Page 107 of Those That Defy the Realm

CHAPTER 39

ASH

Hearing the commotion above is straining my very last nerve. Even with my heightened senses, the voices are muffled and I can’t get a clear indication of what is going on. My only choice is to prowl the tiny room and wait until I get the all clear to return to the main deck.

If Mitch’s team hadn’t just probably saved my life, I would seriously be considering ignoring his orders for me to stay hidden. Not that I didn’t believe him when he made it very clear that there would be zero protection they could give if I was spotted by the mainland authorities. The pull in my chest is getting so severe, I really think there is a chance my heart will crack through my ribs and leave my body behind.

I’m about half a second away from opening the door and at least calling up to someone for an update, when there’s a thudding on the stairwell. Multiple footsteps. The door bursts open and I freeze. The hallucination before me is one I’ve already had a hundred times since I was ordered to hide down here. Shutting my eyes and shaking my head, I try to clear the image to see who has really come to update me.

“Ash!” Claire’s voice calls out a second before a small feminine body collides with mine. A larger one isn’t far behind and envelopes us both, his nutmeg and juniper scent hitting my nostrils and sending my knees wobbly.

“Ash.” Henry brings his forehead to mine and inhales deeply as his broad palm on my back holds me steady.

Opening my eyes without lifting my head, the vision remains. Looking down, Claire is in my arms, cocooned between Henry and me. Wrapping my arms even more tightly around her, she lifts her gaze to meet mine. Her eyes are filled with tears which makes mine start to water.

They’re here. They’re here and they’re safe.

“You aren’t supposed to be here,” Henry says, his lips against the shell of my ear. “What if you’re caught?”

“You expected me to stay put whilst you both were in danger?”

The growl Henry gives in response tells me he might be worried, but he’s glad I’m here.

Not wanting to pull out of his hold but needing to look them both over fully, I reluctantly step back so I can rake my eyes over every visible inch of them. They’re both dressed in dark joggers and hoodies so I can’t see much skin, but neither are visibly holding a limb or shifting their weight like they’re in pain or have sustained a significant injury.

“Have you sorted out the…” I ask gently and don’t even manage a full question, unsure how to phrase it. Claire accused Henry of cheating. Granted, I see how it would’ve looked to her, finding Henry in bed with someone who wasn’t me, but the vampires are a clingy lot when it comes to their packs. Us wolves are touchy feely sure, we always hug and play fight, but the vampires are less open about it. If they feel threatened, or vulnerable, a whole pack will basically dog pile on top of one another whilst they sleep.

“The fact I thought Henry betrayed us?” Claire answers, twisting to look up at our usually well put together mate. She reaches up and brushes the locks that have fallen forward onto his forehead as he stares down at her. “Yes, and it’s something I’ll be deeply sorry about for a long time.”

His palm comes to her jawline, gently cupping her face. “You. I only need you safe, alive, and not in the hands of that bastard. There is nothing to forgive.”

The words melt my heart into a beating lump of goo. The look they share as well could light a room with the amount of emotion there.

I assume Henry is referring to the vampire leader, Fillias, or maybe he means the authorities, so I get a shock as he lifts his gaze to me and says, “Declan was at the facility.”

“What?” I step forward again as my blood ignites. That dickhead was the last name I expected to hear today.

“It seems he joined the authorities, the unit the central government has to hunt down any remaining vampires,” Claire answers. “He was at the facility we were taken to.”

New panic rises in my veins. Had he tried to win my human back, manipulate her in any way? If he’d dare touch her⁠—

“I killed him.” Henry cuts off my thoughts, as if he can read where they were going. I spot his extended canines showing as he talks. “I ripped his spine out like the worthless piece of scum he was.”

“Did he try to hurt you?” I ask my female, needing to know, although my wolf settles somewhat at knowing he’s gone for good.

Claire doesn’t respond right away, but Henry gently gathers her hair over her shoulder and reveals a line of faint bruising down the side of her neck.

My wolf resurfaces with a growl, my bones vibrating as I try to hold myself in human form.

“He’s dead,” Claire reminds me. “He tried to hurt me after he discovered I’d deceived him. It already doesn’t hurt, since I drank from his dead corpse.”

Her words still me once more. We’d been made aware through Ty’s communication with Rory that Claire had been hurt by the vampire pack. Hurt badly. But no one had said anything about turning her.

“Claire, are you…?” Again, full sentences fail me.

She reaches for me, her hands on my sides as she curls her top lip up on one side to reveal a sharp elongated canine.

“What they did was barbaric,” Henry says. “They pumped so much venom into her it nearly killed her. But I managed to reach her in time to suck some of it out. The amount, however, and our dangerous situation I think forced the change quickly.”