Page 22 of Taste of Danger

They collapsed on Jax’s chest. Elvine was exhausted. Her body was so boneless she couldn’t even lift her arm. She closed her eyes, gasping for breath, ignoring the foreboding feeling gripping her stomach.

Chapter Seven

After sliding his pants back on, Arion crept quietly from Jax’s bedroom, looking back to make sure the two were still asleep.

As badly as he wanted to stay, he couldn’t allow Akai to find him here. The sadistic vampire would target everyone in the house for harboring his father’s pet. God how Arion hated that term. Hated that his uncle had willingly given Arion as a gift to Ozel just to save his own hide from being torn apart.

One desperate action had sentenced Arion to a decade of torture and abuse.

But what really baffled him was the fact that, while Akai hated Arion with every fiber of his being, he tracked and killed anyone Arion tried to befriend.

The guy made no sense to him.

He stopped dead in his tracks as he watched Casimir step into the upstairs hallway from his bedroom. The fae looked even bigger than he remembered. To be fair to his memory, Arion had been smashed into a wall while being choked by this behemoth the last time they’d encountered one another.

Still, he didn’t remember the guy being this damn huge. He was even taller than Jax. If Arion had to guess, Casimir had to be close to seven feet of pure muscle.

Casimir gave a small growl before turning to fully face him. But the growl died in his throat as he slid his gaze over Arion’s naked torso.

If only he’d grabbed one of Jax’s shirts. He’d started to, but he hadn’t wanted to take anything back to his coven with his mate’s scent on it.

With a single sniff, Akai would track down the wolf shifter and wreak havoc. Though Arion would have loved to have something of Jax’s and Elvine’s to take home, he couldn’t risk it.

He really wanted something he could hold to his nose and breathe in on the nights he had to crawl back to his bedroom after one of Akai’s torture sessions.

He and Casimir just stared at one another. Arion wanted to apologize for setting up the warrior, to tell the fae that Akai had left him no choice, but he wasn’t sure if speaking a single word would cause Casimir to attack him.

Not that the guy could hurt him. Arion had learned a long time ago how to absorb pain, how to sink into his own mind to escape the torture.

“You told me earlier tonight that things aren’t always what they seem,” Casimir said calmly, but Arion saw the rage burning in the man’s blue eyes. “Since you are now my brother-in-law through your mating to Jax, I’m willing to listen to your reason for trying to have me slaughtered. Explain to me what I’ve done to you to deserve death, especially since I don’t even know who you are.”

Yeah, right. There was so much animosity bleeding from Casimir’s pours Arion was practically drowning in it.

Too many times he had foolishly believed a kind gesture and calm words, only to suffer heinously for his stupidity.

Deep down, he didn’t even trust Jax and Elvine one hundred percent. All three of them were mates, but Arion had learned the hard way that those you’ve placed your trust in will turn on you when it comes down to their life or yours.

There was no such thing as loyalty and trust, at least not in Arion’s world. But god, how he wanted those things, wanted to stop being punished for something he had no control over, wanted just a single friend in his corner.

He’d never known his parents, never known a tender touch until tonight. But Arion was terrified to let his guard down, to make himself vulnerable to anyone.

Even his mates.

Casimir cocked his head to the side then took a step toward him. Arion immediately backed into the wall, raising his arms in case he had to protect himself. He might be able to sink into his mind, but the initial pain was always the worst.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” Casimir held up his hands, a stricken look in his eyes. “How long has this been going on?” His gaze swept over Arion’s badly scarred chest and arms. “Who is hurting you, young one?”

“I’m an adult.” Arion tried to sound brave, but his voice quivered.

“I’m four thousand years old, so everyone is a young one in comparison.” But Casimir didn’t crack a smile. It was just a flat-out statement.

The sound of a bedroom door opening reached Arion’s ears, but he couldn’t bring himself to rip his gaze off the behemoth not ten feet away.

Arion shouted when he was unexpectedly pulled off his feet and lifted into the air. Elvine had her arms around his waist, now hovering at the ceiling, the sound of her wings flapping filling the hallway.

Nausea rolled through him. He really, really didn’t like heights.

“You stay away from my honey bunny!” Elvine snarled as Jax moved to stand near them, his canines extended.

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