As Love Shifts (14 page)

“But where does the energy come from?” asked Sherra.

“All around us. The earth produces energy, just as sometimes walking out in the sun makes you feel better. Your body is absorbing the warmth that the sun gives off. We just have the ability to absorb more energy and use it more efficiently. There is no hard evidence to say why this is so. It is just a gift like a person who has a talent for singing or dancing. Some people can draw an image that looks exactly like another person. I can’t draw a stick figure.”

Demetri had such an amiable personality and he did have a way of explaining things so they made sense. Kris wondered if it was because of what he was, or because of the emporium. The trait would make him a good salesman. His words also got Kris thinking about what Ever had sacrificed. She had been woken up halfway through the night and dragged from bed. They hadn’t even thought to get her anything to eat, although, Liam had made her a cup of coffee. She had spent over two hours rooted to a chair, with her mind on the air quality and then had healed both him and Liam.

He really needed to go check on Liam. Kris strode over, kneeling down beside his brother. He stroked back Liam’s hair, seeing the missing chunk of his now-human ear. It looked rather odd, the edges sort of jagged.

“Ow.”

“Ow, what? Did Ever miss something?”

“I don’t think so. It’s just pain that I’m sure is more memory than reality. Damn that hurt.”

“What, your ear?”

“Yeah, that, too. I was thinking more about my hip and side. I couldn’t breathe. Fucking Nothan charged me as I was fighting with Orris. He hit me so hard, he lifted me right off my feet and slammed me into the wall. I felt my hip shatter and then Orris sunk his teeth into my chest. I heard bone cracking and I think he fucked up one of my lungs because I couldn’t breathe. I brought my head around and caught him in the throat. The last thing I remember was the hot sensation of blood pumping into my mouth.

Kris looked around and saw Orris slumped a few feet away. He was lying in a pool of his own blood. “He’s dead.”

“Yeah, so is Humphrey. He was the first one who was stupid enough to challenge me. I knew that a simple fight was out of the question, we were too far outnumbered. It was kill or be killed as far as I was concerned.”

“Same here.” Kris sighed at the wasted lives on the tunnel floor. His father was right. They had been extremely lucky. His mind had initially registered nine wolves charging into the tunnel, but there were eleven dead on the floor.
The other two had probably come in later.
His instant reaction had been to turn and as Kris had said, his mind had been set to kill. In a split second, he had registered the danger to Ever and the danger to all of them if she was hurt. Even though he had been furious with her, it had been her safety above all else that was predominant in his mind. Thrusting back his hair, he groaned at the sticky feel of it. He really needed to wash the blood out of it. Of course, Liam was equally as bloody. His eyes again focused on Liam’s ear and his mind returned to Ever. “Demetri claims that I am wrong for blaming Ever for this. Am I?”

“I don’t know. I have to think that this was not done on the spur of the moment because she made some stupid comment. I’m thinking that Willis heard that Ever was here, sitting in the middle of the tunnel, and he then organized an attack on her. I think it was because of her, but that doesn’t make it her fault. Maybe you should ask around.”

“I am. I sent Aramis into the other bunker with eight others to round up the rest of the Parth family and collect information.”

“Good idea.” Liam sat up slowly as if expecting to be in pain. “Ever’s gonna love your face.”

He grunted in disagreement. “Why do you think that?”

“Because, the slight scar and the separation in your eyebrow gives you this really bad-boy look. It makes you look tougher. She has a fetish for scars, you know that.”

“She also has a fetish for our eyes and I’m down to one.”

“So, have a sexy turquoise one made. You could have the stone smith make you all different ones from the gems they have been finding on the mountain. I’m sure they can spare a few for the alpha to look fashionable.”

