Page 14 of Hunted
Jab.Cross.Step.Hook.Turn.Again.Each hit landed with a satisfying thud and a jolt of impact.My body knew this language—movement, force, breath.Pain.
The pillar wasn’t Acacia.Wasn’t the syndicate.Wasn’t the emperor.I would get my chance to pummel them all, one day soon.But right now, the hard target could stand in for all the things Icouldn’tphysically fight.
Like the hunger and despair eating Josh from the inside out.
He’d been my advisor and guide nearly my whole life.The steady one.Responsible.Calm.He’d kept me grounded all through my younger days, back when my natural power and my arrogance had threatened to make me into something my family would have wept to see.
He used to sing under his breath when he cooked.I couldn’t hear him, but I could see the way his chest moved, catch his lips moving when he thought I wasn’t watching.In unguarded moments, he used to tap rhythms on his thigh when he was happy, and wrap himself around me at night like a cat looking for warmth and safety.Those times were less once we were taken from our home with my people.But even in the midst of the cruelty and danger of the vampire court, he'd worn softness like armor, and kindness like a battle flag, wherever he could.Now he couldn’t trust his own body, his own mind.
He was mine to protect.And I couldn’t help him.
I threw a punch hard enough to split the outer wrap on my knuckle.My skin tore.Blood bloomed.
I didn’t stop.It would heal quickly enough once I was done, thanks to my strong naga constitution—one more skill of mine that was absolutely no help to Josh.I was strong, powerful, smart.I was proud of my naga heritage.And yet, nothing I was could help him.For the first time in my life, I regretted being born a shifter.
In that moment, I wished I had been born a sorcerer.A magic user of some kind.Someone with some hope of breaking Acacia’s hold over Josh and ensuring that nothing like this ever happened to him again.
Pain grounded me.The burn in my lungs gave me something to hold on to.I was royalty.A prince.Born and raised to lead my people.I could handle this.Somehow.I could save theonemember of my family who still existed in this broken life of mine.Somehow, I would get Josh through this.
The door creaked open behind me.I didn’t turn.I felt the chilling magic signature before I saw the creeping shadows.
Dusek.
He didn’t announce himself.Just leaned against the far wall, arms crossed, pale eyes catching the low light.I kept hitting the pillar.
When my vision blurred, I stopped.Just enough to fall to my knees, breath ragged, aura fraying.I should feel embarrassed to be seen like this.But I couldn’t find it in me to care.
Dusek floated across the room like a fogbank, and I thought even if I could hear, his movements would be utterly silent.He dropped a towel beside me.I didn’t take it.
He raised one brow as he signed.“Done?”
I sighed.“Not enough.”
“You’ll break something,”his starkly handsome features were stormy, his concern would probably feel threatening to others.
“Something is already broken,”I signed, feeling utterly defeated.
He crouched beside me, not close enough to touch, but not far enough to ignore, his tall, lanky presence looming along with his darkness, just at the edges of my aura.
“You’re bleeding,” he said aloud.I watched his lips move, mesmerized, for some reason.I think my mind had finally reached its breaking point.
I finally registered what he’d said and looked down.Blood dripped from my hand, trailing along the back of my wrist.
“I know,”I signed.It seemed so unimportant.
He reached for the towel and pressed it to my knuckles with a surprisingly gentle touch.I let him.“You’re always like this when he shuts down,” he said, speaking slowly so I could follow him.“Must have been a bad day?”
Dusek never really got involved in the whole Josh situation, other than to argue for Acacia’s death.But I had gotten to know him enough to understand that his distance didn’t mean he didn’t care.He saw more than anyone, always watching from the outskirts.
I didn’t respond to his question.Bad day.What a fucking understatement.I’d almost let Acacia seduce me using Josh’s body, then refused to fight back when I knew she’d kill me and leave Josh to hate himself for the rest of his life.Some leader I was.Some protector.No wonder Ruya didn’t want a true mate bond with me.I couldn’t even protect myonebeta.How was I supposed to care for an omega?Or build a court worthy of her?
My thoughts spiraled into an ever-expanding downward swirl of negativity and despair.
Dusek’s long fingers moved, steady and precise, binding the towel around my hand with an efficiency I didn’t expect.For someone so adverse to physical contact, he was sure skilled at bandaging up self-inflicted damage.
“You love him,”he signed when he was done, studying my face with quiet intensity.
I nodded.
