Chapter sixteen
‘Black Sky’ War Hall
ROMAN CUT
Sara whispers an incantation over me and Jaz before we enter the dungeon, a spell to protect us against the silver room. It doesn’t completely block out the burn, but it’s tolerable, like standing in a hot shower rather than a skinny dip in boiling oil. As Sara finishes up, I nod for her to go ahead before turning Jaz to face me.
“This,” I gesture between us, “is new as fuck, I know. We may not have love, but we’re as real as the moon’s glow. Whatever it is you face tonight, remember that you don’t face it alone. I don’t know what happens after today, but whatever it is you won’t go through it without me, and I’ll kill anyone who stands in our way.”
I honestly don’t know where that came from, but it's true, nonetheless. I watch Jaz’s throat bob up and down with her swallow and I can’t keep the thoughts of fucking her mouth hard from bombarding me. This moment, something weaved with unquestionable sincerity has become a porno flick in my mind. What can I say? I may have spoken a poet’s words, but I have the mind of a devil. Jaz takes a deep breath before letting it out, completely oblivious to my filthy thoughts. Well, maybe not, if her hard nipples and blush are any indication.
“More than anything, I’m nervous. Being fearful keeps us alert but in all honesty, I’m not afraid of what I’ll find. Angry is more of what I’m feeling.”
She looks down, her fingers folding and unfolding the hem of her shirt as she thinks through her words.
“Angry at what?” I know whatI’mangry about; this woman attacked my people, she caused fear in my pack and wrought havoc on my lands.
“I can feel,” she places a hand on the center of her chest, “everything you’re feeling, Roman. I’m angry at all that too. But and this may sound selfish, I’m angry that I’ve lived my life thinking I was all alone. Thinking I was abandoned.”
Her voice, which is always strong and confident, breaks in pain. Her youthful sorrows reach from the past to grip her soul once more. And I feel it too. The saying, life is too short to hold on to pain is a fucking joke, especially for supernaturals like us. Our lifespans are tenfold compared to mere humans. Oh, how I fucking envy them death. When you can lay your bones down and sigh as the ground covers you in its welcoming embrace after a life of pain. It’s not so for us supernaturals.
I pull her into my arms, tipping her head back before pressing my lips to hers. What can words say that a kiss can’t? What can words heal that an embrace won’t? Sometimes, words are too much and not enough all at once. The closeness of a friend, or in this case, a mate is all the balm a soul can need. I don’t know her sufferings, hell, I barely know her. But I do know my own and I’ve been bearing the weight of it alone all these centuries. I won’t let it be so for Jaz. We may not know each other, but our souls do.
“Fuck the past, Jaz. It’s not who you are today,” I pull back and hold out my hand for her to take, “It’s the future that needs to prepare for us. We don’t need the validation of the past when we have the future in our control.”
Jaz grins and laces her fingers with mine. She stares at me for a moment. The concentration in her eyes has me smirking, “What?”
“Nothing,” she chuckles, “I was just trying to see if I could read your thoughts. We are mates after all, so why can’t I?”
I pull her down the hall toward the silver cell, the smell of rotted food and the bittersweet taste of silver overpower my senses as I answer her, “I’ve bitten you, little wolf. You bear my mark, but the bond is only completed when you leave your own mark on me.”
I can feel my cock grow at the simple thought of Jaz’s fangs on me. Her claws scraping and cutting my flesh as she rides me. Fucking hell, now I’m going into meet Jaz’s possible sister with a raging hard-on.
“If you don’t tell your boy to calm down…” Jaz grumbles as we turn into the cell. Her jealousy is fucking adorable, but something tells me the unspoken threat is an absolute promise. One not to be taken lightly.
She needn't worry though, as soon as my eyes land on the black-haired woman standing completely still in the middle of the cell, my dick is anything but hard. Her face is lowered, as if she were staring at her feet but her eyes are locked on Jaz. The pure hatred on her face, a face that if not for the dried blood and tattoos would look exactly like Jaz’s, sends my protective instincts into a level I’ve never felt before. My hand, which is still laced with Jaz’s, pulls my mate behind me as my Alpha wolf surges and surrounds me in its powerful luminescence.
The woman doesn’t even acknowledge me; her hateful eyes hold steady on Jaz as if she can see her through my body.
“Who are you?” I demand with my Alpha voice and power.
The unnatural groaning that emanates from the woman’s chest rattles around the room, but she gives no answer.
“Tell me who you—"
She interrupts me, her voice is multiplied as my own, the dual ranges have my hair standing on end, “Neque ego huc vel illuc, et ego impleo.”
“She’s using Latin. What she said roughly translates to ‘I am neither here nor there, I am everywhere,’”Sara says with a shake to her voice, “it’s Demons.”
The woman jerks her eyes to Sara, who stands her ground despite the fear I can smell rolling off her, and hisses until it turns into a cackle, “You know me not!”
“Scio te,”I know you,“puellae dimittere, tenebris sanguine!”Release the girl, dark blood!
The girl twitches sharply, her body jerking into unnatural angles until she begins to scream. Her voice changes from the dual to just one as her agonized screams begin to take on a rhythm. It’s as if the screams are words. I step back, forcing Jaz to back up to the door.
“Wait!” Jaz steps around me but I hold on to her, keeping her from getting any closer to the possessed woman, “She’s chanting just like she was earlier.”
“Repeat it with her, it will take more than one to cast the Demons out and only you know the words she’s speaking!” Sara says as she grip’s Jaz’s other hand, “I will be your anchor.”