Chapter Fifty-One

 

Breakfast the next morning consisted of nothing but high proteins. Mona refused to eat fresh kill. Her mind told her it was what she needed, but there was something so off-putting about consuming an animal in wolf or human form. It was a good thing cooked meat was on the menu, or she would starve.

Xander’s crew remained silent as she and Phillip ate. Phillip didn’t seem to mind running with the vampires, either that or he was there to see to it that they did do here any harm.

“You’ve broken the oldest Order, you know.” He threw the hind leg bone of a rabbit at a tree. “You just shared your blood with our oldest enemies.”

She threw her scraps into the fire pit and kicked dirt against it to douse the flames. “They are not our enemies anymore, are they?”

“I guess not.”

She rose to her feet. “Where is your brother? Andre?”

“He needed to secure a mate.” Phillip shrugged. “You wouldn’t accept him.”

“Why didn’t you join the Hunt?”

“My heart belongs to another.” Phillip stood to his feet and grabbed his duffle bag.

“Do tell…”

“It shouldn’t be any concern of yours.” Phillip turned and left her standing under the tree.

The smell of Hunter and his men drifted under her nostril before she even saw them. Her head turned in the direction of the woods as they emerged from the clearing in the forest. The first time she would speak with him since leaving him alone last night. She would find out soon enough.

“Good morning, Mona.” Hunter ignored his brother and the rest of the Nightkeepers and only addressed her. “Have you eaten?”

“Hunter, what do you think?”

“Just making sure,” he shrugged. “Don’t want you to suffer from malnourishment while you choose to run with these vamps.”

“Enough—”

“As long as she runs with me, her well-being should not cross your mind,” Xander interrupted her. “I will ensure that she is well fed.”

A low growl rumbled in Hunter’s chest. “Did you complete the bond, Mona?”

“I did.”

“Show me.”

“Why? It is done!” Visions of Xander surging into her from behind assaulted her thoughts.

“I need to know it is done,” he hissed.

“Fine!” She turned her back to him and held up her hair. The punctures still pulsed, but not with ache. Only the reminder that she and Xander were now bonded…for eternity.

“You son of bitch—”

Xander laughed. “We share the same mother.”

“You gave her your mark? You were supposed to bite her…and you marked her as your own?” Hunter pushed closer to Xander.

“Stop!” She held her arms out to prevent them from making contact. They were causing a spectacle, as always. “What are you talking about?”

“He delivered the bite directly to the vein, thus marking you.”

“She accepted my mark.”

Hunter questioned her with an angry snarl.

“I did. Now, I won’t have rabid wolf hunting after me to mount me and force me as his mate. The practice is ludicrous. No one will want to if I am already marked.”

“You would abolish a ceremony that has been in place before your existence?”

“It should be a choice. You two can fight here if you want, but I have my duty to take care of.”

As she walked off, Hunter’s warning was made perfectly clear to his younger brother. “When this battle is over, I hope you run to the furthest corner of the earth you can find.”

“When have you ever known me to run? Don’t forget, brother, we came into this world together.”

****

It took them nearly a twenty-four hour trek to reach the Mouth of the Wells located in the northern Yucatan Peninsula. The Mexican borders were heavily guarded, but military and civilian checks got their vehicles through with almost no hassle from the border patrol agents. Getting the rest of the army in was a piece of cake. Once the main crew breached the perimeters, they immediately found the loopholes that would ensure no suspicions actions on their part.

After all, it was the humans they were protecting. Risk of exposure about this mission meant risk of exposure about the immortal race. He knew the government couldn’t explain their existence to the general population, not quite yet, anyway.

“Are we almost there yet?” Mona yawned beside him.

She remained wide-eyed for most of the trip, but her exhaustion probably got the best of her. Xander still couldn’t believe that she had never traveled outside of New Orleans. What a sheltered life she had lived, but it was for a very good purpose. Had she not been nurtured and her identity not been kept a secret, humanity would have been compromised a long time ago.

“Almost. We’re going to set up camp in a moment.”

Mona lifted her hand to stroke his face and he pressed his cheek into her caress. Her touch was priceless and he wanted to take pleasure in every moment of it. “You look tired.”

“I am dehydrated. Once we reached our destination, I’ll need nourishment.”

