Called to Order (42 page)

After several minutes, Cain finally sealed his bite and looked at his brother. “Her veins are getting thick. I could barely pull a drop at first. I’m afraid I may have damaged her throat, but it was all I could do. Did she drink?”

Adam’s voice shook. “I cannot be sure. I tried to make it go into her belly, but I do not know.”

Cain licked his open wrist closed and rocked the female. His brother held her lifeless hand. Her face was smeared with the dark stain of Cain’s blood. They all waited.

“Perhaps we should carry her to a bed,” Jonas suggested.

“I do not want to move her,” both brothers said at once. It was not a secret that these two men had been each other’s enemy only hours ago, ironic that now they were both depending on the other to save the woman they loved.

Suddenly, Annalise’s chest expanded, drawing in a long breath of air. Her lashes fluttered, and her fingertips twitched.

“Ainsicht.”

“Annalise.”

Her eyes slowly opened, and she looked curiously at the man holding her. “Cain?”

“Yes, sweet Anna. Adam is here, too.”

She turned her head and saw her husband. He did not reach for her, only smiled. Twin tracks of tears marred his face. “Adam, what’s wrong?” Her voice was horse, most likely from Cain’s bite.

Adam shook his head in disbelief. “I was wrong, Annalise. I was so frightened.”

Jonas stood and spoke in German, “I am going to find Gracie so she can check on the baby. I will bring her back here. Please, my sons, do not overlook the kindness you have done for each other this night. Do not take the bond you share for granted. It is a miracle.”

Jonas left, and Annalise’s hand went to her stomach. The bishop averted his eyes and handed her a blanket. Cain carefully laid it over her. She looked back at Adam who had moved slightly away from her. “What has happened? Adam?” When he didn’t answer, only shook his head, she turned to his brother. “Cain? Tell me, please, what has happened.”

Cain, clearly the more direct of the two, looked at Annalise with shrewd honesty and said, “You died, and we couldn’t get you back. We almost lost you. Adam’s blood was not strong enough to complete the bond. You needed mine.”

Chapter 29

Anna’s mind was not quite clear. She suddenly recalled that guy in the movie
The Fly
at the point
when every familiar thing seemed new and foreign. She had realized she was in Cain’s arms the moment she breathed her first breath. Like the slight flavor that filled Adam’s blood and tickled her tongue when they kissed, Cain also had a scent. Only now it was streaming from their pores. It was as if she could scent their pheromones. Adam’s was woodsy and ripe, sharp, crisp, and pure like water. Cain’s scent was different. Cain had a rougher essence. His was bolder, harder, slightly musky with a dark kind of tang.

When her eyes opened, she saw every flicker of the lantern in her peripheral vision. It was as if her eyes worked as a camera lens and had their own zoom control. She could probably read a small-print novel from a mile away. And her hearing, she knew immediately it was raining but suspected they were below ground. The drops pelting the roof were several floors over head.

She heard thunder and felt the vibrations of the earth, heard water forming puddles and working in fine rivulets that seeped slowly into the soil. She heard a mouse climbing in the walls, and then there was something ominous, some heavy feeling that pressed into her body, an emotion that was not her own. What was it? Fear, regret, sadness, relief, gratitude. She suffered all of those things, but they were not her own emotions.

She turned to Adam. “Adam, what’s wrong?” What was wrong with her voice? Her throat was raw. She brought her hand to her neck and touched open flesh. What had happened?

Adam looked wretched as if whatever had gone on while she was out had destroyed a part of him forever. “I was wrong, Annalise. I was so frightened,” he said without looking at her. What did he mean? What had scared him? Why was her brain still so muddled and slow?

Jonas stood, and Anna jumped. Cain’s arms tightened around her as if to reassure her. She did not realize her father-in-law was there. He said some words in German and then left. There were bars on the wall. Anna thought she heard the word
baby
mixed in the string of heavy-pitched syllables coming from Jonas, and her hand went to her belly.

