Chapter 45: Chapter 45

CASVAN

I had just taken the last corner to the infirmary when I saw that crazy old hag, Dr. Elizabeth, hurrying to get into the elevator, probably trying to escape.

Not a chance—the bitch was going to pay for everything she did, not only to Jakos but to Reyna. Especially to Reyna.

Her eyes widened with terror as she tapped the elevator buttons frantically and the doors started to close.

I ran toward the bitch fast and fortunately got there in time to slide my hands between the steel doors.

My grin as I forced open the door with brute strength was feral.

“Well, hello, doctor,” I growled.

“Why couldn’t you just die, you abominable bastard…”

“I’m a beast. I’m what you fear, and now I’m going to show you just how right you were to fear me,” I said. My claws burst out of the tips of my fingers.

“If, if…you kill me, Reyna’s going to die,” she muttered, trembling.

For a couple of heartbeats, I hesitated, then I realized what she was doing.

I tilted my head and grinned when I felt Reyna’s emotions through our bond—she was close.

“I won’t let her. She’s mine,” I growled. Then I attacked, slashing my claws through skin, veins, and bones.

I didn’t wait to watch as her severed head slid from her neck.

I turned and ran straight in the direction where the pull was stronger.

My steps faltered, my eyes saw red, my heartbeat was deafening.

My growl was feral and primal, fury surging inside me when I saw the scene playing out before my eyes.

An old human fleabag was on the bed, hovering over my female.

About to rape my mate. Mine!

The puny bastard jumped down, trying to flee, pants in hand.

I snarled and grabbed the bastard.

Picked him up like a rag doll and slammed him to the wall so hard there was a loud cracking sound.

Brain matter and blood splattered on the wall and in my face.

I let the body slump down against the wall, dead.

But it wasn’t enough—my anger still wasn’t sated.

I raked my claws from his face down his chest, leaving deep claw marks that instantly started to bleed.

I dropped the fucker and rushed to Reyna where she lay unmoving.

“Kitten, fuck! I’m so sorry I’m late, but I’m here now. You’re safe,” I growled.

I quickly pulled her gown back into place, forcing down an avalanche of rage at how I’d found her.

“The bastard is dead. He will never come near you ever again,” I vowed as I yanked the wires and tubes attached to her body, then picked her up and carried her out of the room.

Reyna’s eyes widened when she saw Dr. Elizabeth’s body in the elevator.

Her severed head was close to her body, her eyes staring into nothingness.

“Don’t look at her. I made sure the bitch would never come near you ever again.”

My mate just laid her head in the crook of my neck and shoulder.

I hugged her tight in my hands; her body felt so hot, like a furnace.

I took the elevator to the ground floor, then raced down the hallway and out into the open, right into the battlefield.

Smoke, fire, and bodies were everywhere—vampires and werewolves fighting each other over the women.

Fortunately, there were just a few women’s bodies.

Reyna was barely conscious, her eyes fluttering as she tried to fight to stay awake.

I knew if she were okay and she saw her queendom turned into this battlefield, with different dangerous creatures fighting each other—

Pillaging and plundering, subduing women and carting them away on their shoulders—she would join them. She would fight to defend her people and queendom.

Just like the women fighting back, the Roses were merciless against the beasts, killing indiscriminately.

The witches hurled spells and curses against the creatures.

Where the males only wanted to subdue and capture, the women were fighting to kill.

They wanted them all dead. They stabbed and sliced, kicked and punched, but even so, they weren’t as strong or as big as the creatures.

Just as I sighted Kayak making his way toward me while fighting the other vampires, Reyna tried to wiggle out of my hands.

She was starting to come around, but her body was growing weaker and weaker by the second.

Her temperature was running higher than before. She was burning up and yet shivering at the same time. Her head lolled when she tried to say something.

Her hand hit me in the chest. I could feel her slipping away into unconsciousness; she was so weak.

I wished I hadn’t killed the doctor that fast. She didn’t deserve an easy death.

I wished I’d dragged out her death and made her suffer.

But at the time, my entire thought was on getting to Reyna before it was too late.

“Stop the beast, he’s trying to run away with the princess!” a brunette in a red dress yelled.

Four women in similar attire rushed toward me with murder in their eyes.

“Go, brother, leave. I’ll stop them,” Kayak said through the bond as he started sparring with two of the women holding swords.

