219

On Wednesday I woke up in the middle of the night to Maya’s shrill screams and I fell out of bed in my haste to get moving and pulled on sweats just as I opened the door and started running in the direction of her voice.

I stopped in front of Milo’s suite and yanked the door open and averted my eyes as they widened at what I saw and I had to close my mouth. The doors to his bedroom was flung wide open and Abby sat on his bed, covered only by a sheet.

Milo was in front of her, buck ass naked trying to cover himself with the tiny piece of sheet that Abby hadn’t grabbed and Maya stood in the doorway, looking like she’d either seen a ghost or was about to pass out.

“What the hell’s going on?” I had a very good idea exactly what was going on and my fists clenched by my side.

“I … I shouldn’t have come here.” Maya turned around and slightly bumped into me in her haste to get out of Milo’s suite.

“Maya, wait.” I rushed to catch up with her as she power walked back down the hall to her suite.

I had to push against the door as she tried to close it in my face and I could see tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “Did something happen?”

“I’m just being hormonal, Wynter. I thought things were different now but Milo’s been ignoring me so I was going to go ask him what had changed. Now I know what changed.”

“I didn’t know about them.”

“Your reaction earlier makes me believe you. I’m losing everything that matters to me.” She wiped the stray tear that fell from her eye away.

I sat down next to her on her bed and pulled her into my side putting my arm across her shoulder. “No, you haven’t.”

“I lost Milo to Abigail and I lost my brother and I lost you too. Although, I never really had you, did I?”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Maya.”

“I think I’m going to remain behind at the Palace after Nicu’s funeral. We can talk again when the baby’s born and see where we go from there.”

“Okay. Just promise me we’ll talk every day and if you need anything that you’ll call me.”

She nodded her head and straightened up, away from me. “I’m fine, really. It’s not like I share a bond with him. Like I said, crazy pregnancy hormones.” She gave me a brave smile and I stood up.

“Good night, Maya.”

I walked back to Milo’s suite with purpose and found him closing the bedroom door and I caught a glimpse of Abby, still naked on his bed. He loomed in front of me and I pushed him up against the door.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Milo looked at me intently, no grin in place and his eyes flashed black.

“You don’t get to lecture me! You have no business in here right now, this is between me and Abby.”

“Like hell it is, Milo! She’s seventeen!”

“So was Ally!”

“Ally wasn’t just another notch on my bedpost. I loved her! You screw anything that walks!”

We were both angry, simmering fury just beneath our skin. My eyes were yellow and his were black, his fangs protruding from his top lip and his fanged nails digging into my arms. “Screw you, Wynter.”

My fist landed square on his nose and blood dripped from it as he swiped his hand across my chest. My elbow hit him on his jaw and he went down quickly as he pulled me along with him, rolling us over so that he now straddled now.

His punches landed hard and I heard the bones in my face crunch as they broke. I didn’t feel a thing but I knew he was hitting me as hard as he could. My hand shot out and I grabbed him around his throat and started squeezing.

He broke three ribs as he continued to punch me, ignoring the fact that he couldn’t breathe. I pulled my arm away and hit him so hard on the jaw that it dislocated and he fell off me with the force. Milo stood up as his anger intensified and the scent of my blood drove him to insanity.

Milo lunged at me, his fangs heading straight for my neck and his sharp nails aimed at my heart right at the moment that Abby opened the door and flung herself in between us. “Abby!” Milo struck us hard, his nails digging into Abby’s stomach and his mouth coming down on her shoulder.

I hit the floor hard, skidding several feet and banging my head into the opposite wall as I held on to Abby. Something had snapped Milo out of his maddening frenzy as he knelt over Abby and pulled her off me to the floor.

Her eyes were closed and the bite mark on her shoulder was deep. Milo wasn’t aiming to feed but to maim and the gashes across her stomach were so deep that I could see her actual stomach and intestines.

“She’s bleeding out.” I had my hands over the wounds, trying to stem the bleeding.

“Move!” Milo pushed me away from her and bit down on his wrist and opened her mouth, tilting her head back so his blood could go down her throat.

I watched in horrific fascination as the wounds on her stomach started closing up and the bite mark on her shoulder disappear. It shouldn’t have been possible and if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed either of them.

“Abby … I’m sorry.” Milo was cradling her in his lap as tears streaked his cheeks, the blood from his broken nose dripping into her hair.

The seconds ticked by and then Abby coughed and gasped as she inhaled much needed oxygen into her lungs. The sounds coming from Milo was a mixture of a sob and a laugh as he buried his face in her neck and his shoulders shook.

I looked up at Luciana standing in the doorway and her eyes widened as she looked at me. I was sure there was blood on my face, on my chest and on my arms. Her hand cradled her stomach and then she was on her knees in front of me.

“Where are you hurt?”

