Midnight Awakening(34)
Elise knew the warrior Tess referred to. She’d seen him in one of the other infirmary rooms when she was led down here by Gideon. As they passed his open door, Rio had looked up from where he lay on a hospital bed, one side of his face distorted by old burns, the muscles of his bare chest and torso riddled with shrapnel scars and healed gouges that indicated some very severe injuries. His topaz-colored eyes had been dull beneath the fall of his overlong, dark brown hair. Elise hadn’t wanted to stare, but the anguish she saw in his face was arresting—even more so than the ravaged condition of his person.
“I can’t take away old wounds and scars,” Tess said. “And some of the worst ones a person bears are on the inside. Rio is a good man, but he’s damaged in ways he may never recover from, and there is no Breedmate talent that can erase those kinds of hurts.”
“Maybe love?” Elise suggested hopefully.
Tess shook her head as she ran her hands under the counter tap and scrubbed up. “Love betrayed him once. That’s what left him the way he is now. I don’t think he’ll let anyone get that close again. All he’s living for is to get back out in the field with the other warriors. Dante and I are trying to convince him to take things slowly, but when you try to slow Rio down, he only pushes harder.”
In some small way, Elise could relate to the warrior’s determined need to take action, even if only in the name of revenge. She was driven by a similar need and, like Rio, hearing others advise her to step back didn’t make the need burn any less.
From outside the infirmary room came the soft gait of female footsteps, accompanied by the quick, rhythmic click of a four-footed companion. Savannah and a perky brown terrier appeared in the doorway. Gideon’s pretty Breedmate offered Elise a warm smile. “All set here?”
“We’ve just wrapped up,” Tess said, drying her hands with a paper towel and bending down to scratch the chin of the little dog who quite obviously adored her. The mutt jumped all over her, showering Tess with wet kisses.
Savannah came in and carefully ran her fingers over Elise’s healed arm. “Good as new. Amazing, isn’t she?”
“You’re all amazing,” Elise answered, meaning it totally.
She’d met Savannah and Gabrielle a short while before, when both women had come down to check on her soon after her arrival at the compound. Savannah with her gorgeous mocha complexion and velvet brown eyes, had instantly made Elise feel at home with her gentle, caring demeanor. Gabrielle was sweet as well, a ginger-haired beauty who seemed wise beyond her years. And then there was pretty, quiet Tess, who’d taken care of Elise as compassionately as she might her own kin.
Elise felt humbled before them all. Having been raised in the Darkhavens, where the warriors of the Order were considered at best to be an antiquated, dangerous faction within the vampire race—at worst, a deadly gang exercising vigilante justice—it was surprising to meet the intelligent, kind women who’d taken members of the Order as their mates. She couldn’t see any one of these women binding herself to anything less than a male of honor and integrity. They were too smart for that, too confident in themselves.
Surprisingly, they seemed so pleasant and warm, not unlike the Darkhaven females Elise considered her friends.
“Since you’re finished here, why don’t both of you come with me?” Savannah said, breaking into Elise’s thoughts. “Gabrielle and I just made some sandwiches and a fruit salad. You must be hungry, Elise.”
“I am…or at least, I should be,” she admitted quietly. It had been several hours since she’d eaten and her body felt depleted, in need of nourishment, but the idea of food held little appeal. Everything tasted bland, even the things she used to enjoy when Quentin was alive.
“How long has it been for you, Elise?” Savannah’s tone was cautious, concerned. “I’ve heard that you lost your mate about five years ago…”
She knew what the woman was asking, of course. Had she gone so long without blood? In the Darkhavens it would be considered rude to ask questions about another female’s blood bond with her mate—even worse to question a widow about whether or not she drew sustenance from another in her mate’s absence—but here, among these women, there seemed no reason to hide the truth.
“Quentin was killed by a Rogue in the line of duty five years and two months ago. I haven’t turned to anyone else for my needs—not any of them. Nor will I.”
“Five years without Breed blood in you is a long time,” Savannah acknowledged. Thankfully she didn’t bring up the other implication in Elise’s confession: that she hadn’t taken another lover in all that time either.