Chapter Three

 

 

 

“You’ve been pacing for thirty minutes now,” Manning said. “You’re starting to make me nervous. Get a beer, or better yet, get a bottle of whiskey.”

Tailor suppressed a snide remark and continued to pace the length of the hallway on the second floor of his cabin. Manning was more than his Jaes’din. They were best friends and had seen each other through bad times and worse. The man deserved better than the short end of his temper, though at this point, Tailor was finding it next to impossible to rein in.

“I don’t need whiskey. I need to know whether my mate is alive or not.”

“He’s alive. If anything’s changed, the doc would’ve let us know by now.”

Tailor glanced down at Manning where he sat in the hall with his back to the wall. They were similar yet different in so many ways. Both shared the characteristic tan skin and toned physiques of the warriors of their kind. Manning, however, had trimmed black hair and black eyes to Tailor’s blond waves and blue eyes.

They also differed in their personalities. As leader of the Ba’Kal, Manning had earned the respect of his people through the stable and responsible traits of his nature, whereas Tailor had almost always been carefree, even reckless at times. He didn’t care what anyone thought of him and didn’t give a damn about authority. All that had ever mattered to him was his loyalty to those he cared about.

And right now, one of those few was lying in a bed, unconscious and beyond his ability to care for.

Tailor raked his hands through his hair. “Four days, Manning. My mate has been in a coma for four days. What if this is an aftereffect of being trapped in that realm with Roh Se Kahn? What if he never wakes up?”

“Then we’ll find out just how charming you are and see if true love’s kiss will break the spell.”

Tailor sneered at Manning on his next pass, not at all impressed by his sense of humor.

Manning shrugged with a half-grin. “Worth a shot.”

Tailor stopped when he saw Laya enter the hallway from the staircase at the far end. She looked good in snug clothes with her hair pulled back in a braid, though the bags under her eyes told him she hadn’t gotten any more rest than he had since Dhani had passed out at the Alpha’s mansion.

To her credit, her story that she was only there out of concern for her son had held true over the past several days. Which was fortunate for her, considering Tailor would’ve kicked her out of his house at the first sign of betrayal. The only times she’d left had been to get food and supplies in the community Tailor resided in with Manning. She hadn’t even wanted to pick up her car from the location where they’d met for fear of being absent when Dhani woke up.

She nodded in greeting to Manning, then looked to Tailor. “How is he?”

“Not sure,” Tailor replied grimly. “Doc hasn’t come out yet.”

As if on cue, the door to the bedroom Tailor had given Dhani opened and the community doctor came out. Quinn, Manning’s mate, came out as well and shut the door behind him. Quinn was a good-looking man around Dhani’s age with the same slim build and long hair, although his was as black as a clear, midnight sky.

The doctor closed his medical bag and met Tailor’s gaze with a sigh. “There’s been very little change. His heart rate and blood pressure are still extremely low, but his reflexes are fine. There’s no sign of brain trauma and his temperature is normal.”

Tailor shifted nervously. “When do you think he’ll come out of the coma?”

“I’m not sure this is a coma anymore. His body is…not reacting like that of a coma patient. While his oxygen levels are fine, there’s been no need for a catheter and if what you’re telling me is true, he hasn’t defecated either. His body is also rejecting the IVs I’ve tried giving him for fluid and dietary supplements. He should be suffering from severe dehydration by now, but he seems to be fine. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Then why isn’t he waking up?” Tailor asked through clenched teeth, unable to stifle his irritation at the helplessness of the situation.

Before the doctor could answer, Quinn intervened, “Thanks, Doc. We’ll see you in a few days for another checkup.”

The doctor nodded gravely then headed for the stairs. When he was gone, Quinn looked to Tailor. “I need to speak with you alone.” He glanced with meaning at Laya, who shook her head adamantly.

“He is my son. I deserve to know everything you do.”

Quinn looked back to Tailor and only continued when Tailor nodded. “I’ve been talking with Cher, our historian. She thinks Dhani’s condition may be due to the realm he was in. The spell that was used on Roh Se Kahn didn’t necessarily banish him to a different realm. It merely revoked his ability to take any physical form in this world. Since his essence can’t be destroyed, the only alternative was for it to be forced out of this realm and into another.

