“I know,” Brie whispered and hoped she was right.
“We’re in room ten if you need us,” Cabo said.
“Thank you,” Brie told them. “Get some rest.”
They each squeezed an arm before walking out the door and closing it behind them. Brie should have felt alone in the ensuing silence, but she didn’t. Instead, she felt loved and secure in a way she hadn’t in years. She had Cabo and Zina, and now she also had Asher, a man who had proclaimed his love for her, a man who was her mate.
She was anxious about how long the transition was taking, but for the first time in years, she had hope for a future filled with love... once they destroyed their enemies, of course.
CHAPTERFORTY-SEVEN
With a sigh,Brie returned to the bed and sat beside Asher again. She spent the next few hours wiping sweat from his brow, talking to him, and soothing him when he grew restless. She didn’t know if he heard her, but her voice calmed him when he started writhing on the bed.
After a few hours, she turned on the news and was greeted by a reporter standing by a lot of yellow tape. She wasn’t near the caves, but Brie recognized the area.
“Police are saying there are a number of bodies at the location but aren’t giving any further details as to the cause of death or identities. People are starting to gather—”
Brie turned off the TV; she’d seen all she needed to about the story. The police had gone to the cave, uncovered the bodies, and now they would work to bring all of them home. She truly hoped they were all identified, but she’d done all she could to help.
Of course, their DNA and fingerprints would also be in the system now too. They’d left too much blood and evidence in the cave for that not to happen. They would just have to stay out of trouble and away from the police, she decided. However, that was proving to be easier said than done lately.
When nine o’clock rolled around, Asher’s body started jerking on the bed like he was having a seizure. Brie grasped his shoulders to hold him down when he flopped so violently the bed left the floor.
She did her best to keep him restrained while trying not to damage his shoulder any more. It was difficult to do, especially since he had the strength of ten men.
She briefly contemplated calling Cabo and Zina to help, but they’d both looked so exhausted she decided against disturbing them. She would handle this on her own.
Thankfully, it didn’t last long before Asher’s body flopped onto the bed and he went limp. Uncertain of what to do, she sat beside him again and lifted an eyelid to check his eyes.
His pupils nearly took up his entire eye. She gasped and almost dropped it but managed to keep herself from doing so. Carefully closing the lid again, she bent and kissed his forehead.
“Come back to me,” she whispered. “Please come back to me soon.”
She watched over him and washed him with the cloth as he twitched and moaned but didn’t thrash around again. With every passing second, she kept expecting him to come out of it and wake, but he remained deep in the throes of the transition.
She’d never heard of a transition taking this long before. It had to be because he was a hunter and so injured, but she was beginning to worry he might have been too far gone to save.
Briefly, she contemplated calling the number he left with Cabo, but then he started thrashing again, and she had no time to pick up the phone. Straddling him, she placed both hands on his chest.
The bones in his arm had reattached, ligaments were reforming, and skin had started to cover the damaged flesh. She couldn’t take the chance of reinjuring his shoulder by pinning his arms down.
She spent the next couple of hours fighting to keep him from throwing himself off the bed and hurting himself more. By the time he collapsed and stopped moving completely, she was nearly as exhausted as when she first woke.
Still, she didn’t move off him as she waited for it to start again. But as the seconds became minutes and the minutes turned into an hour, she started hoping the worst was over. She remained on top of him for another half an hour before swinging her leg over the side and rising.
Her muscles had cramped from her position and the stress she’d exerted to keep him safe. Her hunger had returned and was once again a raging beast determined to be sated.
Walking over to the small fridge next to the dresser, she opened the door and removed a bag of blood. This time, she consumed it to sate her hunger and ensure she had enough blood for Asher once this was over.
She could give him a blood bag when he woke and let him drink from it, but she wanted to know what it felt like to have him quenching his thirst onher. She nearly squished the bag in her hand as the overwhelming urge to experience it gripped her.
She drank another bag and tossed both empties in the trash before returning to the bed. She’d have to remember to empty the trash before they left. If he woke now and fed, she’d consumed more than enough blood for them.
Lying beside him on the bed, Brie rested her head on Asher’s shoulder and a hand on his chest. His heart’s reassuring, solid thump beneath her palm made her smile even as he remained rigid beneath her.
She closed her eyes and spent the next couple of hours drifting in and out of restless sleep. Her body sought a respite from its exhaustion while her mind sought to remain focused on him and their surroundings in case something went wrong.
A few hours later, his fingers twitching against hers snapped her awake. Brie’s breath caught in her chest as hope surged through her. She lifted her head and studied him as his eyes moved rapidly behind his closed lids before flying open.
