Yep, Braxton has me blocked out. He's focusing on a threat. She paused for a second, putting two and two together. Max is the threat? What the fuckery?
Uh oh. Now she was going all mama bear for one of her quads, and she had an especially soft spot for Maximus. Those two had a tight bond. The way he'd stuck by her even when he found his true mate had shown me how much strength and loyalty he had-not toward me of course, but for those he loved he would do anything, move mountains and sacrifice his happiness. He was a male of worth and would be a wonderful father.
Jessa let out another curse, and then before I could stop her she reinstated the block between us and took off. It was ridiculous how fast she was still, even pregnant. Unable to stop myself, I followed. There was no way I was letting her take on the threat … or Maximus on her own. Braxton's roars echoed after us, but neither of us glanced back.
"Jess!" I shouted. "What the hell are you doing? Max is all vamped out or something, and he's not in a good place."
I heard her derisive little laugh, but she didn't slow.
There were heavy thumping steps behind us. Only the trees were stopping Braxton from taking to the air. He was much faster when he flew. Somehow Jessa had known where we were; she'd probably followed our scents. I still sucked the big one at differentiating individual scent trails, especially trying to figure out if they were new or old, but my twin was an expert.
Truth be told, almost all shifters, even those yet to reach the maturity of their first change, were better at this stuff than me. It was going to take me forever to catch up with my race, but I was determined that eventually I'd be as knowledgeable, skilled, and strong as everyone else.
As the torn-up clearing came into sight, Jessa ground to a halt and lifted her nose to scent the air, before turning to glare at the rapidly advancing dragon. She had clearly figured out what had happened here. Not surprising; she knew these boys better than anyone. I also stopped, my head darting around. Maximus was no longer where we'd left him.
Where had he gotten to?
Just as I had that thought, hard bands wrapped across my shoulders and midriff and I was snatched up. I shrieked for a second before his scent caught up to me. I wasn't being kidnapped by Kristoff the crazy evil sorcerer. Nope, it was Maximus, the crazy-ass vampire.
As he took off, using that speed which was dizzying, I caught one final glance of horror on my twin's face. She took a step forward as if to follow, but her dragon got to her first, blocking the path. Then we were gone. The force-field around the town dropped briefly and I felt none of the magic or energy as we crossed to the other side.
As Maximus ran, clutching me close to his chest, I wanted to tilt my head back and see his expression. At the moment, though, keeping the contents of my stomach down was taking at least ninety percent of my concentration. I'd been extra sensitive to food and rapid movement for my entire pregnancy.
Still, there was enough of my brain left to notice that despite his strong, almost desperate grip, he was holding me gently. There was no anger in his arms; the true soul of Maximus always shone through, even if he was fully vamped.
At the speed we were moving, I wondered where he planned on taking me. Seriously, we'd soon be crossing out of Connecticut at this rate.
"Max," I said softly; he would hear me even if I whispered. "Just slow down. We need to talk about it. You can ask me anything. I'll explain it all to you."
Forcing those words out was enough to have my stomach rebelling again, and I had to shut down so I could breathe very deeply. Every part of me hoping and praying that I wasn't going to throw up my lunch.
With my luck it would go all over both of us, and if he didn't stop running soon we were going to find out. I gagged and covered my mouth. A second, more wrenching spasm rocked through me, and thankfully Maximus chose that moment to slow down and come to a stop. I was gently deposited to the ground, and immediately I hunched over, heaving as I fought the nausea. There was a whoosh of air, and I was alone for a moment, before suddenly his warmth and scent wrapped around me again.
I felt a trickle of cool air as Maximus brushed my hair back from my neck, then something damp pressed against my forehead. My eyes closed at the pure bliss; the cold was enough to tame my pregnancy-induced heaving fit. I lifted my head, seeking the vampire, who was crouched close to my side, holding me in one arm and using his other to run the damp cloth down my heated cheeks to my neck.
"I'm sorry, Mischa." His low words were deep, gravelly. His eyes were still blacker than black, his features almost luminescent as the energy of his kind held him in its thrall.
