Chapter 47
~Tony~
It was an interesting group I had to admit. Werewolves, vampires, a billionaire who claimed to be my brother, a wayward shape shifter named Scottie, who'd barged in minutes later with his werewolf mate who also turned out to be a psychologist and then of course who could forget this Grady character who seemed to have more mouth than sense.
Never had I ever thought I'd find myself in a room with a group like this. Never had I believed it possible. Not even when I'd found out what Rien was, had I known that such a variety of creatures existed. Creatures that thrived almost independently of the human world, yet blended in so well that we couldn't tell the difference.
It was bizarre and it was crazy and the younger, emotionally unstable me would have thought it was cool. Now my gaze traveled over the people who had come together to fight a common enemy. Who had families and friends who would fight in this war, and who would probably all suffer some loss. Selfishly, I found myself hoping that I wouldn't share the same fate. I only had one person, despite the friends I'd met overseas and the men I'd fought with who I called my brothers, I still only really had one person and if I lost him tonight it would be for good.
I looked at him now, standing by his own family, supporting those he cared about. Yet planning to go up against his own blood. It couldn't be as easy as he made it seem. He couldn't stand there, strong and tall and unwavering and lead me to believe that this did not affect him on some level. It was strange how after all this time I still knew him. Where others looked and saw only strength, I had always been able to see his weaknesses. I had always been able to see his fears and his flaws, and I saw them now.
It was in the slight tightening of his mouth despite his outward smile. It was in the tight clenching if his fist that no one had noticed, and it was in his eyes. He was brave and he would fight, but the thought of how this night could end terrified him. It terrified me too.
"Rien." I said rising from the bed.
He was beside me before my bare feet touched the cold floors and I looked up into his concerned face. I'd wasted all the time I'd had with him since he'd brought me back. So much time we could have had together, to learn new things about each other and to make every second count and I'd wasted it all out of childish anger.
I nodded in the direction of the door "Walk with me." I told him and all eyes followed us as we crossed the room and slipped out of their presence.
"You should be resting." Rien chastised halfheartedly, and when he was walking beside me along the corridor; my bare feet against the tiles and the air frigid and tense with what was to come, I reached over and slipped my hand through his.
He looked down at our joined fingers first, then into my eyes as though he couldn't believe I was allowing it, and I sighed. I'd wasted so much time.
"There's one thing I've always loved about you Rien." I began when we came to a stop at the very end of the corridor and our hand stayed locked together even as I climbed up onto the ledge and sat. He came to stand between my legs and I raised my free hand into his hair; long and black and as soft as silk. I'd always loved it.
"I believe you were about to pay me a compliment." He said, as he titled his head to look at me with a grin."
"I've always loved how you went out of your way to keep a promise to me." I told him, and he nodded once.
"Of course. I like it when you are happy."
I thought about this for a few minutes. The sounds of beasts preparing for war could be heard beyond the corridors. I heard the clang of weapons and the growls of wolves. I heard the shouts of men and women and the cries of children who no doubt had to be locked away while their fathers defended their home. The air was frigid, but it was still.
I held a lock of Rien's hair in my hand and twirled it around my fingers before letting it fall, once again limp onto his wide shoulder. "If I were to ask you to promise me that you'll come out of this alive, do you think you could do it?" I asked him quietly—seriously.
Rien's brows furrowed and the smile fell from his face. I suppose I had my answer, but I watched him anyway. He wrapped his hand around my waist and dropped his forehead onto my chest and the silence between us was thick with what he didn't say. With what he didn't promise. What he couldn't promise me.
"I understand." I assured him, running a hand through his silky hair. "I wish I hadn't wasted all my time with you. I'm sorry." I told him sincerely, and it was then that he pulled away and climbed onto the ledge with me. He put his legs over on either side and turned to face me. Then he looked out onto the compound, at those watching and those who were not.
"I was once a confident man." Rien began with a small, sad smile. "I am immortal, but I am not indestructible. I was once foolish enough to think I was and I led armies into battle with that foolish confidence. I was young and I thought nothing could defeat me, for I was Lord Riener of the warrior coven, the king's son, trained by my own wit and courage. I believed no one could touch me and that since I led my men, then no one could touch them."
Rien smiled. "The first time I went to battle, it was with this confidence, and not one of my number died. And the second time was much the same and so was the third and so it went until I found myself being called by a name many have since come to fear; the Merciless Prince." Rien looked up and I followed suit. The stars were bright tonight.
"The first time I lost a warrior in battle I did not understand it, for my men were as indestructible as I. I watched the life drain from my pupil's eyes and I could do nothing to stop it. I became enraged and I slaughtered the enemy. No one lived to tell the world that a warrior from the Prince's army had died.