A blanket was draped over her, and she noticed another man only partially dressed. She was floored by the amount of muscle exposed in the stranger’s chest and followed each bulge admirably until she reached the man’s face. Holy crap it was the bishop! Who’d invited him to the party? Something had definitely gone wrong.

Starting to panic, she asked, “What has happened? Adam?” He just shook his head. “Cain? Tell me, please, what has happened?”

Cain’s arms wrapped tightly around her as if trying to offer her comfort. He looked toward her face but also would not meet her gaze. Why was Adam so far away? Why was his brother holding her? And why was she still naked?

Cain finally spoke. “You died, and we couldn’t get you back. We almost lost you. Adam’s blood was not strong enough to complete the bond. You needed mine.”

“What?” No, that wasn’t right. “But I’m Adam’s—”

“No, Annalise,” her husband said solemnly. “You are Cain’s mate. It is his blood that saved you.”

Cain gave his brother a sharp look. Anna said, “But I’m your
ainsicht
.”

He shook his head and stood. His hands were visibly shaking. “No. I’m sorry. You do not belong to me. You are the one for my brother. You belong to Cain.”

Anna stiffened. “But I am
your wife!
”
she enunciated each word. Adam looked to the bishop, and she shouted, “Don’t look at him! Look at me!”

He hung his head and turned. “I am sorry, Annalise. It is what God has decided.”

He walked out of the room, and she scrambled off of Cain’s lap, clutching the blanket over her so not to flash the bishop. “What about what
I
decided?” He hesitated, but did not turn around so she pushed him. “What about me, huh? What about everything you promised me!” His body tensed at her words, but he would not face her.

He was really going to just walk away. Her eyes began to water, and a painful lump formed in her throat. “What about
eawichkeit
, Adam? Eternity?” Her tears slip past her lashes unchecked, and her voice broke. “You promised me no regrets.”

He turned and faced her but did not touch her in any way. When he looked in her eyes, she saw tears filling his own. “I was wrong. I have no way to repair what has happened. I can only tell you that I am more sorry than I have ever felt in my life.”

Her breath left her as bewilderment settled over her. “You know what, Adam? You are sorry. You are the sorriest excuse for a husband I have ever met.”

He turned and began walking up the hall, walking away from her. She yelled after him. “That’s it, just walk away. You know what? I have regrets! I regret ever meeting you! I regret ever speaking to you! I regret coming to this place and trusting you! You did this to me! You gave me an eternity to feel this regret! You know what I regret most? That you didn’t just let me die!
You should have let me die!
”

Her screams rang down the hall until Adam disappeared and her voice gave out. Cain wrapped his arms around her, and she collapsed in his hold. She sobbed into his torn shirt over and over again, “You should have let me die.” He tucked the blanket around her and pulled her face into the shelter of his shoulder, shielding her from the bishop.

He approached the other man. “I am leaving now. Try to stop me, and I will kill you.”

Cain carried her down the long hall and into the night. The rain had stopped, and his feet sloshed over the wet grass. Where he was taking her she did not know.

* * * *

Cain approached his brother’s house just as Gracie and his father were leaving. He handed Annalise over to his sister. “Here. Take her. Where is Mother?”

“She went with Silus to search for Larissa. No one can find her. What’s going on?” his sister asked.

“I don’t have time to explain. Where is Adam?”

“He is in the barn. Cain, what’s happening?” His sister was getting upset, something he knew Gracie rarely did.

“Gracie, I cannot have another sibling upset right now. I need you to focus. Can you feel the baby?”

Gracie shifted Annalise in her arms. She had yet to stop crying. All she kept moaning was regrets and accusations that they should have left her dead. Gracie touched her belly under the blanket and Cain could tell by the look in her eyes.

He gave a sharp nod. “Take her to bed and let her rest. Do not let her try and harm herself. Do you understand?”

He turned and his father yelled, “Where are you going?”

“To find Adam.”

Adam was not in the barn. He was sitting in the far field to the left. Cain approached slowly and sat down beside him. He waited for his brother to acknowledge him. When several minutes passed and he did not, Cain said, “What are you doing, Adam?”

