Treasured Secrets (Coveted Saga #1) (The Coveted Saga) Page 16

  "How's about we go have a little fun?"

  Aster looked at him threateningly and replied sarcastically. "Oh gee, what's that on my finger? Oh yeah, it's a wedding band. My big strong husband wears one that matches."

  The guy didn't care about her noted rejection. Now he locked his eyes on me. "What about you? You aren't wearing a ring, honey."

  I pulled back, but I wasn't scared. I knew Aster could take them with no problem. Not to mention what Tallis would do to them, or what Chris would do.

  "I don't see why not. You guys want to come back in about twenty minutes and see if we're still here?" I could hear my sarcasm matching Aster's, and I admit, I got a bit of an adrenaline rush.

  "You girls think you're cute," the greasy guy sneered.

  They all reeked of alcohol. The wild in their eyes was scarier now that I had upset them. Something was off. The darkness swallowing their eyes up was almost inhuman. Though they were foul, they didn't carry the stench the creepy guy from the woods held.

  "You think it's comical to poke fun of people because you think you're hot and rich? Let's see how funny you think this is."

  He reached over and grabbed me by the waist and threw me over his shoulder very forcefully before carrying me away. I pounded his back ineffectively. He didn't even flinch.

  I was looking for Aster to save me, but she didn't. Finally, I spotted her. She was on the ground, holding her stomach, eyes squeezed shut in pain. I didn't know what just happened.

  I struggled to get free, but he was too strong and he wasn't letting me go.

  He finally dropped me to the ground. My knees hit first and I felt them bust open against the pavement. I could feel shooting pain as someone kicked me in the stomach. They seemed possessed as they showed no mercy, but their strikes were mortal. What the hell was going on?

  A voice taunted me with no compassion. "How hot are you now. smartass?"

  I tried to get up, but my knees hurt too badly. They burned like they were on fire. I could feel the blood running down my legs. One of them grabbed me by my hair and slung me into the side of a dumpster.

  I felt my lip split open, my breaths grow coarser, and my eye swell. I could taste blood now.

  They just laughed as they passed around a bottle of liquor. Then one of them sucked on something that resembled a pipe. They were deranged and sadistic as they took pleasure in beating me to a pulp.

  With every new blow, I worried about what would be next. I worried that despite the immortal attack I had survived, I was going to be killed by strung-out, alcoholic mortals.

  I heard someone talking, though the sound seemed echoed and distant. I struggled to move, and my breaths were painful.

  "Yo man. We're just teaching her some manners. Rich girls think they own this town. This ain't got nothin' to do with you. Just walk away before you get hurt."

  The next thing I knew, there was a guy sailing through the air, slamming into the dumpster right beside me. Then I heard the greatest sound in the world ring out - Tallis's voice.

  "Really? Six guys beating the hell out of one girl?" A string of curse words flew from his mouth as he lost control, breaking anything he touched.

  The guys were running and screaming, but Tallis was bringing them back. Each one of them was lucky they only looked as bad as I did. Tallis showed restraint not killing them. I'm sure he wanted to.

  When he finished, my attackers were all lying on the ground, unconscious, but still breathing. Tallis turned to me with tears in his eyes. He picked me up and started carrying me away from the disaster zone. I stifled the wince that begged to be freed. It hurt... everywhere.

  "I'm so sorry," he murmured through a strained, agonized tone.

  I summoned all the strength I could to keep from showing him how much pain I was in.

  "It's not your fault. I'm the one who antagonized them. I thought Aster would stop them, but something happened to her. Is she okay?" My voice was shaky, and weak, not aiding me in convincing him I was okay.

  He grimaced upon hearing the painful sound in my voice. "Nothing you could have said would justify anyone ever doing this to you. You have no idea how bad I wanted to snap their necks in half," he hissed through gritted teeth.

  I asked my question again, in an attempt to shift the conversation. I worried that he might actually go back to finish the job. "What about Aster?"

  He answered while still assessing the damage done to my body. "She'll be fine. Chris took her to the house to see Anesta. I'm sure it's nothing."

  He sounded convincing, but I was still worried.

  He set me in the car, and I cringed with pain as my knee scraped the side of the door. "Ow, ow, ow, ow," I squealed through one rapid breath.

  My hands were skinned pretty badly from being drug on the pavement. My lip felt twice the size it should. My face throbbed with pain, and the unwelcome taste of blood invaded my mouth even more.

  Tallis's face was unnervingly furious and miserable at the same time. He leaned away like he was going to go back, but I grabbed his hand.

  "Let's go check on Aster. I'm worried."

  He nodded somewhat reluctantly and climbed in the car. He slammed his door so hard I was surprised it didn't break. Before I knew it, we were going a hundred-and-twenty down the old highway. I just dropped my head back, hoping the pain would cease or at least decrease. It only seemed to worsen though. Everything on me was throbbing with pain. Then I felt Tallis touch the side of my cheek with the back of his hand in a caressing motion. I looked at him and tried to make light of the situation.

  "Well, I was trying so hard to look sexy tonight. I think this just put me over the top."

  My attempt at humor was in vain. He didn't smile. He just stared at the road, silently brooding for several minutes.

  "No one will ever hurt you again as long as I'm alive."

  The conviction and protectiveness in his tone made my heart flutter. It was the perfect moment. As horrible as I looked, it was still perfect. I was about to tell him I loved him, when suddenly we were at the house. The yard was littered with vehicles.

  "What's going on? Is it Aster?" Now I was really worried.

  "I'm not sure."

  He jumped out and had my door open before I even got my hand on the handle. He scooped me up, carrying me and my battered body. He had no idea how painful this was. His grip was too tight, but I couldn't tell him.