"My men were humbled by the death of their comrade. You see, they had believed that the Prince had made them indestructible, but in that moment they saw that it was not so. However, I was not so humbled. I convinced myself that he had died because he had not been loyal enough to me and I felt better about his death." Rien's gaze left the stars and fell back to the compound.
"As the years passed, other men died and I called them traitors and cared nothing of it, until there was one particular battle that we won, but half my warriors were slaughtered. I was devastated, and when I returned to the coven, I held court with my father, telling him of the number of men who had died because of their disloyalty. I had expected his outrage at their traitorous nature. I had even welcomed his harsh words against them and their family, but do you know what he said to me?"
I shook my head when his eyes met mine, and that same smile was back again. "He said 'Your men are not disloyal to you Riener. They are but men and men die, but you will live on forever and you will train many more warriors and your army will win many more battles.' It was then that I understood, and as he had said, I bred more warriors and I have never lost a battle, but in one thing he was wrong."
Rien paused, staring deep into my eyes as though willing me to read his thoughts. "I will not live on forever. One day I will lose a battle and the earth will rise up to meet me." I felt a hollowness in my chest at his words, and I felt the fear begin its course through my veins, until that glint of determination rose up in his eyes and his jaw set. "But tonight will not be that night. I will rise up above my brother and leave the victor of this battle. I do not say this with the foolish confidence of my youth, for I understand my own mortality. I say this because I am determined to have a long life with you and my heart cannot stop beating when I have already given it to you for safe keeping."
................................................
~More than five year prior~
"Go away foolish human." The vampire waved me away and I frowned.
"If you really wanted me gone you wouldn't come back here every day when we both know that this is my hang out spot."
He stood from the bench and I stepped back. The size of him had always been slightly frightening. "Then I shall take my leave." He said as he turned the go, and I walked to catch up with him.
The vampire was probably the most exciting thing that had ever happened to this damn town. Really, who could honestly say they'd met a real live vampire?
I frowned as I walked beside him. "How come you aren't erasing my memory or something so I forget you're a vampire? Shouldn't you be trying to guard your secret?"
He gave me a look that made me feel like a mosquito he was wishing desperately to squash. "I am not a magician." He said with obvious scorn. "I do not perform tricks."
I looked him up and down, taking in the long black robes that he wore in the scorching heat and the long black hair and that fell almost to the center of his back and thought that yes...yes he did in fact look like a magician, but what I said was; "Then what can you do?"
"I can kill you." He said drily and I rolled my eyes.
"So you've said about a million times now."
The vampire glanced at me with narrowed eyes. "Do you think I will not do it?"
I shrugged. "Anyone can kill."
He paused, and looked at me for a moment as though trying to solve a math problem, then he turned abruptly and continued his walk. I knew he could leave whenever he wanted. He could just run and I wouldn't have a chance of catching up. I'd seen him do it. If he really wanted me gone it could be done so easily, but the fact that I was still here told me something.
Maybe he was lonely. Vampire's needed friends too I guessed, and I was certainly available.
"Are you going to hunt tonight?"
He didn't answer.
"I could help." I continued, completely accustomed to his attitude by now. "I know an asshole who needs to learn his lesson. You can take his blood."
Still no answer.
"Come on Rien. Stop ignoring me."
"My name is Lord Riener as I have told you many a time."
"I prefer Rien."
"That name is reserved for only my closest comrades." He said, then glanced at me briefly. "You do not fall into that category."
I grinned, then because I knew it would annoy him, I said; "Then I'll call you RiRi and that name will be reserved just for me."
Rien sighed, and my grin widened. Baiting him was fun. "Yeah." I continued, "I like that. RiRi. You'll just be my RiRi."
"I will not be your anything and if you are wise, you will run away and find another soul to pester." He said. "Perhaps someone who enjoys constant chatter at all hours of the day and night."
He turned down a narrow path and I followed behind him. "Can you turn into a bat like the vampires on TV?" I asked, because there had to be some truth to these Hollywood movies.
"You are the most dimwitted human I have ever had the misfortune of meeting." He said and I laughed.
"Just you wait RiRi, soon you're gonna love me." I teased, watching his emotionless face as we walked.
"I doubt that." He said, his expression one of the utmost disgust.
.................................................................
~Present~
I wrapped my hands around my head in an attempt to protect myself from the explosion that rocked the room. I rolled, hoping the get a safe distance away and felt the ground disappear from beneath me momentarily, before I hit something hard with a loud thud.
"Is he alright?" a voice questioned, more from curiosity than any real concern, and I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to clear my vision. I slowly unwrapped my hands from around myself and sat up.
