Anchor of Secrets by Tessa Hale

6

A faint beepingsound grated at my subconscious, but I just wanted to slip back into the nothingness. I loved the nothingness. There was no pain or grief or terror. There was simply an endless sea of black where I could float for the rest of time.

“It’s been too long. We should call the doctor again,” Declan said.

“He said she needs time,” Dash assured him. “We’ve done everything we can. My herbs and potions. Human medicine. Your blood.”

“It’s not enough,” Trace growled.

“Breathe,” Colt told him.

“I don’t want to fucking breathe. I want Leighton to wake up, and then I want to hunt down Lucien and Damien and peel the flesh from their bones.”

Ronan grunted. “I’m with the psycho for once.”

“I can stay with Leighton if you guys want to go hunting,” Dash offered.

“Not leaving her,” Trace muttered.

I pulled away from the darkness at that. It was so unlike Trace. He usually wanted nothing to do with me.

Colt pitched his voice low. “The more time you spend with her, the harder it’s going to be for your demon to walk away.”

“Don’t care,” he snapped.

“All right, then,” Colt mumbled.

“Any updates from your team?” Declan asked.

Colt blew out a breath. “They’re still searching. Nothing yet. It’s like the two of them just vanished.”

“And The Assembly still has their thumbs up their asses,” Ronan groused.

“They have to make sure it doesn’t appear they’re rushing to judgment,” Dash argued.

“Rushing?” Ronan growled. “We gave them the tapes from those damned cameras. She was fucking tortured for fourteen days. I lost count of the number of times he bit her. She’s covered in scars. What more proof do they need?”

Something smashed against the wall, and Briar let out a hiss.

“Let’s not get Trace any more riled up,” Declan said in a low tone. “He already torched three cars and a building.”

“I just need to know she’s safe,” Ronan defended.

“I know,” Declan said in a low tone.

“She won’t be safe until Lucien and Damien are dead.” Barely restrained rage pulsed through each of Trace’s words.

“We know,” Colt agreed, sounding exhausted. “And one way or another, we’ll make them that way. I promise.”

Breath hissed from between Trace’s teeth. “I need the killing blow. I don’t know if my demon will be satiated without it.”

There was silence for a moment before Colt agreed. “We can give him that for at least one of them.”

Trace grunted again but didn’t say another word.

I had the most bizarre urge to comfort him. Even with as much of an asshole as he’d been. Even with how I knew they didn’t want me. I still hated the idea of him hurting, of him being at odds with his demon.

I tried to pull out of the nothingness, but it was like quicksand, wanting me to stay. My fingers fluttered against the mattress.

“Guys…” Declan said.

“What?” Colt asked.

“I think Leighton’s starting to wake up.”

Shuffling sounded, and I could sense bodies pushing closer.

I fought against the tug of the darkness.

“Open those eyes, LeeLee,” Colt whispered.

I wanted to so badly. I wanted to know that I was free. Away from Damien and his torture. But I was so scared that if I opened my eyes, this would all just be a dream.

“You’re safe, Mon Coeur,” Dash whispered. “Come back to us.”

My heart clenched. I didn’t want to let those words in, couldn’t trust them. But still, I tried to force my eyes open.

My eyelids fluttered, letting in a burst of sunlight. The first true daylight I’d seen in weeks. I squinted against it, giving my eyes a moment to adjust.

Slowly, I took in the guys surrounding my bed. They looked rough. All of them had scruff on their jaws and dark circles under their eyes. Their clothes were rumpled, and their hair was in disarray.

“How do you feel?” Dash asked.

I did a mental survey, bracing for that familiar residue of burning pain that Damien’s bites left behind. Instead, all I felt was a low-level ache in my muscles. “Okay.” My voice was a husky rasp. Apparently, all the screaming had done some damage there.

His mouth thinned. “Do you want a sip of water?”

I nodded slowly.

Dash took a cup from the nightstand and placed a straw between my lips.

I took a long pull. The cool water was heaven on my throat.

He tugged it away. “We don’t want to give you too much. Your stomach’s been empty for a while.”

That was when I caught sight of all the wires. I was in my bedroom at The Nest, but there was a slew of medical equipment around it. There was a heart monitor and an IV pole that housed a bag of clear liquid and one with red liquid.

My heart hammered against my ribs, my breaths coming quicker as I stared at the bags. Blood. Memories of being bitten slammed into me. Memories of Caspian’s throat being slit.

“It’s okay,” Declan hurried to say. “It’s just fluids and some of my blood. Dragon blood heals better than anything else we have.”

I struggled to get my breathing under control, but it wouldn’t obey.

All I could see was Damien’s twisted face, his fangs elongating as I braced for agony.

“She’s having a panic attack,” Ronan snapped.

“It’s okay, Leighton. You’re safe,” Dash comforted. He reached out, resting a hand on my shoulder.

I scrambled away from him. “Don’t touch me!” The tears came then, a mixture of panic and grief. I couldn’t let him be a comfort. Not when that would be ripped away again. Not when it was a lie.

Dash snapped his hand back as I hugged my knees to my chest and rocked back and forth. “Don’t want me.” I whispered it over and over again as I rocked.

I caught flashes of the guys’ faces. Each one wore a different expression, a mixture of emotions. Pain. Rage. Regret.

Ronan’s throat worked as he swallowed. “Will you let Declan stay with you? He didn’t know where you were. Never knew. We hid it from him.”

Declan’s head snapped in Ronan’s direction, his jaw going hard. “Ronan…”

“It’s true. I swear it on my life.”

I kept rocking but studied Ronan. I read nothing but truth in his eyes.

“O-okay.”

Ronan jerked his head in a nod. “Let’s leave them.”

“No,” Trace snarled.

Colt caught him by the tee. “Now’s not the time. Let’s hunt those that would hurt her. Then we can make amends.”

Trace’s teeth ground together. “Hunt.” It was all he seemed to be able to say, but it allowed Colt to shove him out of my bedroom. Ronan followed him without a backward glance. But Dash’s gaze cut to me. So much hurt there.

“I know you won’t believe me, but I love you, Leighton. I always will. And one day, you’ll see.”

His words hurt worse than any tear of my flesh inflicted by Damien. Because I wanted so badly for them to be true, but I knew they weren’t.