“The realm Roh Se Kahn went to would have to have been one that could contain essences with no physical forms. In Dhani’s case, that would mean his body would’ve been held in stasis while his mind and soul were still active.”

“I don’t understand,” Tailor said, shaking his head.

Quinn bit his lower lip. “It means that his body was held in suspension. It didn’t age, didn’t eat, didn’t sleep, but Dhani’s brain still registered all the effects of his hibernation. For example, when you get hungry, your nerves relay the message to your brain which then gives you the impulse to eat and if you don’t, you feel the pain of starvation. Dhani’s brain has been receiving all those messages, but his body hasn’t been able to respond.”

Tailor’s blood ran cold at the significance of what Quinn was telling him. “Do you mean Dhani has been starving and unable to sleep for the past year?”

“Essentially…yeah. I think when you found him at the Alpha’s house, he was running on pure fumes.”

“What does that have to do with his condition now?” Laya asked.

“His body is trying to get used to functioning again. It’s slowly coming out of hibernation and catching up on the sleep it needed. I have a feeling he’ll be able to start eating again once his metabolism speeds up and returns to normal.”

“Dear Mother,” Laya breathed. “Having full awareness and going for that long without food or sleep is enough to drive a person insane.”

Quinn kept his gaze on Tailor. “It is. We won’t know more until he wakes up. Tailor, you should know, he’s not going to be the same man you once knew.”

Tailor swallowed past the dryness in his throat, his mind still trying to grasp the enormity of his mate’s situation. The words, I can’t lose him. I can’t lose him again, circled endlessly through his mind. Although Dhani had misinterpreted those words when he’d said them outside the Alpha’s mansion, he had no doubts as to who he was thinking of. The death of his first mate had devastated him, but that was in the past. Dhani was all that mattered to him now.

Dhani was his mate—his life—and having a mate before him only made Tailor more aware of how precious a gift Dhani was to him.

He nodded absently. “I understand.”

“I don’t think you do,” Quinn said with a tortured note in his tone. He glanced at Laya again, as if unsure he should keep talking in her presence, then back to Tailor. “Dhani was in a realm filled with the essences of beings that were probably almost as vicious as Roh Se Kahn. While his body was in stasis, his own essence would’ve been unprotected from them.”

When Quinn’s voice became tight and his eyes shimmered with moisture, he glanced at his mate. Manning stood and went to Quinn, wrapping his arms around the smaller man. They shared a very private look, then Quinn met Tailor’s gaze again. “You know that I was held prisoner and raped repeatedly for four years.”

Tailor dipped his head in acknowledgement. He recalled Quinn’s history and his importance to their race. Quinn had been the chosen one meant to unite the Vam’kir and Ba’Kal and bring about the race both had originated as, the Bassen’kir. His father, the former Magnique, had sought to use Quinn’s power to annihilate the Ba’Kal by bonding Quinn to a Vam’kir of his choosing. Since the ritual of bonding required sex, Quinn had been the victim of rape for the length of time his father had kept him prisoner.

The memory of Quinn’s story brought chills to Tailor’s flesh. There could only be one reason why Quinn was referring to his imprisonment while discussing Dhani’s past.

Quinn took a deep breath. “Being raped is like feeling a thousand demons rip through your soul, trying to tear you apart. There is no shelter, no escape. Dhani wouldn’t have been able to protect himself from the other essences, let alone Roh Se Kahn. That may have damaged him irreparably.”

Tailor walked to Dhani’s door and put his hand against it, feeling Dhani’s faint energy on the other side. He closed his eyes and bowed his head as guilt, hard and swift, speared him. He knew of Dhani’s past, of the suffering he’d gone through as a child. The knowledge of what Dhani had suffered while with Roh Se Kahn made bile churn in his stomach.

Yet, he couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss he’d shared with his mate outside the Alpha’s mansion. It had been full of passion and desire. And when Cy had pulled his gun on Tailor, Dhani’s first response had been to protect him.

There was still good in his mate. No matter the circumstances of Dhani’s imprisonment, he wasn’t insane.

