Free Web NovelChapter 109: Chapter 108: Raphael’s Intervention
Damian moved with supernatural speed, crossing the room before she’d fallen more than a few inches. He caught her against his chest, one arm under her knees, the other supporting her back, cradling her like something infinitely precious and infinitely fragile.
"Shh, shh," he murmured, even though she was already unconscious. "I’ve got you. I’ve got you."
But Eve was already gone, pulled under by exhaustion or shock or the sheer overwhelming weight of everything that had just happened. Her body went completely limp in his arms, her head falling back over his supporting arm, her skin....
"Fuck," Damian cursed, his hand moving to her forehead. "She’s burning up. Her skin is becoming hot....too hot. What the hell is happening to her?"
Footsteps sounded in the hallway....running. Silas burst through the door, his eyes immediately finding Eve unconscious in Damian’s arms. And behind him....
The stranger.
He entered with the kind of grace that spoke of centuries of practice, his amber eyes....so impossibly like Eve’s....immediately assessing the situation. He took in the destroyed room, the crumbling corpse, and Eve’s unconscious form with the practiced efficiency of someone who’d seen similar scenarios before.
Damian’s head snapped up, his eyes meeting the stranger’s, and when he spoke his voice carried such alpha dominance that several pack members passing in the hallway outside actually fell to their knees.
"What the fuck is wrong with her?!" The words were barely controlled, each syllable laced with the promise of violence if he didn’t get satisfactory answers. "And she’s burning....her skin is becoming impossibly hot. What is happening to her?!"
Raphael crossed the room with measured steps, his eyes never leaving Eve’s unconscious face. "Give her to me," he said calmly, his hands already reaching out.
The reaction was instantaneous. Damian actually growled....a sound more wolf than human.....his arms tightening protectively around Eve’s limp form. His eyes had shifted completely to Rex’s golden glow, the wolf surging forward at the suggestion of handing their vulnerable mate to another male.
"What the fuck do you mean I should give my mate to you?" Each word was bit out separately, dripping with lethal intent.
Raphael didn’t flinch. Didn’t back down. Just met Damian’s furious gaze with calm amber eyes and asked quietly, "And what can you do for her right now? What solution do you have for succubus power overload? What knowledge do you possess about integrating centuries of accumulated wisdom into a mind that’s only been supernatural for weeks?"
The words cut deep....slicing through Damian’s rage to the helplessness beneath. Because Raphael was right. They had no idea how to help her with this. Had no knowledge of succubus physiology beyond the basics Elder Markov had taught them.
"Give her to me," Raphael repeated, his voice gentler now but no less firm. "And let me help her."
"She’s our mate," Damian said, but his voice had lost its aggressive edge. Now it just sounded... lost. Desperate. "We should be able to help her. Keep her safe..."
"But you can’t," Raphael said, and there was no judgment in his tone. Just statement of fact. "Not with this. She just absorbed more energy and knowledge than her body can currently withstand and hold. The power she used to kill that assassin...." He gestured to the crumbling corpse. "....combined with what her parents gave her in that dream is too much, too fast. If you don’t let me help her now, she will lose herself to the powers. And you will lose her permanently."
"Give her to him, Damian." Silas’s voice came from the doorway, quiet but absolute. "Give her to him and let him help her."
Damian’s head whipped around to stare at his youngest brother. "She is our mate," he repeated, like Silas had forgotten. "We should be the ones...."
"But there is nothing we can do for her right now," Damon interrupted, moving to stand beside Damian. His voice was rough with reluctance and barely suppressed aggression, but firm. "So hand her over to him. Let him help her. And we will be here throughout the entire process. Watching. Making sure he does exactly what he says he will."
Damian looked between his brothers, then down at Eve’s unconscious face. She looked so young like this, so vulnerable. The powerful succubus who’d tied him up and dominated him just hours ago was gone, replaced by this fragile thing burning up in his arms.
His eyes moved back to Raphael, who waited patiently, his hands still outstretched.
"If you harm her in any way," Damian said, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper, "I will kill you. And I will make sure I do it slowly. So slowly that you experience every single process of dying. Every nerve ending firing in agony. Every moment of consciousness fading. Do you understand me?"
Raphael didn’t seem threatened by the promise at all. Just nodded with understanding and respect. "I would expect nothing less from her mates," he said simply. "Now give her to me before the fever gets worse."
It took everything Damian had....every ounce of willpower, every bit of trust he’d built with his brothers, every desperate hope that this stranger truly could help.....to hold Eve out toward Raphael.
The moment Raphael’s hands touched her head, everything changed.
Eve’s body jackknifed in his arms.....spine arching, muscles going rigid. Her eyes flew open, and they were filled with light so bright it hurt to look at directly. Pure white radiance poured from her pupils, her mouth, even her skin seemed to glow from within.
Then, just as suddenly, it stopped.
Eve’s eyes closed, her body went limp again, and she lay completely still in Raphael’s arms. So still that for a terrifying moment, Damian thought she’d died.
"What is wrong with her?" Damon demanded, moving closer. "What the fuck just happened?"
"Answer the damn question!" Damian added immediately, his control hanging by a thread.
Raphael looked at Damian with an expression that somehow managed to convey both understanding and disapproval. "How has my niece been able to survive you?" he asked, shaking his head slightly. "You are far too hot-tempered for someone who needs to think strategically."
Damian started to respond.....probably with violence....but Raphael had already turned his attention to Damon, apparently deciding the middle brother was the more reasonable one.
"She’s fine," Raphael said, his voice calm and reassuring. "She is currently sleeping. Her body shut down to process everything....the knowledge from her parents, the power she absorbed from killing Zane, the trauma of her first true kill. It’s a natural defense mechanism. We just need to wait for her to wake up."
His amber eyes moved to Silas, studying him with interest. "I can feel her connection to you is the strongest," he observed. "Let me guess.....she has entered your dreams before?" freewebnoveℓ.com
Silas nodded, his own eyes never leaving Eve’s unconscious face.
Raphael made a thoughtful sound. "Dream-walking. Impressive for someone so newly awakened. That connection will help her now. Right now she needs to rest, and since you share such a unique bond...." He looked pointedly at Damian. ".....I suggest you allow her to stay with him. Let him hold her while she sleeps. The connection will help stabilize her, give her something to anchor to while her mind integrates everything."
Silas didn’t wait for approval or agreement. He simply crossed to where Raphael stood and carefully lifted Eve from his arms, cradling her against his chest with infinite gentleness. Without a word to his brothers or Raphael, he turned and carried her out of the destroyed room, heading toward the master bedroom since his own room was currently uninhabitable.
After they left, Raphael stood and walked to the remains of Zane’s body. He stretched out his hand, and the crystallized corpse began to glow with soft golden light. Within seconds, it had completely vanished.....dust and all....leaving no trace that an assassin had ever been there.
