A scream brought me awake.
I sat up, pulling away from Ezra, who also shot up a second later, both of us sitting in silence with our heartbeats already thumping rapidly. The scream came again, and I was instantly on my feet finding the first shirt I could to put on. “It’s Antonio.” His scream was one of pain.
Ezra was already stuffing his legs into his pants. “I got that.”
Grabbing my gun from the ground, fear consuming me, I raced out the door, scenting the air as I went, while Ezra blurred past me into the room where Antonio had been sleeping. Lynn exited his own room, closing the door behind him, gun in hand and eyes glowing just as I turned into the bedroom. I stopped dead, eyes assessing as Lynn followed me in.
It was the barest breath. “What’s going on?” I couldn’t understand what I was seeing.
Cahal was sitting on the floor, back to a wall, holding Antonio’s back to his chest with his arms tight around Antonio’s middle, trapping Antonio’s arms. Cahal’s legs were wrapped around Antonio’s while Antonio arched against him, drying blood running down the side of his face, his eyes glowing brightly and another shout falling from his mouth as he fought inside Cahal’s hold. There was the scent in the air of plenty of blood, and dark splatters of blood all along one of the walls, each area rounded and curved into the sheet rock as if Antonio’s head had gone through it repeatedly. The bottle of whiskey was spilled next to them as Cahal grunted when Antonio twisted enough to sink his teeth into Cahal’s shoulder, more blood scenting in the air…then Antonio began banging his forehead against Cahal’s shoulder. Hard. Cahal’s hands and legs blurred and he instantly had Antonio flat on his stomach, holding Antonio’s head, shouting, “Get his f**king book!”
Ezra ran a hand over his face, eyes wide, but nodded, blurring out of the room only to return a heartbeat later with Antonio’s bag in hand. He held it while I holstered my gun, and shock and worry ate at me so much my hands shook as I unzipped the bag, listening to Antonio scream in endless pain. Curses flew past my lips when I didn’t find it immediately. Of course he would hide the damn thing at the bottom. Finally having it in hand, I dropped to my knees next to Antonio’s sweat and blood covered face, which was being restrained by Cahal so he didn’t continue to bash his head against anything.
“Antonio,” I yelled, placing the book in front of his face. “I’ve got your book.” He continued shouting and a large part of my heart broke, seeing a part of him I never had before. Seeing a part of him he had hidden from me all these damn years. My eyes instantly welled as he continued struggling and screaming, tears quickly tumbling down my cheeks. I dropped the book in front of him and pressed my forehead against his, holding his cheeks on either side, whispering, “Dad…,” I choked, calling him for the first time ever what he had always been to me, between his cries, “Daddy…please stop. I’ve got your book.”
Suddenly, there was silence so loud it seemed to echo with its intensity.
His flaring golden eyes blinked. “Lil?”
I sucked in a breath, my chest heaving, and my voice trembled, “Dad, I’ve got your book.”
His face scrunched further in pain as he whispered, “I need it.”
“Okay,” I nodded, taking a hand off his cheek, grabbing the book and holding it so he could see it. “It’s right here.”
“Pen,” he murmured, sounding like he was gurgling on agony, his breathing hitching.
“Ezra?” I asked hurriedly.
“I’m on it,” Ezra stated before I felt a brush of wind against my back.
My lips trembled as I stared at Antonio. “You scared me.”
He grunted, again that odd gurgling noise making its way from his throat. “Leave.”
“No,” I grated low, leveling my eyes with his. “You hid this from me.” My forehead banged against his. “How could you hide this from me?” Tears fell in a torrent again when he couldn’t answer me, biting his lip so hard it bled, and I sobbed, “God, I’m so mad at you.”
Again the choking noise as I felt wind whip at my back. “Love you.” He gasped hard. “Please leave.”
“Here,” Ezra whispered, placing the pen on the ground between our faces. He grabbed my shoulder, tilting me away from Antonio. “He doesn’t want you here for this.” He tried pulling me away as Cahal started moving Antonio. “Come on, sweetheart.”
“No, goddamn it!” I shouted, brushing his hand away and quickly grabbing the book and pen, getting on my knees, and holding them out when Cahal had his back against the wall again to restrain Antonio when he bucked. “Here,” I grabbed one of Antonio’s hands, placing his needed items there, “Here’s your book and pen.”
He was trembling inside Cahal’s hold, but he calmed some and automatically began flipping through pages like a madman, intermingling this with thumping his head back against Cahal’s shoulder hard enough to break bones. But he still gritted through his teeth, “Get her out, Ezra.”
I shouted when I felt a rush of wind, instantly being carried outside like a child so fast that my head spun. Sobs racked my body, but I fought only half-heartedly when I was tossed onto the back seat of the Hummer with a restraining Vampire husband on top of me. I now knew why Antonio didn’t want me seeing this, his weakness, his frailty. He had said why.
It was because he loved me so much. As a parent. No parent wants to appear weak or to scare their child. That was why I eventually succumbed to Ezra’s quiet soothing, even though my heart ached, and let my tears take me under.
Entering the vacated house as the sun broke over the horizon, I felt as if a sledgehammer had been beating me repeatedly throughout the night. I wobbled enough that Ezra had to keep an arm around me so I didn’t fall, and when we found Lynn upstairs sitting outside his door with his head back, appearing just as beaten as I felt, I knew instantly he had been there all night. We stopped next to him.
I asked softly, “You waited to see if Elder Zeller needed help with Elder Farrar?”
“Yes.” His face was carefully blank. “Elder Farrar didn’t…calm…until an hour ago.” When my breathing hitched at his words, he eyed me. “I heard you say he’s your father?”
“Yes. He helped raise me, along with my biological mother.”
“Ah.” Behind hooded lashes, his eyes flittered back and forth between Ezra and me, finally landing on Ezra. “King Zeller, you may want to take a shower before you interact with another Shifter. The scent isn’t as strong as it was last night, but it’s still noticeable.” When we stilled at his comment, both of us forgetting about my sexual scent being all over Ezra, Lynn stood, cracking his back, and switched topics altogether. “What time are we leaving today?”