Kris had to laugh at the chagrined expression on Liam’s face. Liam was right, Kris had recently picked on Ever for wearing fashionable jeans and now he was the one worried about his appearance. Was he mad at Ever because of what had happened, or more aptly what had happened to his eye
?
He had never looked upon her fighting scars as undesirable. If anything they were sexy because they stood out on her perfect skin. Maybe he was looking at this wrong. He could wear an eye patch and look like a werewolf pirate. Of course, it would fuck up his peripheral vision when he was in wolf form and it was going to make hunting harder. Yet he wouldn’t be the first wolf in history to lose an eye, and it wasn’t like he was a lone hunter when the need arose.

Was he simply being vain?

Liam smacked him on the shoulder. “Wanna help me up so I can go grab my clothes? I’m kind of exposed here and I’m getting some interesting looks from the ladies present. Forbid Ever wakes up and sees other women lusting over one of her prizes.”

Kris chuckled as he stood and offered his hand. Liam took it and got up with a groan. He limped across the tunnel and grabbed his clothing, tugging his jeans back on. He was wondering about what Demetri said as he walked over to Liam. “Do you think that Ever loves me more?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know. Demetri said that Ever loves me more.”

“Of course she does. She has always loved you just a tiny bit more. I sometimes think that is why Mick left. He knew, but he couldn’t handle it. I know how much she loves me and it doesn’t bother me. Do you honestly think that if it had been me or Demetri who asked her to fuck around under the sheets the other night she would have said yes?”

“I didn’t think about it. You don’t think she would have?”

“Honestly, I think that she would have considered it long and hard first. Then she still might have said no.”

Kris had never really thought about her loving him more. Was it because he was alpha or was there another reason? “Why do you think that?”

“I don’t know. It’s in the way she looks at you or maybe because when all three of us are alone together with her, she gives you preference. It is not anything really bad or even significant. If there’s a question, she always asks you, well…unless it’s something specific to magic, then she asks Demetri.”

“And you don’t mind?”

“Of course not. You are alpha and there are things you answer without even thinking about that I wouldn’t have a clue how to reply. I’m happy, maybe happier than I’ve ever been. I love my life, I love her, and I love the family we have. I know things are going to be rough for a while, but as long as we are alive and together, we will find a way to fix things. Don’t be angry with her, Kris. It will only upset her and I’m sure she is going to be completely stressed out when she wakes up. She will be worried about us and if I know her, she will be thinking it was her fault anyway. Don’t reinforce that. Please.”

Kris nodded. He honestly didn’t think it was her fault. “Actually, I think that you and Demetri are right. This would have happened anyway, even without her big mouth. The outcome could have been quite a bit different. I guess if it comes down to Ever losing an ear or an eye, I would much rather that it had happened to us, as it did. I like her ears and I love looking into her eyes.”

Liam chuckled. “Yeah, so do I. Almost as much as I like watching her ass turn red. Damn I want to get laid.”

Considering the circumstances, the comment was amusing. “Sorry, but we need to figure out what to do with the bodies first. It is going to make things extremely miserable when the flesh starts to decay. Too bad we aren’t like vampires who simply crumble to dust when they die.”

“Do you think vampires actually exist?”

“I have no fucking idea.”

Demetri walked over to them. “Your father and I were just discussing what to do with the bodies. He suggested sealing them in garbage bags and putting them in the unfinished refrigerator unit in the second bunker. I think it’s a good idea.”

“I agree,” replied Kris. “What’s your opinion of vampires?”

“Never met one, so I have no clue. What brought that question up?”

“I was thinking that the bodies would be much easier to handle if they had decayed to ash like vampires are supposed to do.”

The sound of a woman sobbing filled the air around them and together they turned to locate the sound. Aramis walked at the head of a group of people with his guards around the outside. It looked to Kris as if they had gathered all the remaining members of the Parth family. He strode up to them, glaring at Merion
, Willis Parth's first son's wife.
“I have some questions for you.”

She stared at him for a brief second and then lowered her eyes in a submissive fashion.
Kris continued,
“I’m sure you were aware of what your father-in-law was planning. What the hell was he thinking? I really want to know.”

Merion sniffled. “We tried to stop him, but he didn’t listen to us. He wasn’t listening to anyone, and when he called his sons to action, they followed him. Now they are all dead. My mate is dead and his two sons lie in their own lifeblood on the floor. I hated Willis so much, but…I begged Andrew not to go. He wouldn’t listen.”

