Page 46 of Crimson Mate
“Absolutely,” she says although there is a hint of anxiety in her features. “Would I love to have some kind of badass superpower crop up out of nowhere like Grace did in order to give me more reassurance regarding the success of transitioning? Definitely. But is there a world where I want to grow old while Lachlan remains how he is forever? Hell fucking no.”
“I get that,” I say, grateful that I never had to deal with the thought myself.
My eyes fall back to Zachariah, heat flashing beneath my skin at the competent smile he wears as he battles his hunter brother.
“Ajax wasn't too keen on me transitioning either,” Grace says. “But while I can tell you it was terrifying, the idea of livingwithout him was worse. It was painful, but what was on the other side of it was more than worth it.”
“I just have to convince Lachlan of that,” Valor says.
As our conversation fades, the males on the mat switch out, Saint and Talon taking the spots of Zachariah and Dagon.
I see Cassandra, Talon’s mate, in the training room a safe distance away as she watches, and Aurora, the newly turned vampire that Samuel tortured and changed recently. She practically blends in with the shadows in the far corner of the training room, but her eyes are on Saint as he and Talon start to circle each other. She looks at him like he’s the tether holding her to this world, and my heart breaks for her all over again.
Dagon and Zachariah wipe themselves off with the towels offered on the other side of the training room, and head out of sight, but my keen vampire ears pick up on them talking about heading out on a hunt.
My body itches to trail after them, to follow them and make myself useful, but I keep my feet firmly planted where they are. I'm still entrenched in the battle between the two sides of my heart, unsure which one will win in the end. I have a hunch, but that half of my heart scares me more than anything.
After a few more hours of watching all the assassins and hunters train, us girls head to the informal dining room for a snack. I've just taken a bite of my favorite pumpkin loaf when Lyric hurries into the room, eyes wide and face serious as she looks at me.
I'm on my feet in an instant, her panicked look sending my body into fight or flight mode.
“What's wrong?”
“Zachariah,” Lyric says, and my entire being freezes. “He was injured on his hunt,” she continues. “He's with Gabriel?—”
I speed out of the room, no thought to mutter an apology to my queen as I race through the residence, hurrying as fast as I can toward Gabriel’s offices.
Zachariah is hurt.
My mate.
What if he’s harmed beyond repair?
I will not survive it.
That much is painfully clear in the way my heart aches, racing at top speeds in a panic I can't stop.
He can't leave me again.
He can't.
He can't.
CHAPTER 17
Zachariah
“You’re lucky this bullet just grazed you,” Gabriel says as he examines the bullet I’d recovered from my hunt with Dagon, just after it’d torn through the side of my right shoulder. “It’s doused with Night Thistle,” he continues, placing it in a sterilized jar and turning to face me. “There are no traces of the substance in your blood, but we could summon Aurora and see if she feels up to trying to heal you?—”
“No,” Saint says from where he leans against the wall next to Talon and Ajax. Dagon stands to the left of the examination table I’m sitting on. “She’s not ready. She’d just as easily kill him as heal him.”
I cock a brow at Saint, silently asking if he’s all right. He’s always on edge, more so since we found Aurora, but tonight he seems like an exposed nerve.
He dips his head in answer, and I nod.
“Should I call the queen then?” Gabriel asks. Our queen’s blood is a rare form of remedium we haven’t seen in centuries, with healing properties perfect for combatting the effect of poisons that our kind are vulnerable to.
“I’m fine,” I say, glancing down at the wound that Gabriel cleaned, seeing the torn flesh already knitting itself backtogether. “I wouldn’t be healing if the Night Thistle had gotten into my system. No need to call the queen or Aurora?—”