Tailor was sure of it.

He met Quinn’s gaze, and said in a ragged voice, “He’s my mate. I won’t give up on him…ever.”

His answer seemed to satisfy Quinn who gave him a bittersweet smile. “I know you won’t. I’ll call you if I learn anything else.”

“Let us know if his condition changes,” Manning said quietly, then left with his mate.

In the ensuing silence, Laya stared at the door to Dhani’s room. “This is my fault,” she said softly. “Maybe if I had taken him on the run with me, I could’ve kept him safe.”

“That depends,” Tailor replied in an acerbic tone. “Was your mate a child-beating pedophile like the foster father you abandoned your son to?” He instantly regretted his harsh words, but he couldn’t get the image of Dhani being violated out of his mind, physically or spiritually. The hatred he felt wasn’t even aimed at Laya. He was cursing himself for his own stupidity. It was he who had rejected his mate instead of being there to support him.

If he had only gotten past his own selfish pain, he might have—

A small sob pulled him from his thoughts and he saw streaks of tears staining Laya’s cheeks. She shook her head and let out another wrenching sob. Her shoulders were slumped and forehead creased in disbelief, so at odds with her usual unyielding countenance.

It was then that Tailor accepted the truth she’d been trying to give him all along.

She hadn’t known the hell she’d delivered her son into years ago. She wasn’t a spy or a traitor. She was simply a mother who had tried to give her son the best future she could.

No one could fake the hurt and shame emanating from the woman in rolling tides. Tailor would know. He’d learned from the best.

He cursed inwardly then walked to Laya and enfolded her in a tight embrace, rocking gently to soothe her. In this vulnerable state, she seemed nothing like the hard-as-nails woman he’d grudgingly accepted as part of Dhani’s life. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure if you knew.”

She jerked out of his arms and punched him in the chest. “What do you mean, you weren’t sure? You think I would willingly put my son through that?”

And…there she is, he thought with a small grin. “Come on. I think we could both use a drink right about now.”

He led the way to the kitchen on the first floor and filled two tumblers with whiskey.

Laya downed hers then gestured impatiently for a refill. Tailor chuckled and filled her glass again, then sat down with her at the breakfast table in a corner of the kitchen. Several minutes passed as they nursed their liquor, then Laya gulped back her third glass and served herself a fourth.

“So, my son was abused”—she said matter-of-factly—“by the man I gave him to.”

Tailor peered over, taking note of the way her skin had turned ashen and her eyes had become red and swollen. For a brief second, he thought about telling a white lie to ease the brutality of the truth, but they were too alike. He knew she wouldn’t appreciate a lie any more than he would.

“After Dhani was taken by Roh Se Kahn,” Tailor began, “I investigated further into his past on the off-chance it would lead me to any clues on how to find him. I discovered that his foster father had beaten his foster mother to death five years ago. After that, an investigation had begun and the man had stood trial for the alleged rape and assault of several minors prior to his wife’s death.

“None of the accusations dated back before the year 2006, however, which was the same year Dhani ran away from home at the age of seventeen. His foster father was found guilty and put to death shortly after his trial, so I didn’t have a chance to interrogate him about Dhani, but I didn’t have to.” Tailor took a long draw from his glass then set it down to stare at the golden liquid.

“A monster like that doesn’t just wake up one day and decide to start abusing strangers’ kids. He chooses a child who’s close to him. One he knows is too weak and afraid to defy him. A child he can control within his own home.” Memories crowded into Tailor’s mind of his own childhood. Of the monster he’d lived with until he’d grown strong enough to barely escape with his life.

He shook his head then grabbed the bottle to pour more whiskey. “As much as it pains me to say this, I like you. And I don’t think you should blame yourself for what happened to Dhani. When I first met him, he’d just been rescued from being held prisoner for two and a half years by a band of rogue Vam’kir. Before that, he’d lived on the streets until he met a good friend of mine, Keenan. For years afterwards, they lived together in a shitty apartment in Detroit.