He didn’t want to tell her that it was her blood he craved. Powerful enough to quench even his greatest thirst, her pure blood could cure a soulless heart—just like it cured his.

The type of bond that he shared with her now required that they exchange blood regularly or he would remain in a weakened state, requiring large amounts of the bagged blood. They were already working on limited sources out here in the middle of nowhere. Drinking from humans would be the very last option. Drinking from other Nightkeepers should have been the first, but he wanted them to keep their strength for the battles ahead. A weakened Nightkeeper could not defend his or her self against the murderous demons that awaited them.

****

Their shelter for the day consisted of a cave. The Nightkeepers needed an escape from the sun to recuperate and the Daykeepers needed a place to bed down.

Mona peered at Veronica and Jianjun’s shoulder as they observed the map of Mouth of the Wells. She was surprised they managed to get along together to ensure the success of the mission.

Xander was seated on a rock several feet away. He rested his head back on the jagged edge of rocks. She smiled when he turned to catch her gaze. The man still hadn’t refueled. Worthy of his title of Master Nightkeeper, he ensured that his men had recuperated and had not accepted any of the supply of bagged blood for himself.

She stood and gestured at him to follow her.

The men and women huddled in the cave, some already napping and others readying their weapons. The lively bodies and warm lights from the oil lamps created dark gloomy shadows on the grainy cave walls. Ancient scripts— Mayan hieroglyphs— covered almost every surface. Xander’s and Hunter’s ancestors had created the glyphs and codices so very long ago. Together, they were the Mayan Hero Twins recreated to serve a greater purpose—one for humanity.

Mona followed the sound of trickling water until she came to stand in front of a small stream of water drizzling from a crack in the cave. The water formed a puddle in the crevice of several rocks. She bent to dip her palm inside, tested the clarity and smell, then brought it up to splash onto her face.

Xander was standing beside her when she lifted herself. Did he teleport?

No, I walked.

She hadn’t conveyed any thoughts to him. Are you sneaking into my head?

He grinned. That is quite rude…I apologize.

She wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him into a dark corner of the cave. “Do you know why I called you here?”

Her pussy still tingled from the after effects of what they’d done two nights before, but she wanted more. Time and inconvenience restrained them from being alone.

She hadn’t forgotten how he tasted and she savored the taste of him when his lips meshed with hers.

Mona groped at the bulge in the front of his jeans.

He groaned into her mouth. “Why have you called me?”

“I want you inside of me again.”

Xander unbuttoned her jeans and spread them open. She helped by shrugging them free of her legs and stepping outside them. He dipped his head low to tease taut nipples beneath her vest. His fingers dived into the cove of her panties dipping into her heat.

He perched on a rock and rid himself completely of his bottoms, as well. When he sat on the rock his rod sprang forward, beckoning her.

“I know you crave my blood,” she whispered into his ear, stroking him with her fingers. “I want you to take from me what you need.”

His fingers encircled her to dig into her ass to pull her forward until she was hovered above his throbbing tip. She grabbed fistfuls of his hair as she milked the length of him.

Mona set the pace, but he lifted his hips forward to meet her heated core. She didn’t understand why it was she needed this man so much. Didn’t want to blame it all on their recent bond. Before that, she was drawn to him.

“I won’t mark you again.”

She pulled his head into the crevice of her neck, arched her spine, and rode him slowly.

His fangs penetrated her neck. The bite was sure and quick. He yearned for her blood, she could tell from the urgency and rate at which he took from her.

Mona shuddered softly against his ear as the orgasm shook her body. He ejected his fangs, but the sharp point still scraped the sensitive skin against her throat. Grabbing her pelvis, he quickened the pace. This simple act brought her deeper into another orgasm she grasped his shoulders. When he released, she felt the hot stream explode inside of her like a volcano rupture long overdue.

She enjoyed stroking his back while their breathing returned to normal. After scratching him in the throes of passion with her fingernails, it was the least she could do. He seemed to like this gesture and they stayed that way—entangled wrapped in each other’s arm for quite a while.

Xander was the one who lifted her and placed her on her feet. “Get dressed.”

Their eyes met as the sound of metal clanked against rock. A silent shuffling of feet on the ground of the cave followed. Someone had spied them around the corner. She sensed the presence, but they stayed in the shadows. Mona met Xander’s gaze—they shared the same knowledge.

If someone had been watching them, the culprit was already gone.