Antoine looked at Chica, eyes swimming with pain and remorse, with sorrow. She nodded and glanced at Andreu, and he nodded too.
Chica released Snow’s arm and laid her palm against his cheek. She moved to kneel beside him and he looked at her, his eyes as black as midnight but soft with trust. Was he aware of what Chica was going to do?
“Take me home,” Snow whispered in a low broken voice and his eyebrows furrowed. “Aurora. Prettier than the heavens. Take me there with you.”
Chica leaned in and pressed her lips to his, and kissed him.
Snow’s arm instantly dropped from Antoine’s lips. No one besides their mate or the strongest of males could withstand a succubus’s kiss. Snow was strong. How much energy would Chica have to steal to render him unconscious? He wavered, eyelids drooping, and then fell back onto the stage with a heavy thud.
Antoine pushed himself up and grabbed Snow’s hand, his distress written across his face and in his scent. He shirked Sera’s touch, crawled to his brother and gathered Snow to him, sitting with his arms around his broad shoulders and his face pressed into his bloodied white hair.
Chica leaned over and pressed her ear to Snow’s chest, and relief crossed her face.
She sat back and looked around at everyone, and then settled her eyes on Antoine. “He will be alright, but I had to take a lot of energy. When coupled with the amount of blood he lost... I’m not sure how long he will be out.”
“The longer the better,” Antoine whispered and smoothed Snow’s bloodstained brow, brushing the hair from it, his pale blue eyes fixed on him with affection and a touch of fear. “He will need rest to recover from this setback.”
Andreu stared at the back of Antoine’s head. “Did you know he was capable of this?”
Payne’s gaze briefly scanned the carnage strewn across the black boards around them. Snow had torn more than one incubus apart, littering the theatre with their remains. Vampires were notoriously violent when driven into a protective rage, but Snow’s actions had been more than that. Payne could recognise signs of a terrible past haunting someone, and whatever had happened in Snow and Antoine’s history, had been darker than black and it had wounded the two brothers deeply, especially Snow. Payne had seen the scars on Antoine’s body. He could piece things together for himself and knew why Snow had lost it when he had seen Antoine bleeding.
Antoine growled. “He would have been fine... we wouldn’t be in this mess... Snow wouldn’t be like this if it wasn’t for that witch.”
“No.” Payne placed himself between Antoine and Elissa, struggling to keep his balance on the slippery bloody stage. The lacerations on his forearms stung, blood leaking from the deep gashes, but it wouldn’t stop him from fighting to protect her. “You dare blame her for this. I brought her here... I killed their leader... my grandfather. I ruined her... I ruined everything. This is my fault.”
Antoine snarled at him, baring his fangs, his eyes blazing red. Sera went to him and wrapped her arms around both him and Snow, whispering soothing words to her lover.
Payne watched him closely, not trusting him.
“Elissa doesn’t deserve your anger. She gave us the key to fixing the mess you created, Antoine. It was an incubus who hurt you... but it was you who refused Snow’s blood and sent him into some sort of self-harming trance... blame me, if you want, but don’t you dare blame her.”
This was all his fault. Yet again, he had brought pain to people he cared about when all he ever wanted to do was protect and care for them.
They would all reject him now.
He had to do something to stop that from happening.
“Let me help you with Snow,” he said and Antoine scowled at him.
“No.”
Sera helped Antoine to his feet and then Andreu tried to help him with Snow. It was ridiculous. Antoine needed blood and rest. He didn’t have the strength to lift Snow when he was a dead weight. Chica stepped in and her strain was visible on her face as she tried to teleport them.
“Let me help you.” Payne tried again. “Please, Antoine? Let me try to make this right.”
Elissa’s feelings flowed through the link between their blood and he cursed her for pitying him, for knowing his innermost fears and how terrible he felt, and his crushing need to try to make amends.
“Please?”
Sera whispered to Antoine, her face a picture of concern. Antoine nodded.
Before Payne could take a step towards Snow, Elissa was beside him. He glanced down at her and she lowered the boy, setting his feet on the floor and keeping one arm around his back. She gently laid her free hand on Payne’s bloodied left arm and her eyes twinkled. A hot ache ignited in his bones and he grimaced as the cuts on his forearms stung fiercer than before, burning as she used her magic to seal his wounds. The pain slowly eased and then faded completely, leaving only a peaceful sort of warmth behind. She smiled shakily and he helped her lift the boy back into her arms, and couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to her forehead, silently thanking her for easing his pain and for caring about him.