“He had every right to be a jaded, self-centered, stuck-up little brat, but he wasn’t. He was happy.” Tailor laughed and shook his head. “He’s like no one I’ve ever met. Hell, he was even willing to accept me after I pretty much threw him away.”

Laya reached across the table and punched him in the arm. “You threw my baby away?”

“Ow!” He rubbed his arm then leaned back out of her reach. “Okay, so I’m an asshole. You knew that about me already.”

Surprisingly, she merely smiled. “That I did.” She raised her glass in salute and waited for Tailor to tap his glass against hers. “Here’s to the man we love. May he forgive us our many faults.”

As soon as they’d downed their whiskey, Laya pierced him with a penetrating glare. “Especially yours. I know about your reputation with women. If you hurt my son, I’ll cut off your manhood and choke you with it, assuming it’s long enough to get the job done.”

Tailor grinned. Oh yeah, he definitely liked this woman.

They passed away another hour drinking and talking until Laya admitted defeat. When she tried to stumble to her guest bedroom, Tailor picked her up and carried her there, laying her down in the bed and tucking her under the blankets.

He went upstairs to his own bedroom next to Dhani’s, but couldn’t bring himself to go inside. Instead, he found himself entering his mate’s room and taking the seat he’d been sleeping in for the past three nights beside Dhani’s bed.

He leaned forward to take Dhani’s limp hand into both of his then rested his forehead on his mate’s knuckles. Dhani’s clean scent permeated the blanket covering him, filling Tailor’s senses with the lure of dark spices.

Since he’d arrived at his home with Dhani, he had refused for anyone other than Quinn and the community doctor to touch his mate. He’d been the one to bathe Dhani and change the sheets on his bed. Every inch of his mate’s thin body was etched into his mind from the hours he’d taken to ensure Dhani was comfortable.

He had no right to such intimacy, he knew this, but neither could he bring himself to allow anyone else to get so close to his mate. At times, his possessiveness over Dhani scared him. In truth, they hardly knew each other. During the few weeks after they’d met, Tailor had been too consumed over the memories of his first mate that Dhani’s presence had induced. He’d been unable to appreciate the gift that was right there in front of him.

I was a fool, Tailor berated himself. For as much as Dhani was still a stranger to him, he felt as though he’d learned all he needed to about his mate during the handful of times they’d interacted.

Dhani was loyal to a fault. He’d been willing to accept a mate who didn’t deserve him and sacrifice himself for a friend, knowing what it might cost him. If Tailor had been in his shoes, he didn’t know if he could’ve been so altruistic.

He leaned back to scrub his face then stilled when his mate jerked suddenly. Dhani’s brow furrowed and his head began to shake from side to side. His eyes remained closed as his back arched and mouth opened to let loose a scream that echoed throughout the room.

When Dhani started to thrash his arms as though warding off an invisible threat, Tailor grabbed hold of his wrists and pressed them into the mattress next to Dhani’s head. “You’re okay,” Tailor said softly. “Everything’s fine. I’m with you.”

But whatever nightmare held Dhani in its grip only worsened. Dhani cried out again as tears fell down his temples. He fought wildly against Tailor’s hold, bucking his frail body until Tailor had no choice except to straddle him.

Tailor pressed down with the full weight of his body and willed the panic from his energy, knowing it would only provoke Dhani’s fear. He brought his mouth to Dhani’s ear and said, “Enough. I won’t let him have you anymore. You’re mine, you understand that? You belong to me.”

Dhani bucked again, though his strength seemed to be fading.

Tailor continued to whisper in his mate’s ear, commanding him to calm down. For several minutes, he spoke quiet nonsense, saying anything and everything he could think of to draw Dhani out of his nightmare.

After what seemed an eternity, Dhani’s resistance eventually faded and his body sank slowly back onto the bed.

Tailor buried his face into the pillow under Dhani’s head and loosened his grip on his mate’s wrists, taking deep breaths to calm his nerves. Exhaustion crept in, reminding him that he hadn’t slept in days, and the haze of the whiskey he’d consumed blurred his thoughts.

He slumped to Dhani’s side and wrapped a protective arm around him, telling himself he would only steal five minutes of his mate’s comfort.

Just five minutes to take away his own nightmares.