4. DEVRIM: IS IT OVER?

Joy was leaving the island and by the look of things, she wasn’t planning on returning. Suitcase after suitcase was being loaded onto the small boat that would be taking her to the mainland.
She stood to the side, watching the man with a scowl and a foot tapping impatiently on the ground.
“Should we do something to stop her?” Ezra questioned from my left.
I shook my head. “No.”
“She might come back,” Orion pointed out.
It was something I already considered when I realized what was happening. “We don’t have enough against her,” I told them. “If we try something now, it might cause more problems. We need to have something against her that will get her locked up the moment she sets foot back on this island.”
“Things would be so much easier if she drowns during her trip,” Ezra muttered.
I glared at him even though a small part of me silently agreed with him. We had no clue where Joy was planning on going, but it would be great if something happened to her on the way there, something that prevented her from ever sitting foot back on this island.
The sooner she was taken care of, the sooner things could go back to normal.
Hopefully Vanya and Obsidian were enjoying some more bonding. I had ordered Dorian to stay outside unless there was a problem. They had been talking when I interrupted them and I hoped that they were continuing that conversation.
A wave of fear hit me but I pushed it away. No matter what, I would find a way for them to sort out their differences. They were bonded so which complicated things a bit more. If Vanya decided to leave, Obsidian would die and I wouldn’t be able to handle losing both of them.
“She’s leaving,” Ezra said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
We watched as Joy climbed onto the boat and a few minutes later they were just a small spec in the distance.
“Find someone to keep watch in case she returns,” I ordered Orion as I stood.
“What should we do if she comes back?” he asked.
I hesitated a moment. “Grab her, but make sure that nobody sees you.”

***

“Did you get her?” Obsidian asked the moment we entered the cabin.
“She left,” Ezra answered him. “Where’s Vanya?”
“In her room.”
I watched Ezra as he took the stairs two at a time until he disappeared from sight and then turned to look at Obsidian. His eyes narrowed.
“She won’t be gone for long,” he rasped.
“How do you know that?” I asked him as I made my way into the kitchen.
“Joy hates Vanya. There’s no way she will leave things like this.”
“She took six suitcases with her,” I told him. “I highly doubt that she would have taken so many if she was only planning a short trip.”
He growled. “You’ve grown soft. We both know—”
“Can we not argue about this?” I interrupted him softly. “Joy is gone for now and we will know if she returns.”
“You should have taken care of her while you had the chance,” Obsidian growled.
“I’m not a ruthless killer like you!” I yelled. “I can’t just walk up to someone and kill them for no reason.”
Obsidian was behind me when I turned around. I sucked in a sharp breath when his hand shot out to grip my neck. His fingers dug into my skin and his warm breath fanned my lips when he leaned closer.
“She’s not just anyone,” he sneered. “She’s the woman who’s set on destroying Vanya’s life.”
“You don’t think I know that?” I growled at him.
My hands curled into fists when his hold on my neck tightened. Obsidian took another step closer, making his chest brush mine. For a moment the words I was about to throw at him was forgotten.
“She was surrounded by humans,” he muttered. “The last thing I want right now is to cause any more trouble with the humans.”
“They’re not our problem,” he growled.
“But they could be Vanya’s. She has friends amongst them, Obsidian. You know that.”
“It wouldn’t be a problem if she doesn’t find out.”
I sighed because I knew that arguing with him was pointless. Obsidian only listened to what he wanted to hear.
“If Joy steps foot on this island again, she’s mine,” he rasped. “Mine to kill.”
“Fine,” I agreed.
His eyes darted over my face and lingered on my lips for a few seconds before they darted up to lock with mine again. “I need to go to the cave.”
“Why?”
Obsidian licked his lips. “The longer I’m around her, the harder it gets for me to resist the urge to strengthen the bond.”
“You can’t leave.”
“I need to,” he said.
“Why?”
My eyes snapped over to the stairs where Vanya stood staring at us with wide eyes.
“Explain it to her,” Obsidian ordered as he stepped away.
I watched him with a frown as he made his way towards his basement. When he disappeared from sight, my eyes darted over to Vanya.
“Why does he have to leave?” she asked.
Fucking asshole, I cursed him in my head. Walking over to Vanya, I took hold of her arm and steered her over to the island where I gripped her hips and gently lifted her onto the chair.
“Dev?”
“You’re bonded,” I said softly. “It’s. . .instinct for the male to want to make the bond stronger. Right now Obsidian’s fighting that instinct.”
She swallowed loudly. “W-what does it mean?” Her brows dipped into a frown. “I don’t even know how he bonded me in the first place.”
I placed my hands on her thighs and stared at her as I tried to find the right words to explain things to her. Obsidian would’ve done it easily, but no, he ran off and left me with the tough job.
“Devrim! Just tell me.”
“Basically. . .” I licked my lips. “To put it in the simplest terms I can think of; it involves hours of fucking.” She blinked at me once and then again. I continued before she could speak. “You’re still healing”—my eyes dropped to trail over her—“and I think. . .well I know that Obsidian’s scared of hurting you again which is why he would rather leave.”
She leaned forward and rested her forehead against my chest. “I would’ve been down for it if Obsidian wasn’t so rough. I like it when he’s like that but I know that my body won’t be able to handle hours of it.”
I nuzzled my face against her hair as I wrapped my arms around her. For a moment we were both silent.
“Everything should be fine as long as he doesn’t go days without seeing you,” I muttered.
“What if he gets sick again?” she whispered, pulling back to look up at me. “I can handle being close to him here but I can’t go into the cave.”
“You’ve been in there before, rosebud,” I pointed out.
I watched as the colour drained from her face. Tears filled her eyes as they locked with mine again.
“That was before.” She swallowed. “I can’t go in the after being locked in that container.”
I nodded in understanding. Vanya had been through hell and although it wasn’t exactly the same as the things we suffered through in the facility, I knew that it had been an extremely bad experience for her.
*Our little human mate. *

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I held her tighter and allowed a purr to slip from my lips to calm her.
There wasn’t much we could do to help. She had been alone for weeks after everything happened and now that we were together again, we could be there for her. Like last night when she had a nightmare.
We could hold her.
We could feed her.
We could make sure that she understood that we were there for her whenever she needed us.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that because of us.”
Vanya raised her head and looked at me. “It wasn’t your fault. You did more for me than my own father was prepared to do. I would’ve been dead if it weren’t for you.”
“But you got hurt.”
She scoffed and reached up to wipe a tear from her cheek. “It’s part of life.”
True, but she if she hadn’t been involved with us then she would never have been kidnapped. But then again she was targeted because she accidentally ruined the man’s plans when he was burying the body. In the end it didn’t actually matter how it happened because it would still have happened but maybe it would’ve just ended differently.
“Obsidian can’t leave, Dev. He needs to stay here.”
I nodded. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Good.” The smile slipped from her face. “Did you find Joy?”
I stepped away from her as I explained what we’d seen and how Joy had left. Vanya stared at me as she listened. When I was done explaining things to her, she was smiling which was extremely confusing. I understood the happiness she felt for Joy being gone but I knew that she was aware of the threat Joy still posed.
“I don’t think she’ll come back,” Vanya said. “Joy cares about one thing only and that’s money. As far as I know she didn’t have any control over his bank accounts.”
“So you’re saying that we shouldn’t expect her to come back at all?”
She nodded. “Joy left for good. I’m sure of it.”