The Holly and the Ivy - 12. Blood and Tears

The Holly and the Ivy

Chapter Twelve

The arms around me feel like steel bands. Rough clothes rub against my naked skin. I have to get out of his hold. If I could get him to let loose only for a moment. With the gloved hand covering my mouth and nose it’s difficult to breathe. All I can smell is leather. He’s mocking me. My feeble attempts to free myself seem to amuse him. Fucker!

I stop fighting. Suddenly I have room to lean forward slightly, and then I slam my head back as hard as I can. Fuck that hurts! The man grunts and his grip slackens, letting me fall to the ground Yes! Scrambling to my feet, I run in the direction of some stairs I can see at the end of the hallway, but at the last moment he grabs me by the neck and pulls me back. Shit! Heat seeps through me when his arms are once again wrapped tightly around me, his hand over my face. I can’t move. I can’t even see my attacker.

“We don’t have time for this! I’m sure the lab has a fire alarm. We have to get out of the hallway quickly,” Andra McGill whispers urgently. She is right! I can hear people running down the stairs, shouting and slamming doors. “Follow me!” She opens the nearest steel door with a key. My captor just lifts me up as if I weighed nothing.

I don’t understand. Why are we hiding?

Andra closes the door behind us with a solid thud. The room behind is dark except for a faint shaft of moonlight from a small basement window. The walls are lined floor to ceiling with shelves. There are also shelf units in the middle of the room and that is where he’s dragging me. Probably so we can’t be seen from the door, if someone looks into the room. What the fuck?

Finally my captor takes his hand from over my mouth, whips me around, and pulls me against his chest. My face ends up pressed into the crook of his neck. I inhale his scent. Diarmad!

“Noël love…” His voice breaks.

“Diarmad?”

“Shhh, I’m here. I’m so sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner, I—what he did to you—”

The gunshot! There was a gunshot. “I heard a gun…”

“Yes it was Landyn’s, he got the one who hit you from behind, but—”

“I don’t mean interrupting Sire, but I suggest you finish the mating now. I’m not sure how long—.” Just then people start shouting right outside of the room.

“I’m going to see if I can get more information and some clothes for your mate. In the meantime...” She turns and heads for the door.

Diarmad stops her. “You can’t go outside. They will wonder what you are doing here at this time of night.”

“That’s okay. I’m here all the time.” She grabs one of the boxes from the shelf beside her and is gone before he can object any further.

Then we hear her voice. “Father, what’s this commotion? What happened?”

“… escaped…every room…better lock the door...”

I tense up. “Was that Keelan McGill?”

“Yes, Andra is his daughter.”

“B-but I thought Moira—”

“Moira is her sister.” He steps back but doesn’t let go of me. “We will talk about this later. Andra was right; we need to complete our mating.”

“You already bit me.”

“Yes. We had miscalculated the danger. I needed your blood. I had to be at my best for you. Fully mated, at least for my part, no one is stronger than me.”

“But can we do this here? Without the council?”

“This is an emergency. I will not wait and risk your life any further because of a formality and bruised egos.” He pulls the leather glove off his right hand with his teeth. I can see fangs flashing in the light. Then he shoves the sleeve of his sweater up to his elbow, throws me a wild grin before he slashes into his wrist without hesitation. Blood wells out of the wound. He offers me his arm.

I gulp. This is it. I feel cold. A shiver runs over my body. He waits patiently. The blood is dripping on the floor. It’s almost surreal. I know we need to hurry but at the same time it seems as if we have all the time in the world. As if in slow motion, I take his arm and tentatively start to suck. It doesn’t taste like blood; it’s amazingly good. I suck harder. Hmmm I like it. A sudden warmth spreads from my stomach through my entire body. It’s invigorating - pure energy. I can hear myself moaning.

He's tugging at his arm. “Noël, it’s enough. Noël!”

I pull him closer. I don't want to stop… it tastes so good…

“Noël stop!”

Reluctantly I pull back and open my eyes. I can see in the dark! It is as if someone had opened the shutters. Everything in the room is as clear as in bright day light, only the colors are different. “I can see you.”

He smiles. “You’re changing fast. But I expected this. With Tristan being my Bonded and after you took my semen this morning…. You will experience some other changes soon. Your hearing will improve, as will your reaction time and then finally a few more of your powers will kick in.”

He cups my cheek. “I’m going to give you my mark now. Is this all right with you?”

I nod; my heart is beating so fast. I can hardly breathe.

He places his hand over my left hipbone and it feels like a hot iron against my flesh. I want to scream but somehow I can’t; all I do is gasp. Then everything is over and he pulls his hand back. I look down. Ivy vine intricately wrapped around a holly sprig. The red berries look like blood drops, ready to roll down my skin.

“Am I the holly?”

“You’re all of this, but yes, the holly represents the part that was you, Noël.” Then he nods at me. “Your turn.”

“What must I do?”

“Just press you hand on the spot where you want me to wear your mark and picture it.”

