War of Hearts(84)

“I was so scared,” she admitted.

Conall nodded slowly. “Aye, lass. Me too. That’s what it is to be mated. It’s a ‘cannae live without each other’ deal.” Anger blazed in his icy eyes. “Which is why I dinnae appreciate you offering your life for mine.”

He was lecturing her? Now? She hadn’t even wrapped her head around the whole mating thing yet. “Seriously? You would have done the same thing.”

He grumbled at that, but his gaze drifted over her shoulder. Awe crept into his expression. “You wiped out fourteen vampires, Thea. You became pure sunlight.”

She nodded, more than a wee bit wary of the door she’d opened inside her soul. “I’m a little scared of myself.”

“Don’t be.” He turned her face to his. “You can control this.”

Thea studied him, hoping he was right. He had so much faith in her, it was humbling. “Did you really not know? About … our mating? How can it be true?” There was a part of her, the part that just wiped out fourteen vampires to save his life, that believed it to be true. She’d trusted Conall because she’d known deep down who he really was, and how could she have known that without some bond or connection pulling them together?

Yet, her logical side, belonging to that person who had been running on her own for years, found the whole idea a little too spectacular. After all, she and Conall had only met a few days ago, even if it did seem much longer.

Conall’s brow furrowed in thought. “I smelled you on my skin the morning on the ferry. But I thought it was just from sex. Now”—he nuzzled her throat, drawing in her scent—“you smell of me too.” His grip tightened, and she felt his body harden against her. “I cannae let you go now, lass.”

Truthfully, Thea didn’t want him to. She couldn’t deny what she’d felt when she thought he was dying. Everything inside her had wanted to die too. But it wasn’t that simple. “The pack, Conall. I’d put the pack in danger.”

“You just killed the biggest threat.” He nodded to Eirik’s ashes. “Once word reaches the Blackwood Coven you fried the oldest vampire in the world, they might think better of coming after you. And if they dinnae, we’ll go somewhere they cannae find us.”

Shocked, Thea slumped against him. “You’d leave the pack?”

“To protect you, I would. But first we need to get Callie back.” His expression hardened to granite. “There is no way on earth I’m letting you face Ashforth alone.”

Sensing his resolve, Thea didn’t see any point in arguing. Honestly, she wanted him by her side when she finally dealt with Ashforth. Still, the thought of him leaving his pack did not sit well with her at all. She knew how much they meant to him and how much Torridon meant to him.

However, it was a discussion for another time. “What now?”

“We go back to Torridon and we rally the pack. We’ll need to come up with a plan to get Callie and James back without them coming to harm.”

Nodding, Thea stood and reached for Conall, who got to his feet with ease. “I feel stronger,” he said, staring at his hands.

“My blood.” Her stomach flipped unpleasantly at the blood covering Conall’s shirt. There was so much of it. It was all over her too from when they’d held each other. “We need to clean up.”

Hearing the rasp of pain in her voice, Conall grasped her chin in his fingers and leaned down to brush a kiss across her lips. She could taste the coppery tang of her blood on his lips. “I’m fine, Thea.” His eyes dropped to her wrist, and he frowned before pulling it toward him for study with more force than he probably intended. The wound from the iron blade had barely closed, the jagged cut swollen and painful.

Scowling, Conall’s gaze fell to the floor where the iron dagger lay in a pile of vampire ashes. His eyes flew to her. “Thea,” he whispered, realizing what she’d done.

Thea tugged on her wrist and he reluctantly let it go. “The wound wouldn’t stay open long enough for you to drink. I had to.”

“It’ll scar permanently,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“You’re alive. That’s all that matters.”

Conall’s eyes blazed. “You know I’d do the same for you.”

She nodded, emotion thick in her throat. She had to clear it to speak. “I’ll go out to the car for our backpacks. You use the traitor’s shower.” Thea squeezed Conall’s arm as she felt the tension riot through him. “I’m sorry about Vik.”

The muscle jumped in his jaw. “I’m sorry I trusted him and put you in danger.”

“No.” Thea stepped into him. “I won’t let you blame yourself.” She glanced around the apartment, noting all the research material and books Vik had left behind. “I wonder where the bastard took off to.”

A growl rumbled up from Conall’s throat. “I know where he is. I’ll always know and when this is over, there’s nowhere on earth he can hide from me.”

Thea couldn’t shake the image of that vampire stabbing Conall in the neck, especially not with Conall still covered in his own blood. Vik would pay for that. “Us,” she bit out, her eyes bleeding gold. “There’s nowhere on earth he can hide from us.”