“I am sitting in a field.”

“I can see that. How long will you sit here? Your wife needs you.”

“She needs her mate. That is not my place.”

Cain growled. “Do you hear yourself? You are her mate. You, Adam! Whatever I felt for Annalise does not compare to what you shared with her. She loves you.”

“She will learn to love you.”

Cain shoved his brother. “I do not want her to
learn
to love me. What kind of life is that? I will always know that when I touch her she will be wishing it were you. When I look at her, she will always look away a little too soon in disappointment. When I talk to her, she will never hear my voice over the regret in her head. You have started this and you must finish it.”

“She does not belong to me.”

“Then who, Adam, who does she belong to? She gave you her heart of her own free will. She has nothing left to give another man. You are destroying her right now, do you know that? She fell apart after you left. I never want to see her break like that again. You must fix this.”

In a pained voice his brother wheezed, “I can’t.”

“
Yes! You can!”
Cain grabbed his brother’s shoulders and shook him violently. “This is the task God has charged you with. You must take care of her, Adam, or it will not matter whether or not she breathes. She will die inside.”

A tear fell from his brother’s cheek. “She must think this all was a cruel joke. I will never be able to make this right for her or you. I must leave.”

“And where will you go?”

“Away from here.”

“Well, that’s just fantastic. And what will happen nine months from now when your child is born?”

The glistening pools of Adam’s eyes met his. “The baby survived?”

“Yes. Gracie checked. It’s fine.” Cain sighed. “Don’t you see, Adam? That is your child. Annalise is your mate. That house over there is your home. I do not want to live in another man’s shadow. I want my own family someday. This one is yours.”

“But
you
were called to
her.”

“So were you.”

“It was a mistake.”

“No, Adam, it was a rare occurrence. Just like a mother of our kind giving birth to twins is a rarity. It does not make it wrong.
We
are not wrong. Don’t you feel the relief of the bonding? Don’t tell me it didn’t affect you. I could see it the moment you laid her naked form in my arms. Your beast is satisfied. He recognizes her as yours and is no longer feeling the threat of another claiming her.”

“She will never forgive me.”

“You must stop this! You made a mistake. So long as you right your wrong, she will forgive you. She loves you, Adam. Loves you! Not because God said she should or because of a few shared dreams, but because you are good and worthy of her heart.” Cain’s throat constricted. It would be so easy to love a woman like Annalise, but it would never be genuine. He needed to do right by her and bring her back her mate. “It’s you, Adam. No one else will ever compare to what you are to her. Not even me.”

“If I went back, what would happen to you?”

“Well, I’d probably take your room at the big house.” Adam elbowed him and laughed. “Honestly, I am not sure. I will be here. Hopefully you could end this headhunt you have had on me for the last two weeks. But I imagine things will go on pretty much the same as they always have.”

“But what of your future. It is a gift to be called once. It will never happen again for you.”

“Ah, but they said that only one male and one female could share a calling and we proved that wrong. Besides, the elders are not as all-knowing as we once assumed. Mother and Father are not called mates, and they are happier than any couple I have ever seen.
Ferleicht
I will simply fall in love and forget all the pressures of being called upon by God.”

“And what of your feelings for my wife?”

Cain smiled, glad to hear the possessive note back in his brother’s voice. “Annalise is someone I care for very much, but she will never be more than a sister to me. Even if she is a fantastic kisser.” At the sharp turn of Adam’s head, Cain laughed. “Do not worry,
breder
, it was only one time and before you were married.”

Adam playfully growled at his brother and made a threat that if Cain ever kissed his wife again he would throw him out another window. After sitting in silence for a while longer, Adam finally said in a serious voice, “You humble me, Cain. I do not believe I could have been charitable enough to do the same.”

“Ah, but you did when you believed I was her rightful mate. You see, Adam, I always knew you were more right for her than I could have ever been. I love you, and I could never take your happiness from you. You deserve to be happy.”