“Why did he do this?”

She looked around again, her tears streaming down her face. “Because he was an egotistical old fuck. He couldn’t stand the idea that a woman had beaten him. Willis started this and he wasn’t going to let it go. He wanted her to pay for tarnishing his reputation, or that’s what he said. He also said that you and the other men had no respect for tradition or the proper place of your woman. I think if it hadn’t been for Ever’s comment about us not being allowed to use the bunkers if the need arose, we would be up there, already dead.” She turned her eyes to the top of the tunnel, to an outside watery grave, and then shook her head in grief as she lowered it. “The only reason that he brought the family down here was because he knew Ever would be here.”

That was a hell of a statement. From what he knew of Willis, he had no doubt of it. The man would have forced his family to remain in their home as the wind brought the walls down on top of them. It had been Ever’s fault, but in a way that he had never imagined. If anything, she had saved the lives of the women and children who now stood before him. Kris suddenly had to wonder if she had honestly forbid Willis from entering the bunkers because of her anger, or she had been thinking into the future and knew the man would do the opposite of what she said. Was it really possible that she had considered that? Knowing Ever, it was very likely.

Ever sat straight up in bed, inhaling a labored breath of terrified air. She sat panting, her entire body shaking with terror as she looked around. Daisy was on the sofa, the children were on their bed, and her men were sleeping around her. Kris touched her arm and sat up beside her. “Had a bad dream?”

“I don’t think it was a dream.” She was on the verge of hyperventilating again and needed to calm her breathing. She inhaled a deep breath, forcing herself to keep it in her lungs for a few moments before slowly blowing it back out. “Somehow, my mind captured the entire fight from beginning to end. I was floating at the top of the tunnel, watching everything.” She turned and stroked his cheek. “I’m so sorry.” Tears of guilt and remorse flowed down her cheeks and she was unable to hold them back. Kris had lost his eye because of her stupid,
i
nconsiderate words. She couldn’t blame him for being angry. Kris had every right to be furious with her.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. “For what?”

He didn’t sound angry. “For inciting the fight, for not being able to fix your eye. For not getting back into my fucking car and driving away like a normal, rational person would have done.”

He pushed her softly back to look at her. “Weres are not always rational, and you didn’t incite it. Willis was planning this all along and he attacked when he did because he figured that you were helpless and you would be easy prey. I don’t blame you for not fixing my eye. It was gone. There was nothing there to repair. Liam said that it makes me look dangerous and sexy.”

Ever sniffled as he turned his head, his empty eye closed. It wasn’t as hollow as she imagined and it did kind of make him look more dangerous. He was dangerous. She had watched him fighting. He was amazing. “You become all fangs and terrifying snarls when you fight. That is sexy.”

Kris put his palms to her cheeks, turning his head directly toward the dimness of the emergency light. When he opened his eyelid, Ever saw that his socket was no longer empty. She frowned, which made him smile, as he said, “Your favorite color.”

She giggled. “Is that amethyst?”

“Yup. After we got the mess cleaned up, I went to see Grego. He is one of the people who hunts gemstones and cuts them for jewelry. Of course, he packed up all his stones and his equipment and bought it with him. Anyway, he had a nice piece of amethyst that I thought you would like. He used some of his daughter’s clay to get the shape of my remaining eye socket and then cut the stone so it would fit. Looks kind cool, huh? The children were amazed. Seren said he wanted one for himself. I said no.”

“I think it looks beautiful. It gives you an individual look and will always remind me that you defended me with no reserve.”

Shit, he and Liam weren’t the only ones who were injured. “Are your father and Sherra okay? I didn’t have the power left to heal them.”

“Basically. If you want to get up then you can go check on them. I’m sure that my father will appreciate having his wrist healed. He didn’t complain about it, but he couldn’t use it and it was black and quite swollen.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Demetri said to let you sleep until you woke up on your own.”