AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Panahasi rubbed his temples. For eons, before he knew Alric’s true form, the Keeper had been a decrepit old man. He always talked in riddles, and now Panahasi felt as if Alric had returned to those days. “Never mind.”
“Exactly,” the Keeper said. “All we can do is move forward and hope we catch him.”
Panahasi didn’t like the waiting game, but with no other choice, he left.
* * * *
Panahasi had simply dropped Zayde off then left. Now he stood in a lavish apartment looking around. And then he heard someone moaning. Zayde eased toward the couch, his heart hammering. When he peeked over the back, he was shocked to see Denali lying there.
“Denali!” Zayde ran around the couch, launching himself into his mate’s arms.
Denali screamed. Zayde scrambled backward, horrified that the guy was in so much pain.
“What happened?” He lowered himself to his knees in front of the couch, right by Denali’s head. “What’s wrong? Why’d you scream?”
Then he remembered Panahasi telling him that some guy named Kalin had attacked Denali.
“How bad is it?” Duh, the scream of pain told Zayde it was bad. He saw what looked like singed clothing. Was Denali burned? When Zayde peeled back the fabric, he inhaled sharply. There were nasty gashes across Denali’s torso, and they were trickling blood. It looked as if someone had set a blowtorch to his mate’s skin.
Zayde felt nauseous. “Why haven’t you shifted to heal?”
“Won’t help,” Denali gritted out, his eyes still closed. “Tried, but it only did so much good. The demon used an ancient whip.”
His mate had been whipped? With what, a line of fire? Zayde gnashed his teeth at the thought of someone hurting his mate. “Where is Kalin now?”
“Don’t know.” Denali began to shiver, as if he was fighting a fever.
But his mate had told him that preternatural beings didn’t get sick, which meant this was bad. Really, really bad.
“Can Panahasi heal you?” The guy had had some freaky powers.
“No,” Denali said, though his eyes were still closed. He’d yet to open them. “Not even Phoenix, who has healing powers in his tears, can heal me.”
Zayde gripped Denali’s hand as his own tears welled up in his eyes. “What does this mean? What’s going to happen to you?”
“I don’t know,” Denali said. “I feel like I’m dying.”
Zayde’s breath caught and stuttered out of his lungs. “No,” he whispered. “You’re not dying, Denali. I won’t let you die.”
Though Zayde knew there was nothing he could do to help. He was human, with no powers. He couldn’t stop his relatives from dying of cancer or stop his mother from ever getting cancer to begin with. Now his mate… Zayde shoved that thought aside as he held on to Denali’s hand. He couldn’t believe how deeply he felt for someone he’d just met. It was staggering, yet Zayde couldn’t deny that he was falling hard for his lion shifter.
They’d had the most perfect first date, and Zayde wanted many more of them. He wanted a lifetime of coffee under twinkling lights, of desserts and barbeque. He wanted forever so he could stare into Denali’s handsome face, see that amazing smile, and kiss his mate until they were both breathless.
“Please, fight this,” he whispered to Denali. “Please.” Zayde wiped a tear from his cheek. “I don’t…I can’t…”
“Shh,” Denali said. “Please don’t cry, sweetheart. It breaks my heart.”
“How do you know I’m crying?”
“I can smell your tears.” Denali finally opened his eyes, and Zayde fell into the amber abyss. He also saw the raw pain radiating in them. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You can’t promise that if nothing is healing you.” Zayde fought not to let anymore tears fall, but he lost that battle.
Denali cupped his face and used his thumbs to wipe Zayde’s tears away.
“It’ll take more than a whip made of fire to kill me.”
“It’ll only take seeing you in pain to kill me,” Zayde replied.
