Didn’t we get a break? A moment of peace to appreciate that she had decided to stay? No. Instead, we had a few hours of sleep before everything turned into a nightmare again. It was like fate wanted to push her away from us. It was fucking bullshit.
How did we not expect this? Predict it? We shouldn’t have assumed she would be safe sleeping, even between two of us. Not after she had been attacked so openly at dinner. Now we had learned our lesson—Maize was never truly safe. Someone was trying to take her from us, and I didn’t have proof of that, but it was such a strong feeling that I wasn’t able to deny it.
“You should check on Charm,” I urged Maddox. After a moment of staring at Maize, he nodded and stood, leaving the room. I was concerned about Charm, and the more okay Maize looked, the more worried I was about how pale and shaken he was. I had to wonder how badly their connection affected him. Maize had once said that the addiction could be horrible, unable to be inches apart, but somehow I think the mating bond aspect had altered that. That was very much the best case scenario.
Worst case? She was draining him or even killing him. I didn’t want to assume that.
I should have been worried that Maize would wake up panicked and lash out with her magic. I didn’t mind that, though—the risk was nothing, because if she tied me to her forever, I would be all the more thrilled about it.
Honestly, if it helped Maize, I would volunteer for that. Let her infect me with her poison. I craved to feel a bond between us, one that was stronger than what already existed, and frankly, I’d never complain about her biting into my skin. As long as she was okay with me fucking her, because there was something erotic as fuck about the idea of her drinking my blood, even to remove posion… and trust me, I had absolutely never felt that way before.
“Cannon! Valerio!” Zed bit out, his voice strained and filled with worry. “Can you please go talk to the fucking team leads? They’re in the lounge.”
Immediately, both men walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Maize as the door closed behind them. Silence permeated the room, yet I could still hear the ringing in my ears from Cannon’s panic about her being injured, pulling us from our deep sleep. I had never imagined Cannon being dramatic, but his ‘injured’ claim had been the understatement of the century.
I moved my eyes to the water spilling over the side of the tub, again and again, draining and refilling with fresh water to remove the blood and dirt. It was a marble monstrosity. This entire fucking room was, and I realized that Charm was a bit of a princess when it came to shit like this. It shouldn’t have surprised me at all. I wasn’t going to complain, though—it was warming her, and her pulse under my fingers was growing stronger. I knew when she woke she would be in a lot of pain, so I hoped she continued to rest until she had the strength to handle that. And the questioning to follow. And our reactions to what occurred… because no one was okay with any of this. I just hoped to hang onto some level of normality around her so that I didn’t scare her off.
Suddenly, the door opened, and Maddox walked back in before closing it once again, blocking out the loud and angry conversation going on in the main lounge. I watched my brother cautiously as he slid against the vanity cabinet onto the bloodstained floor, his jaw clenched as he offered me a strained look.
Yeah, this was going to be a problem. This was going to be a tipping point for Maddox, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop that.
I loved Maddox. He was my best friend and my brother, but his fractured psyche was no longer up for debate, and I had sort of just been waiting for him to finally give into it. I mean, the man kept it under a thin guise of eerie calm, specifically around Maize, while trying to appear distant and indifferent to those around him. But that didn’t work very well when he lost his shit on the SE guards and killed them unapologetically after they’d sparred with her and left marks on her skin. I suppose, to be fair, he didn’t kill all of them… but a large number of them did seem to go missing or absent from duty.
It was this extreme reaction that had forced him to keep a distance from her for so long. All of his control slipped away with her, and I absolutely knew that this was going to be the pebble that shattered that thin glass barrier. I could see it cracking, and I prayed that Maize was going to be able to handle that. Handle him.
Not that he would hurt her, but… I just wasn’t positive what he would do.
“How did we not feel her leave?” Maddox snarled quietly as he ran a hand over his face, looking as distressed as I felt.
“Can’t you get in her head?” I asked softly. I wish I could tell you I felt bad about the invasion of privacy… but not after tonight. I was far more invested in figuring out how any of this had happened.
None of it made sense, and I knew instinctively that Maize wasn’t to blame for any of this, even if I didn’t have the proof to back that up. She may want to hit Charm over the head, but I knew she would never hurt Philip. I saw the way she handled his vulnerability that covered up his psychotic temper and not so slight sadistic streak. No, that concept didn’t mesh with me.
I nearly laughed at how she handled Philip. I was glad she saw Charm’s real side, because I was hoping it would make it easier to accept Philip’s real side. Not the charming one—although I had no doubt he felt that way towards her—but his intentions that were anything but innocent.
I knew how he watched her, and while none of us had had anything remotely considered a relationship in years, I had heard rumors about what he was into. Well, not rumors as much as Maddox’s confirmation from his ability to traverse thoughts that ran through our team’s bond. He tried to respect privacy, but sometimes… well, sometimes shit was super loud, and Philip wasn’t quiet about how obsessive he was over Maize. I honestly had mixed feelings on her being alone with him for the time being, not because I thought he would hurt her, but because I didn’t want to risk scaring her off.
Philip very much had the potential to do that.
Then again, was I much better? I wasn’t sure I was.
After a minute or so, Maddox spoke, clearly having tried to make that psychic connection with her. “No, I can’t. She’s warded herself completely off. I can’t get shit without pushing her or Philip, and I don’t think that’s a great idea right now.”
I could see how tempted he was, despite the serious consequences it could have. I wasn’t positive that I would have had nearly as much restraint.
“It could be David,” I commented, thinking about dinner and the dark, unnatural magic that he had managed to use on her. How he had managed to almost fucking kill her. The rage associated with his name had my vision turning spotty as I tried to remind myself that Charm had saved her.
My lips tilted up as I remembered the vision of her sharp teeth appearing and her eyes darkening. It was fucking glorious, and I didn’t think there was anything more beautiful than Maize’s true fae form, sharp teeth and extended claw-like nails included. I wanted to feel those nails digging into my skin as she let me slam into her tight heat. Although, we would probably need to save that for a time when she had more energy and was healed, because I knew once I dove into Maize, I would probably not let her leave the bed for a really fucking long time.
I wasn’t going to apologize about it, either.