Octavian's Undoing (Sons of Judgment) (63 page)

More tears spilled, washing over his hands. “I almost killed her. I wanted to kill her. I couldn’t control it.”

“You’ll learn. I will help you learn. You only woke up this morning, Riley. You can’t be expected to know how to control your thirst that quickly.”

“But she’s my best friend and I… I didn’t even recognize her. All I saw was how pink she was and how delicious her blood smelled…” Shining, her eyes swung up to his face. “Are you okay? Is Gideon and Magnus and… oh God! They must hate me.”

“Nobody hates you, not even Reggie. Now just relax and get some rest. I’ll bring you something up to drink.”

With a kiss to her temple, he moved back. She curled onto her side and buried her face into the pillow. It took all his strength not to crawl into the space on her other side and draw her into his arms. More than that, it took a great deal of willpower not to march downstairs and punch his brother in the nose, because, damn it, he would have done the same. Human or Demon or strigoi, anyone who threatens his mate would have gotten a face full of his rage. But the fact was that it had been his mate that got hurt and truthfully, he couldn’t blame anyone. It wasn’t Reggie’s fault or Daphne’s. It certainly wasn’t Riley’s fault. It was something that should have been expected.

Leaving her weeping softly into the pillow, he hurried from the room. He walked into the kitchen and stepped into the cold storage. Dropping to one knee, he pulled out the cooler tucked into the bottom shelf, out of sight and popped off the lid. Inside was a small collection of blood bags, each one with its label up to distinguish between the different types. He picked one at random, doubting Riley had a favorite at this point. He dropped the lid back into place, stowed the cooler out of sight once more and rose.

Low murmurs rose from the room beyond the door, but he paid them no mind. He strode to the woodstove and set to work pouring the blood pack into a sauce pan and setting it on the low flame. He disposed of the empty bag, wiped his hands and only then did he venture into the other room.

“Well, what, you don’t want me?” Daphne was saying, looking so small and determined with her chin up and tears in her eyes.

“No!” Reggie stabbed a finger on the table between them. “You’re sixteen and if that’s not bad enough, you’re human.”

“I won’t be sixteen forever,” she snapped back.

“But you will still be human.”

Daphne looked about prepared to shout something back when her gaze landed on Octavian. She darted around the table towards him. “How is she? Is she okay? Can I see her?”

“No!” Reggie snapped before Octavian could speak. “How many times must you be told that you’re human?”

Daphne whirled on him, orange curls swinging around her shoulders. “Probably about the same number of times as—”

“How is she?” his mother interjected.

“She thinks she’s a monster and that you all hate her,” he said, shooting a sharp glare at his brother, who had the decency to grimace.

“We don’t hate her,” his mother said as though needing to convince him. “And she isn’t a monster.”

“I know that, but she won’t believe me.”

“Let me talk to her,” Daphne said. “Once she sees that I’m—”

“No!” Four people said at once.

Daphne threw her hands up. “Well, I have to do something because
you
.” She stabbed Octavian in the chest with a finger. “Turned my BFF into a bloodsucking Demon. Thanks for that.”

“I told you it doesn’t work that way,” Reggie retorted, exasperated.

“I don’t care how it works. My friend is hurting and needs me and you guys are stopping me—”

“From getting killed? Yeah we’re real assholes like that,” Gideon muttered.

She shot him a sharp glower before rounding on Reggie. “It’s your fault this happened. You hurt her feelings.”

Flabbergasted, Reggie threw his hands up. “Are you kidding me? I saved your life.”

“Riley wouldn’t have hurt me.”

“Yeah, maybe the old Riley, but this isn’t the same Riley.”

“She is still my friend.”

Jaw set in sharp angles that could cut glass, Reggie bared his teeth. “Fine. Do whatever you want. I don’t care. I give up.” He stormed to the door. Made it almost all the way there before he pivoted on his heel and marched back. “You are not going near her until she learns to control her thirst.”

Daphne shot him a withering stare. “Try and stop me. I have four brothers, pal, and I will take your ass down.”

With a snarl that made Octavian almost pity his brother, Reggie shoved both hands through his hair and rounded on his mother. “Talk to her. Tell her she’s being unreasonable and pigheaded.”

“I honestly have no idea what we’re supposed to do, truth be told.” She looked to her husband, the plea in her eyes. “Liam?”

Sitting at the table with Gideon and Magnus, their father just sighed heavily. “I think Reggie’s right, Daphne. Octavian was able to pull Riley back this time, but no one can guarantee that will be the case next time. She’s only going to get stronger and right now, you are too much temptation for her.”

The defeat in the other girl’s shoulders jerked at Octavian’s heart strings. “So, I can’t see her anymore?”

“Not at all,” his mother said quickly. “We just have to make sure her thirst is fully under control before she can be around you.”

Slowly, she nodded. “Okay, but how will I know when?”

“I’ll come get you, Daph,” Reggie said, anger replaced with a softness that Octavian understood all too well. “I promise.”

