Alpha Warriors of The Cause - Tamara Rose Blodgett Page 0,28

Gunnar allowed himself to be pierced by the blade, and I fear his secondary heart has been punctured. If it was his main heart”—Slade shrugs—“he would survive much, but this is too grievous a wound for him to battle without blood from a kindred.”

“What the hell is a ‘kindred’? And for the record”—Jacky points at Slade—“aren't these the bad guys?”

Beth nods. “Yes, but this Bloodling is my father.”

“Well… shit,” Jacky says.

“Yes,” Beth answers, holding the hand of the male she'd beaten up a scant hour ago. She’s done so much crying in the last day, she can't remember what it was like to live her entire life with dry eyes.

Her sadness soaks Gunnar, and she wipes the tears angrily from her cheeks.

Maddie slowly moves forward as Slade stands silently and Jeb holds the wound he has at his shoulder.

“You're hurt, too.” Beth pries his hand away. The flesh is punctured with five holes—talons—and the surrounding skin is an angry scarlet.

Beth's attention moves to Gunnar, whose breath is labored. Beth hangs her head. Covering her eyes with her forearm, she sobs into her shirtsleeve.

I can't believe I've found him only to lose him. And by Jeb's hand.

“I think I can help,” a feminine voice says.

“Impossible,” Slade says with quiet wonder. It's the first time since Beth's seen him that his voice has held any emotion.

Beth looks at Maddie and meets wide midnight-blue eyes. Her gaze is slightly vacant, as though she's acting under compulsion.

Gunnar's eyes snap open, like black luster in a face chalky with death.

“My kindred blood,” he whispers.

Maddie nods, seemingly without fear of the huge Bloodling and she scoots between the end of the couch and where Beth crouches.

“What's going on?” Jacky asks, looking around at everyone.

“Don't let him hurt me,” Maddie says dreamily. Then she lies sideways across Gunnar's chest, her neck bare to his lips. His large hand covers the side of her head.

“I shall not hurt you,” Gunnar says with deliberate slowness, and it's obvious to Beth that he's using the last of his energy to speak.

“Ah no, not digging this sacrificial lamb thing.” Jacky moves forward, and Slade grabs him by the back of his neck, lifting him off the floor. His legs swing. “Let me down, ya clown!”

Slade doesn't, and Maddie scoots closer to Gunnar's mouth.

“Madeline…” Jeb moves forward as though to stop her.

Gunnar strikes deep. His jaws move as Maddie's blood flows into his mouth, and his throat begins to convulse as he draws deep.

“Slade—stop him. He'll kill her,” Beth says. She and Jeb didn't bring Maddie to Papilio for her safety, only to subject her to a death by the hands of a One.

“He will not. Watch, tiny frog.”

Beth watches, forgetting to be annoyed by the endearment.

Color floods Gunnar's cheeks, then his hand rises. He yanks the blade from his chest and tosses it aside.

After another minute, he sits up, pulling Maddie more deeply into his embrace, cradling her in his lap.

His ebony eyes look out over the audience in challenge. His look says what his mouth can't—that he'll kill all comers.

“Please, Gunnar, don't kill Madeline. She… she has nothing. Only this wretched life, not one thing more.” Beth beseeches him with her eyes.

Gunnar pulls from her neck, one finger absently stroking her skin. Finally, he takes his lips off her throat and licks every last drop off his mouth.

Maddie's head falls back, and she appears to rest against the crook of his arm. He runs a tongue over the twin puncture wounds, and they begin to close.

“Let me down, freak!” Jacky bellows. “That vamp fucker needs to get his creepy fangs away from Maddie.”

“They are out, Three slime,” Slade counters.

“Slade,” Beth says, giving a cautious look at Maddie, who's not been killed. Then she shifts her gaze to her newfound father, whose wound has stopped bleeding and is already healing. “Let Jacky down.”

“Gladly,” Slade says in disgust.

He releases Jacky, who falls to the floor with the grace of a wet cat.

“Dick,” he says, scooting away.

Slade looks ready to do more, so Beth jumps between them. “Don't. It's a volatile time.”

“Volatile?” Jeb asks from the ground. He indicates Maddie with a hand. “A One just took blood from our charge, and I did nothing to protect her because he is your father. Look how far we've come.”

Slade shakes his head. “She is fine. A finite number of females have kindred blood with one of our kind. That this one would show up here at just the right time is beyond coincidence. It