Obsession Untamed (Feral Warriors #2)(57)

“Oh, no. Poor thing.”

As Delaney watched, the woman collapsed, falling out of her sight.

The vision ended.

“It’s over,” Delaney said softly, staying where she was until the pain began to ebb away.

“They didn’t get there in time.”

“No. No one did.”

A very human growl sounded from the woman beside her. “I can’t believe we let him get away. We killed the others. You knew there were others, right?”

“No.”

“Eight in all. A clone of each of the Ferals except Vhyper. We had one heck of a battle here a week ago. We got them all but Tighe’s.”

Delaney slowly rose to a sitting position, lifting her head carefully. “Thank God there aren’t eight of those things running around.”

“I suppose. Look on the bright side, right? Things could always be worse.”

Delaney snorted softly, thinking of all the people this thing had killed so far. “I’m beginning to wonder.” Delaney turned to face her companion, a pretty blonde, in a wholesome girl-next-door kind of way. “Sorry. This hasn’t been the greatest day for me.”

“You and Tighe. Lyon said he bound you to him because it was the only way you were going to survive.”

Delaney nodded. “That pretty much sums it up. I’m alive. Beyond that, I don’t know what I am. Apparently not married.”

“Yes, I noticed that was only one way. Horrifyingly embarrassing, isn’t it? I had to have sex in front of all of them when I married Lyon a few nights ago.”

Delaney stared at her. “In front of them?”

“I made Lyon erect curtains around the altar. But they heard everything. Of course, Lyon and I had already done it in front of three of them, but that was in the heat of battle and didn’t quite feel as strange.” She shook her head. “Shape-shifters.” Kara’s expression softened. “How’s your head?”

“Better.”

“You look…a little dazed.”

Delaney sighed. “I guess I am. This is all happening a little too fast for me. I thought we were getting married. I understood that concept. Now I don’t know what Tighe has in mind for me.”

“If it helps, I don’t think he does either. But I saw him when he brought you in, Delaney. You were white as a sheet from the blood loss. But he was just as pale. He cares more than you think.” Kara patted her knee, then stood. “I suspect he cares more than he knows.”

Delaney rose and followed her out of the room and up the long stairs. Could Kara be right? Did he care about her? And would it change anything if he did?

She sighed, deeply troubled and more than a little apprehensive. Because she didn’t know what he wanted from her. Or what he meant to do with her. For heaven’s sakes, she barely even knew the man, no matter what her heart thought.

The only thing she did know, the one immutable fact, was that she did not belong in this world. In his world.

And she never would.

Chapter Twenty-one

Tighe opened his bedroom door quietly, not wanting to wake Delaney. But she sat up as he entered, a shadowed form rising in his bed.

He liked her waiting for him like that. Sweet nature, but he needed to touch her.

“I’m guessing you didn’t catch him.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled off his boots. “No. He was long gone by the time we got there. The woman didn’t make it. I’m sorry, D.”

She pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. She was dressed in soft blue pajamas—a loan, he assumed, from Kara. Her emotions tasted conflicted and were hard to identify. But he tasted no ripe anger, and for that he was grateful. His soul would splinter if he didn’t touch her.

“I didn’t know where to sleep,” she said softly. “Kara thought I should stay here. She figured you’d move me if you didn’t want me here.”

Tighe stretched out on the bed and pulled her into his arms. “I want you here.”

She didn’t melt against him, but neither did she pull away, and it was enough. He drank in her scent, shuddering at the rightness of her being with him. All day, the chaos had been getting worse within him, building in strength and noise, like an approaching storm. But as he held Delaney, the storm abated. Not entirely, but enough that he felt like maybe, just maybe, he had enough time left to catch that damned clone before his soul was gone.

His fingers weaved through her hair as he pressed her head against his chest, tasting a drop of her unhappiness on his tongue.

“I’m sorry, D. I should have warned you about the ceremony. About what to expect.”

“Why didn’t you?” The question was simple. Without rancor. And he didn’t have an answer.

“I’m not sure. All I can tell you is I did it for you.”

“Not marrying me? You did that for me?”

He stroked her head, his gut churning. “Therian marriages aren’t like human. A Therian is…” He sighed. “I guess I should start at the beginning.”

“No need. Kara filled me in pretty thoroughly about the Therians, Daemons, Satanan—you name it. I’m not saying I’m ready for a quiz, but I think I’ve got the basics.”

“Good.” His hand stroked down her back and up again. “Anyway, the binding in an immortal marriage is real, not just talk as it is in a human marriage. There’s no divorce. Once the pair are bound to one another, they’re bound for life. That’s why very few Therians ever mate.”