Octavian didn’t wait around to hear the rest. He walked back into the kitchen. The blood on the stove had just begun to steam. He snatched it off the fire, grabbed a cup from the shelf and gingerly filled it with the thick, crimson liquid. Dumping the dirty sauce pan into the sink and filling it with water, he took his glass and went up to check on Riley.

In the bedroom, he stopped on the threshold, his gaze moving over the empty bed. Concern welled up a second before the sound of water running drew his attention to the bathroom. He set the glass down on the nightstand and went to the door. He knuckled softly.

“Riley?” Nothing but the soft rush of water returned his curiosity. Brows drawn now, he tried again.

And when his knock was returned with silence, all thoughts of manners were swallowed by a fast boiling panic. He pushed into the room and was immediately slammed in the face with a wall of steam so thick it plastered his clothes to his skin and made sweat bead across his brow.

“Riley?”

As the steam receded, escaping into the room behind him, he saw her, huddled at the bottom of the tub, knees drawn to her chest, arms over her head as water drummed down over her in a steady pulse. Crouched there, with her hair a wet carpet down her slender back, the color a harsh contrast to her paleness, she seemed so small, so helpless. Seeing her broke his heart. It infuriated him. It made him want to kill Duncan all over again. But all those thoughts were brutally shoved aside as he focused on what was most important.

Kicking off his shoes, his socks and shirt, he crawled into the tub with her.

Her head came up, her eyes red rimmed. “Octavian?”

Without answering her, he reached past her and put the stopper into the hole. Then he put his arms around her and drew her into the V between his legs and held her against his chest. She curled into him, resting her head against his shoulder as the water rose around them.

“I could smell her,” she whispered. “I thought a shower…”

He stroked the wet tendrils of hair off her cheek. “Would you like me to leave?”

She shook her head. “You make everything seem less insane when you’re with me.”

He hadn’t realized how worried he’d been that she’d turn him away until she’d spoken. He released the breath he’d been holding and disguised it by planting a kiss to her crown.

“Tell me something,” she whispered.

“Like what?”

Her slim shoulders moved in a shrug. “Anything. What were you like as a kid?”

A smile touched his mouth. “You expect me to remember that far back?”

She raised her head and peered up into his face. “Don’t you?”

It was his turn to shrug. “I remember being in the water a lot, trying to get away from Gideon and Magnus.”

“Why were you trying to get away from them?” she asked.

“Have you met them?” Her laugh made him grin. “They were always following me around, trying to do whatever I was doing and being a general pain in the ass.”

“I always wanted siblings. I always thought that if I could have one other person with me, I wouldn’t feel so alone all the time.”

“Were you and your father close?”

She shook her head. “We lived in the same house, but we never talked. I think I was just always so angry with him that I didn’t want to. I have never met any family as close as yours.”

He chuckled. “We’re not always close. We fight and kick each other’s asses all the time.”

“Yes, but you have each other and I know you’d do anything for any of them.”

He made a deliberating sound. “Yeah, maybe.” He combed back the damp hairs at her temple. “Did you know Daphne was Reggie’s mate?”

To his surprise, Riley nodded. “I’ve known for a little while.”

“And you never told me?”

The surprise and hurt in his tone had her head coming up. “I didn’t think it was my place to tell. Reggie was so upset about it that I—”

He chuckled. “I’m teasing.” He drew her back.

She snuggled into place. “Are you comfortable?”

Not in the least, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. “Yeah, fine.”

She lightly glided her hand up his jean clad thigh. “You shouldn’t wear your jeans in the tub. It will cut the circulation in your legs and you could die.”

“The only way I’ll die is if they spontaneously combust while I’m wearing them.” Which was a great possibility if she kept wiggling against him like that.

Up until that moment, he’d done a fairly good job of ignoring the fact that she was completely naked, and that she was pressed intimately against areas that hadn’t seen action in a damn long time. But if she kept accidently letting her naked flesh graze his… they were going to have problems.

“Octavian?”

Lost in the turmoil of his own mind, he hadn’t heard her calling him until she’d drawn back to peer into his face. Man he hoped he wasn’t blushing.

He cleared his throat. “Yeah?”

“I asked what happened after I got bitten. I don’t remember anything after that point.”

Grateful for the safe topic, he told her everything from the moment he brought her inside after she’d been bitten to the moment he injected Duncan’s blood into her. He left nothing out.

When he finished, she pulled away from him and reached to shut off the shower. The water had reached her shoulders, safely covering everything that was a distraction to him.

“So Antonius had no idea what orders Duncan was talking about?” she asked, turning back to him.

Shifting up higher, Octavian nodded. “He swore it wasn’t him.”

Contemplation screwed up her features as she stared down at the water. “Just because he says he didn’t do it doesn’t mean he doesn’t know who did.” She glanced up at him. “His answers were very evasive.”

“I have no doubt that he knows who ordered Duncan. What I want to know is who is powerful enough to order a strigoi Master to do anything and what is Antonius getting in return?”

“I just hope it’s over,” she whispered.

He reached for her and pulled her forward to him. “It is. There is nothing anyone can do now. You’re not human anymore and there is no law against a Caster being with a strigoi.”

Riley smiled. Her small hands splayed across his chest. “So what’s it like dating a dead chic?”