Grady, who had been the one to speak, was sitting at the very end of the bed playing a card game with himself, only pausing it seemed, to watch me with raised brows. Across the room, Laken stood by the window, looking out into the courtyard with his arms crossed over his chest. There also stood Kaio who watched me with an expression of concern, mirrored only by the look on Malik's face.
There was no explosion, I surmised. At least not in this room. I stood slowly, taking care not to overexert my already stiff muscles. There was no sign of Rien and his brothers, or the others who'd been in here before I'd apparently fallen asleep.
They're at war." Laken supplied as though he knew my thoughts and I crossed to his side where I pulled back the curtain further to look out into the compound. What I saw was chaos. I stood back in horror.
"How long since it started?"
"An hour, hour and a half, who's counting." Grady shrugged as he focused his attention back on his cards. I'd sat down for a few minutes at most and I'd managed to not only fall asleep, but to miss over an hour's worth of confusion. I ran a hand over my face and glanced back out the window. Before I'd fallen asleep, the others were here discussing strategy. It was hard to believe that now they were out there fighting for their lives.
No, I thought. It wasn't really hard to believe. After all, chaos in war could be as sudden as it could be slow to form. I didn't see Rien out there. It wasn't easy to make out any particular person really, with only the moon as a source of illumination.
The growls were bone chilling. It was like the sounds of a hundred rabid dogs and of course there were the shouts and the clanging of metal and screams...there were always screams on a battlefield. I swallowed hard. "Have you heard from any of them?" I asked, and Laken shook his head.
I glanced at him, taking in the stiff set of his shoulders and the strain in his expression. He, unlike Grady, was tense with worry. I thought back to what Rien had said to be earlier in the corridors and my stomach had felt like it was being weighed down by hot lead.
"How can we just sit here and do nothing?" I asked in disbelief. "How can we just sit here?"
It was Malik he answered. "What do you expect us to do Tony? You're still healing, Kaio and Laken have their orders and Grady and I are human. We wouldn't stand a chance out there."
I shook my head, "Have you seen Kandane yet?" I asked Kaio, because he was the only one who likely knew how the eldest brother looked, and he shook his head.
"I do not think he has arrived. I would have known if he had."
I heard the distant smashing of glass as though something hard and heavy had been thrown through a window. Grady sighed. "They always go for the windows."
My eyes narrowed. "You have a mate out there. Why are you so calm?"
He looked up at me, a slow, insolent and arrogant look that made me frown. "Does this look like the face of a person who is calm to you?" he said, and I thought that yes, it did look like the face of someone who was calm. I watched as Grady looked away from me and very deliberately, continued his solo card game.
I took a deep breath. I'd never been good at sitting and waiting around for the world to close in on me. I was a man of action and Rien was out there. I cursed myself for not being able to stay awake long enough to watch him go, then I moved to sit on the edge of the bed beside the silent Grady.
Malik was right of course. I was a soldier, I could fight, I could handle a war, but this wasn't a battleground for a man like me. If I lifted a fist out there I'd be ripped to shreds. Besides that, I didn't have the strength to be of much help to anyone, and much like the worried Laken, I would only be a distraction to Rien out there.
I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead, where a dull ache had started to build. An hour and a half had already passed, but from what I'd seen, that war wouldn't end anytime soon. I looked around the room at the others. Could I really do it? Could I really sit here and wait and hope and make myself sick with worry?
Did I have a choice?
So much time I'd wasted that I could have spent with Rien. I thought it, not for the first time since I'd awoken from my pain-filled haze. So much time lost. If this had been the kind of war I was accustomed to, I'd just....
It was then that it occurred to me, and I looked at Grady. "Do you have weapons here at the camp?"
He looked up with arched brows. "Yeah we have an armory on the ground floor. Why?"
I slow smile spread across my face. We wouldn't be waiting here like a bunch of useless wives. "We're going need to take a trip down there." I said, and held up a hand when Kaio began to raise his usual objections. He fell silent, but watched me with narrowed eyes.
Grady lowered his cards. "Ah...we might have a little problem with that actually."
"Why's that?" I asked, bending to pull on a boot.
"I've sorta been banned from the armory."
I glanced up at him as I pulled on the other. "What do you mean?"
He shrugged nonchalantly, but his face went red. "I might have sorta accidentally shot someone once."
When I only looked at him, he shrugged again. "It's complicated."
"Not really." Came Laken's quick reply, and Grady frowned.
"It's not like anyone died." he snapped and I sighed.
Jesus.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
SHORT I KNOW. THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE LONGER. THANKS FOR READING!
-KEEP SWEET!
-DoUbLe.A
-unedited.