“I’m not, it’s just blood. I heal fast.”

“Are you in pain?”

“I don’t feel pain, never have.”

She still looked confused and I’d explain it to her later but first I had to sort out the rift between me and Milo. His hand was smoothing over her hair and he stood up with her in his arms and walked past me into his bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him.

I stood up from the floor, holding on to Luciana’s arm and pulling her up in the process too and made for the bedroom door. “Leave him, Wynter. Sort it out tomorrow, now’s not the time.”

She was probably right. Milo and I would just come to blows again if I went in there now. She took my hand and I let her lead me out of the suite and back into ours. She pulled me into the bathroom and turned the shower on.

She climbed into the shower with me, still in her pajamas as I stood there in shock. She wiped the blood from me and her touch was so gentle that I closed my eyes and just held on to her. Something clicked in my mind and I opened my eyes to find Luciana looking at me so tenderly that I pulled her closer to me.

“You’re okay, Wynter.”

“He’s my brother and I hit him.”

“It’ll be okay.” She smoothed her hands over my face and kissed me.

I tugged the wet clothes from her body and they landed in a heap on the shower floor. I needed this woman so much more than I had even admitted to myself and she shared everything of herself with me. I felt like I could breathe again when her orgasm triggered mine and my legs turned to jelly.

The castle was quiet the next morning as I made my way down to the dining room. Luciana didn’t want to eat and I’d left her in my room to sleep. I ate breakfast alone and headed to the office when I realized that Milo wasn’t going to confront me today.

Ivan and I got to work and I looked at the e-mail on my laptop. Nicu’s funeral ceremony was scheduled for Friday night. No threats had been received and the investigation had led nowhere and it was put down to a rogue attack that didn’t look likely to be repeated.

I sent the e-mail on to the Elders and I knew they’d breathe easier knowing that no fingers would be pointed in my direction. I couldn’t blame them for worrying, they had no idea who I really was or what I could do.

Abby came downstairs for dinner just long enough to ask the staff to take two trays up to Milo’s suite. I was alone yet again with Luciana propped in bed with a migraine. Abby sat down in the chair next to me and put her hand on mine.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Wynter. It was an accident.”

“He hurt you, Abby, and then he has the gall to be mad at me.”

She sighed audibly and then she squeezed my hand. “I don’t how or why but that’s why I slapped him that night in my room at the Palace. When he kissed me I felt that bond spark to life and he felt it too. I can’t explain it better but I love him, Wynter, I always have.”

I knew it was the truth because I’d seen his blood heal her. Only a bonded half’s blood could heal you, everybody knew that. I pushed the untouched plate of food away from me and leaned back in the chair. I hadn’t known they were bonded when I’d said all those things to him.

I knew I had to fix things with him but I had to leave for Sinaia in the morning and then come up with a plausible explanation as to Abby’s absence. I knew Milo wouldn’t let her go with me and he wouldn’t be going either.

I had never before felt so disconnected from my brother and I felt hollow inside. He ignored me when I knocked on his door and he hadn’t emerged yet to talk to me. We’d have our talk when I returned to Mintia, whether he wanted to or not.

I checked up on Maya and we sat talking for a while. She still wanted to stay in Sinaia until the baby was born. I wasn’t sure what had changed for her when she decided to come clean. We sat on her bed and had the most honest conversation we had ever had.

“Daddy said I had to get you to sleep with me, that you’d make a good husband and that our child would be stronger than other dragons. I’ll admit that I did like you and that conversation we had in the garden just made me like you more.”

“So you drugged me that night.”

“Yes. I couldn’t go against what my father wanted me to do. It’s always worked like this, he commands and I obey. I really am sorry.”

“I believe you, Maya, but why confess now?”

“I’ve been thinking that after the baby’s born we can get an annulment and we could both have a chance at happiness. I know you love Luciana and she seems to be good for you but I have someone out there too that will love me like that.”

“What about our baby?”

“My father will have a say in who I marry again but I’m really hoping that it’s someone that will love me after we bond. Our baby won’t be my father’s heir then, my child with my new husband will, so maybe we can split time between us. If you stay in Mintia we can alternate every two weeks or something.”

“I doubt your father will agree to that.”

“I’m going to tell him that I cheated on you, slept with your brother, which isn’t a lie, I did sleep with your brother. You’ve agreed to the annulment to spare me the humiliation on the terms that you get to remain Duke here of Mintia and I’m free to marry again and that you’ll sign a non-disclosure ensuring your silence.”

“How long have you been thinking about this?”

“Since that first night Luciana spent in your room. We both deserve happiness, Wynter.”

I looked into her eyes and saw the sincerity in them. She was setting me free and taking the blame so that we could both get a fresh start. She was a good woman, brave and strong and it just made me respect her all the more.

“Thank you, Maya.”