I straightened, wiping at my mouth. I'd managed to not vomit but still had that bile taste coating my tongue. Gross.
"There's a river just on the other side of these trees," Maximus said. "If you're okay with walking, the water is safe for you to drink."
I nodded. "I'd kill for some water right now." His knowledge of the nearby river explained where he'd gone to wet the rag, not to mention there was now a ragged tear on the bottom of his dark-blue shirt. That's where the cloth had come from.
He wasn't touching me now, and unease was filtering back through us. This horrible tension seemed to be a fundamental part of us. Only those first few days of our time together had been fun and flirty. Then we had sex and everything changed. If I knew sex was going to cause me this much trouble, I wouldn't have bothered. Okay, that was a lie. I actually kinda loved every second of it. Whichever male came next as a possible mate in my life was going to have to live up to Maximus … and his shoes would be pretty darn hard to fill.
Following him closely, I could smell the dampness and hear water thrashing so loudly we must be approaching what I could only assume was a massive, torrent filled lake.
Nope.
When we pushed through the last of the trees, I found a waist-deep, filled-with-rocks, pretty, burbling brook. There I went forgetting about my supersonic supe hearing again. To keep me safe, my wolf had been locked down most of my life. With her release I'd gained her additional senses, and still kinda sucked at controlling them.
Relieved to be stepping away from our tension-filled space, I increased my pace to drop down on the edge of the creek. Leaning forward, I cupped my hands into the clear water and lifted it to my hot face, removing the last of the nausea-sweat coating me.
Pregnancy was really doing a number on me. At least the witch seemed to think I wouldn't be in this condition for that much longer, which was a definite bonus to being a supe. Poor humans had to go through nine to ten months of this, and I'd only have six. Of course, if my baby had been half fey … well, let's just say by fifteen months I'd probably be ripping the child out myself.
I'm only kidding, bubba. You stay in there as long as you need.
I patted my stomach; it was really without thought now, second nature to touch my child. But then I remembered Maximus and my head shot up. He was watching me closely, still doing that glowing, vibrating, growling thing.
His growls were low this time, almost unnoticeable unless I paid close attention. I rose, brushing my hands along my pants to dry them. Instinct cut through me and control over my actions fled. My wolf brushed against my soul and rose up to settle within me. I knew she would be peeking out from my eyes. I'd spent many an hour in front of the mirror when I had first shifted, teaching myself how to bring her to the surface without actually changing. I loved to see the animalistic glow of her in my eyes, the slight alteration in my features as the supernatural side of me became dominant.
Most of the time it was difficult to not think of myself as human. I'd been with them my entire life and I usually felt human. But right now I had never felt less like the old Mischa.
There was a swirling of black in the vampire's eyes as they followed me across to him. I wasn't marching, more of a stalking stride. Stopping right before him, I held both of my arms wide. I was opening myself up to him, allowing him to step closer.
"What do you need to know, Max?" My voice was more growly than usual; that was my wolf's influence. "What do you need from me?"
It wasn't totally my fault that he didn't know about the baby before now. He had been a grade-A asshole to me. Ignored me. Left without saying goodbye. He never even checked with me once when the dragon king was all up in my head. He couldn't have made it more clear if he'd tried that he didn't give a damn about me, but I still felt guilt that he was finding out at this late stage. Especially when he had to be hurting so badly because of Cardia.
Speaking of …
"I'm so sorry about your mate … " I let the low anguish in my tone seep out. "No matter what happened between us, I never wanted you to lose your love. The pain … I can't even imagine."
I only had my pain of losing Maximus to go on, and since true mate bonds were so much more than our little thing … well, I had no idea how he was functioning.
He still wasn't speaking, which made me uneasy. What was I supposed to do? I had no idea, no precedent to go on here. Before I had to think too hard on it, he stepped forward. My arms were still spread wide, so he ended up pretty much pressed against me. Well, against my belly. He towered way over me, so I tilted my head right back to see his face, and when I did my heart pretty much stopped. His perfect masculine features were a wash of emotion, his cheeks slightly flushed as his head dropped down, his chin almost hitting his chest.