Before I can lose my courage, I shove his sweater and undershirt up to his shoulders, and press my hand on the taught muscle of his chest, right above his heart. I close my eyes, think of him, how he was when we made love, and searing flames race through my palm. When I finally lift it, the silhouette of a black panther caught in the middle of a jump appears under my hand. I smile. “There, a dainty violet flower.”

“That’s how you see me?”

“Yes. A predator to your enemies, a big, black, cuddly kitty to me…” I grin.

He growls. “Cuddly kitty, huh?” He then grabs me by my hips and pulls me tight against his body. His sweater is still pushed up and my cool skin touches his warm naked chest. I moan and he takes my lips over in a punishing kiss. All I can feel in this very moment is the warmth of his body seeping into mine, his probing tongue in my mouth, the scraping of his sharp fangs over my lip, and I can taste blood. Blood.

My eyeteeth hurt and I probe them with my tongue. They have always been a bit sharper than normal. Now they drop out of my gums, elongate…Shit! Fangs. The blood must have triggered this… How embarrassing.

I turn my head away but he takes my chin in his hand and turns me back. “It’s okay, love. No reason to be embarrassed, you’ll get used to this.” And he wraps me in his arms, my head resting against his chest.

This is weird. Outside of this room, enemies are looking for us, ready to kill us, but inside here, at this moment, I feel safe.

A key turns in the lock and I press myself against the shelf behind me, trying to blend into the background, which is ridiculous now that I know how Seraei can see in the dark.

“It’s me. I have the clothes.”

Andra! Whew! She walks around the shelf and thrusts a bundle into my arms. I sort through them and identify black leather pants and a button down shirt. Silk…

“I’m sorry, that’s all I could get my hands on,” she says apologetically. “They belong to one of my sister’s lovers. This one was about the same size as you. No shoes though.”

I give Diarmad the dark red shirt and step into the pants, the leather is thick but supple. They fit like a glove. Before I can close the zipper, I hear Diarmad’s voice directly at my ear, “Careful…”

“Yeah, yeah.” I take the shirt out of his hands and shrug it on—Hmm nice.—then button-up and shove the tail into the pants to protect myself from getting caught where it hurts, close the button and zip up. I wriggle my ass so everything goes where it belongs. “I’m good to go.”

“Smart. Practiced move, huh? Not the first time you’ve skipped the underwear?”

I grin. “What can I say?”

A heavy thud outside makes me jump. Somebody slams a door shut. “What do we do now?”

“I’ll go back to check on the situation,” Andra whispers. “Maybe I can lure them away. If not, we have to come up with a back-up plan, my King.”

“We just have to go out and hope the majority of your clan is unwilling to kill their King and his mate,” Diarmad says in his typical matter-of-fact way.

Andra scoffs. “Let’s not have it come to that. I’ll call you when I see a possibility for you to sneak out of the house.” She nods and disappears once again between the shelf units, heading for the door.

I stare after her. “Why is she doing this?”

Diarmad sighs. “She never agreed with her father and sister’s coup d’état attempts, though she never publicly opposed them. Then one day she overheard part of their plans to murder you and came to us." He pulls me closer and pushes his forehead against mine.

“They could not kill me directly and wanted to bring me down through you. I would have died eventually, because there would not have been enough time to wait for another mate. Their last chance to get to you was at church and Landyn suggested trying to catch them then. We would finally have enough proof to banish them. I should have never agreed to this."

He takes my face in both his hands. "They sent me all these awful pictures… but that gave us time to find you. We were able to persuade Andra to look for you as well. When we were finally able to locate you, we contacted her. She promised to find out where they were holding you and to help. Still, we couldn’t just storm the house; the risk that they would kill you on the spot to hide the evidence was too great. We had to find another way. Landyn and Ronan wanted to come for you, but I could not let them do this. You’re mine, I—”

His phone vibrates. "Yes."

I can hear Andra’s voice on the other end. “There is no chance to get out undetected, Sire. They’re looking for your mate everywhere in the house. Patrols are outside with the dogs. Everybody is on high alert.”

“We really need a plan.”

No shit. I grab his arm. “You said most of the council members are waiting outside the house?”

“Yes! I know what you are getting at. Brilliant. I will talk to Landyn.” - and to Andra - “Andra, do not reveal you are on our side yet. The council members will contact your father shortly. After that, we will come upstairs. I am the King and Noël is my mate. Killing us would be treason. With the presence of the council, immediate banishment would follow for the entire McGill clan. I hope enough of your people realize this. Maybe even your father will see reason and give up.”

After explaining our situation to Landyn, I can hear him yelling. “There is no need for being this loud Landyn. I knew the risk of coming here to get Noël myself. I am confident when Andra reveals she supports us, her people will not harm us. They love her. Just call me when everything is set.”

“And now?”