“Just don’t kill them, otherwise I can never explain it to my Dar’sen,” I said out loud.

“Got it,” he said. He flashed his fangs at the women.

“Come on, beautiful, why don’t you surrender before you hurt yourself?” Kayak drawled.

Despite the dire situation, I almost chuckled when the small blonde-haired woman replied, “I’m going to enjoy peeling the hide from you, bastard.”

“Bring it on, shalek.”

My amusement at the blatant flirting on my brother’s side gave way to irritation when a bullet whizzed past my ear, barely missing me.

I snarled when a second bullet hit my thigh. Fuck, damn it, these women weren’t going to make it easy.

I raced down the burning castle with Reyna clutched in my arms amid the raging battle.

My sentinels were suddenly there, making a tight circle around us. The two witches, Abella and Drake—Beatrice’s grandchildren—were countering the spells of the witches trying to stop me.

I threw Reyna over my shoulder, my claws out, ready for any unfortunate soul that tried to attack me or my mate.

“Nana, m-mother!”

My Kitten’s voice cut through my thoughts, too weak and low.

Before I could do anything, she finally passed out.

Maybe it was for the best.

After everything she went through, Reyna needed as much rest as possible.

In the state she was in right now, and with everything happening around us, it was not good for her mental health.

I would prefer to be far away from here by the time she woke up.

***

“Damn it, Alaric! Answer me, why isn’t she awake yet?” I growled impatiently at my longtime friend, running a wet cloth over my Kitten’s face, neck, and shoulder.

Reyna had been in this in-between state, neither awake nor asleep, for two days. Her body was hotter than the sun itself.

She had been burning up with a fever, and no amount of cooling her down with cold water had worked. We’d tried everything to bring her temperature down, but all had failed to help her.

I felt absolutely wretched. I could feel her pain like it was my own; several times, I’d seen her almost change, only to stop mid-shift.

While it was a bit strange at first, I wasn’t surprised by this new revelation. Although I couldn’t explain it, I’d always sensed something special in her, a wild otherness that called to my own. So it made sense that she was a hybrid.

“I don’t know why she’s not awake yet, Casvan,” Alaric said. “As you can see, there are no visible scars or bruises on her body. She’s completely healed. And the laceration in her chest is completely gone. Though the meds helped with the pain, it wasn’t by much.”

“Then what am I supposed to do? She’s not fucking waking up.” I sounded so pathetic. I’d never felt this helpless.

Alaric sighed.

“Relax, my friend, I’ve never seen you like this. You need to be strong.”

I nodded.

“I also suggest you keep doing what you are doing. It’s helping her. It’s like when you are sick and you need a good deal of rest to heal.

Though her body has healed, her mental health needs to heal too. You did say she was tortured and drugged. When the result of the tests we conducted is out, we will know how to proceed from there.

I’ve already taken the sample of the drugs they injected her with to the lab. From all indications, it’s some kind of poison, but we won’t be sure until we finish the investigation,” Alaric explained.

“Call me when she wakes.”

I only nodded, my entire focus on Reyna. I didn’t care to know if Alaric had left or was still in the room.

I kept vigil over her, changing the water when it became warm to cool water and rubbing her down.

It was sometime around dawn that Reyna’s temperature finally normalized. I could feel it inside—the connection between us strengthening.

That was the only reason I gave in to my body’s demands and lay beside her on the bed.

I’d been locked up for weeks, drained of blood, tortured, and experimented on. I needed rest, but with Reyna’s condition, I couldn’t allow minor issues like that to deter me from taking care of my mate.

However, now that she was okay, I could take a small nap. Soon I would have to face the consequences of my actions.

I knew my mate was going to be pissed with me. She might even feel like I’d betrayed her by attacking Marlenia.

A little part of me held hope that she would understand why I did what I did. Even though, logically, she had every right to be angry.

It was selfish of me to expect otherwise. Being close here like this, back in Dakhur with my mate on his bed, I felt satisfaction unlike any other.

I felt like everything had settled in its rightful place. My eyes were fixed on her when I finally drifted off.

Something was poking me. Shaking me. My quick reflexes kicked in; in a flash, I held the hand poking me.

Instantly, electricity crackled between us, making goosebumps spread over my body and sending my heartbeat into overdrive.