides. As she stared in wonder at the scene before her, the turmoil inside began to dissipate and was replaced with a tranquil calm she’d never felt before.

The sun was high in the sky, and although she didn't think it should be possible, she could feel the warmth of the sun’s rays permeating the room. She didn’t remember moving forward but realized she had when she tilted her head back to look straight up when she was beneath the glass pyramid. The warmth penetrated to her bones and her eyes closed as she soaked it in.

When she heard footsteps toward the entrance, she didn’t need to turn and look to know who had entered the room. She could feel them in her heart and soul and even though it was frustratingly unexpected and strange to have such a connection, Krysta knew it had to do with them claiming her.

Normally she would have ripped them a new one for doing something without her permission, but how could she when they had done what they had to save her life? That didn’t mean she was feeling all lovey-dovey toward them. She didn’t even know them. However, no matter how hard she tried to refute it, she was physically attracted to both Mitry and Weni, and had been when she’d watched them as they fought the demons when they had been unaware of her existence, let alone her presence. She just wasn’t sure what to do about it.