“We will wait and make good use of the time we have.” He pulls me against him, wraps his arm around me, and lets his hand slip under my shirt while he takes my face in his other hand and licks over my lips. I can’t believe he’s doing this now. When I don’t react as he wants me to, he nips at my lower lip and growls. I lean back obediently to let Diarmad’s mouth take control.

I can feel something vibrating against my hipbone. Coming out of a daze I murmur, “Your phone…”

He fumbles in his pocket, then finally gets it open. “Yes.”

It’s Landyn but I can't concentrate on their conversation. Leaning with my head against Diarmad's chest, I try to get my bearings back.

After finishing his call, he takes my hand. “We have to go. Ready?”

I breathe in deeply and then nod. “Ready!”

We open the door, it smells of smoke, and burnt flesh. The hallway is empty. My hearts beats faster when we come by the open lab door and my stomach cramps. I’m going to be sick. But Diarmad drags me after him, up the stairs into a short semi dark hallway. Oddly, he seems to know where we are and heads for an open door, which leads to a large, but fortunately deserted kitchen. Walking through the room and another short hallway, we finally reach an impressive foyer with twin staircases sweeping from the main entrance to the upper floors. Wow. They even have a real crystal chandelier hanging down from the ceiling.

People are shouting with angry voices. Nobody seems to have noticed us yet. I step closer to Diarmad. Shit. I hope D knows what he's doing.

Keelan McGill stands in the middle of the great hall, towering over a smaller man in a dark suit, and looks like he is ready to hit him. The small man suddenly looks over to us, almost as if he had felt his King's presence, and a relieved smile appears on his face. “Sire! I’m so glad to see you unharmed!” He hurries toward us. “And this is Noël, your mate I presume?” He bows deeply. “I’m honored to finally meet you.”

Diarmad places his hand on the small of my back protectively. “Noël, this is the leader of our council, Cieran O’Connor.”

Friend or foe? I don’t know what to do and opt for a handshake. “Nice to meet you Mr. O’Connor.” But I don't really see him. I watch McGill.

The council leader takes my hand and shakes it enthusiastically. McGill follows him with his gaze, paling visibly when he sees Diarmad.

Now we shall see if the plan works out.

A movement beside me lets me grab Diarmad's hand, but it is only Landyn and Ronan, who immediately flank us.

Then there is a sudden shifting among the people in the hall. The McGill clan assembles opposite to us around their leader. I detect several people standing between them and us. I suppose these are the members of the council. A rather shitty defense line, if you ask me.

The tension is so high, one word or even gaze could ignite an explosion. I watch Diarmad, who looks like he owns the place, not McGill. Only his silver eyes show his agitation. I try to appear just as calm, but my hands are sweating and my heart is in my mouth.

Then Andra comes down the stairs, crosses the hall and positions herself right beside us. “I’m with King Diarmad, our rightful king and leader. He’s been elected by his people and the council. I won’t risk banishment for attempting treason. This has to end now. I want to live together with them in peace.” Then she bows deeply. “My King.”

As soon as she has finished, Keelan roars, "How dare you stand up against me? He has no mate!"

"I myself witnessed their mating. They exchanged blood and marks and before you ask father, Lord Noël is eighteen since midnight." She turns to me and gives me a short bow. "Happy birthday, my Lord."

"Um... thanks?"

Slowly at first, more and more members of her clan come over and stand beside us. Minutes later, Keelan McGill is surrounded by fewer than twenty of his people.

Where is Moira? In my mind I see her seething, holding a long silver sword in her hand. A katana. Weird.

A woman screams. Everybody looks around and then Moira practically flies down the stairs, with a long silver sword in her hand. Fuck! She screeches, “Betrayer, I’ll kill you! You're dead!”

Landyn throws himself over Diarmad and Ronan pushes me aside to protect me with his body, only Andra is still standing where she was, alone and unprotected.

Betrayer. Moira is going to kill her sister! I push Ronan aside and leap in Andra’s direction. With my arm around her waist, I pull her down on the floor. I can feel the swish from the katana over my head and hear Diarmad cry out. She must have missed me only barely. Lying over Andra, I can only watch how Diarmad wrenches the sword out of Moira’s hands. Suddenly he is covered in flames. I blink and the flames are gone. Shit. Precognition!

I shout, “Kill her! Kill her!”

Taken aback, Diarmad turns to me. When he sees I’m dead serious his head whips back, but it is already too late. Snarling, Moira is holding a small container in her hand, which she’d just emptied all over him.

I cry out, scrambling to get to his side, but he has already lifted the sword and in one swift move beheads Moira before she can finish her fire spell.

The hall is eerily silent. All I see is blood. A man, probably Keelan, is wailing in the background. Then a clattering noise catches my ear. Diarmad has dropped the sword.

Rushing the rest of the way over to me, he lifts me up into his arms. “You’re okay? Noël, are you okay?” I can only nod as I watch Andra getting up from the floor, sprayed all over with her sister’s blood.

Lisa, Val, Zombie. I can't thank you enough.   You can share your thoughts, questions and or complains here.