  "I can walk."

  "No, it's the least I can do for leaving you alone." His eyes were almost in tears from his unwarranted guilt.

  I took a deep breath and spoke through the pain. "Quit blaming yourself. This wasn't your fault at all. I'll be fine."

  Chris met us at the door. He had a look of sheer terror that instantly turned to fury. "Damn!" Then he turned to Tallis with his fists clenched. "I'll go back with you, right now."

  I put my hand up quickly in front of Chris to stop him. "Tallis already handled it. They'll feel worse than I do when they come to." I stopped for a second to fight of a burning stab of pain from my knees. "I don't want to talk about this. I want to know what's going on with Aster."

  His face changed. So many emotions gathered in his eyes at once that I couldn't tell what was going on.

  I was ready to panic, when he said, "We're having a baby."

  I could hear the shock and worry in my tone. "What? Is the baby okay? What happened? Aster was on the ground."

  "Yeah, having a magical baby introduce itself can apparently knock you off your feet. Aster didn't know what was going on. She's pretty worried about you though. I told her not to worry. I never imagined… What kind of mortals do this to a girl? I never even knew animals like that existed."

  They kept fussing over me instead of worrying about Aster. I was almost terrified to see what I looked like. I could feel my ribs trying to dislodge.

  "I'm fine. I promise," I lied. "Why is everyone here?"

  "It's customary to call the heads of the families in on the first night of awareness - to get their
blessings. They wish the baby a safe journey and prepare the body for the carrying of a magical child."

  "Oh."

  I knew he was excited, but I could also tell he felt conflicted about being happy after seeing how I looked. I felt like I was taking away from the moment. I didn't want anyone else to see me.

  Aster needed everyone to focus on her. I looked at Tallis and spoke quietly. "Will you take me outside?" I took a breath, still fighting off the searing pain that seemed to be spreading by the minute, then I looked at Chris. "Chris, will you send Anesta out when she gets a chance?"

  His eyes were so burdened as he spoke with absolute guilt. "Yeah no problem, Aria, and again, I'm sorry."

  "Don't be. I'm fine." Sharp pains kept coming from my side where I had been kicked. I certainly didn't want Chris or Tallis feeling worse, so I didn't tell Tallis that the way he was holding me was torture.

  He gently placed me on the swing of the front porch. He sat beside of me and carefully placed my head in his lap. He began gently stroking my hair, while letting his free hand rest gently on my stomach. It was peaceful, minus the pain of course. I reached up to touch his face. It was soft and gentle, like him. I pulled his hand from my stomach up to my lips and kissed it. He smiled and finally looked down at me.

  "So on a scale of one to ten, how incredibly tempting am I right now?" I joked. He shook his head, amused, but said nothing. I wasn't giving up that easily. "Too soon?"

  That got a snicker out of him. I smiled up at him and he flashed a small grin at me. I knew my voice still carried waves of pain in it. "At least I got something out of you besides sadness."

  A ruffled breath blew out of his tightened lips.

  "You don't know how hard it is for me to know that I could have prevented this." His eyes were riddled with guilt he didn't deserve to feel.

  "I'm fine. You did prevent it from being worse. If you hadn't shown up, then I really would have been in a mess. You always save me though."

  "Yeah but-"

  I put my hand over his mouth to stop him from continuing to blame himself. "But nothing. I'm very happy that you saved me…again. You're always my hero."

  He smiled big that time.

  We were interrupted as Anesta walked up, speaking with uncertainty in her voice. "Aria? Chris said you needed me." Her eyes caught sight of my battered body. Fury and surprise rang out in her tone. "What the hell happened?"

  "A group of guys jumped me, beat me up pretty badly. Tallis stopped them before one of them cut my face up."

  Tallis flinched. I guess he hadn't even noticed what was going on when he threw himself into the fight. He just knew I was a bloody mess on the ground.

  Anesta shook her head in disbelief. "Filthy mongrels. They should be turned to ashes for this."

  "It's my fault. I shouldn't have left her side." Tallis put his head down in shame.

  Anesta had been cruel to the whole Verdan family since the alliance. I was surprised when she didn't take the opportunity to kick him while he was down.

  "You can't watch her every second of every day. You left her in the very capable hands of Aster. How were you to know her baby would make introductions tonight? You've barely left Aria's side for more than an hour or two at a time for the past few months. You haven't hurt her or taken advantage of her, and it seems like you're always saving her. You shouldn't feel guilty for this. Not to mention, she'll be just fine in a couple of minutes. This is the easy stuff. Mortals are too weak to make a mess I can't clean up quickly."

  I smiled as they exchanged a silent promise of truce. Anesta was finally accepting the Verdan's. Or at least Tallis anyway. She looked down at me.

  "All right. I need to know where you hurt the most. I need to start with the worst pain."

  I pointed to my stomach and spoke through gritted teeth. "I think my ribs are broken."

  I saw Tallis's face distort. He realized I'd been in pain the whole time he'd been holding me. "Why didn't you say something?" he asked, his tone swelling with misery.

  "Because you would've just felt worse."

  I forced a smile as Anesta put her hands on my sides. My ribs moved inside my body. It hurt for a moment longer, but then I could breath easily without the sharp pains. Next she put her hands on my knees. I watched in disbelief as my skin that had been ripped apart suddenly closed back together right in front of my eyes. It looked like nothing had happened. Then she did my hands, my lip, and my bruised face. When she finished, she hugged me and I thanked her.

  I looked at Tallis, who was still beating himself up. I looked down at my body as I spoke with ease now. "See? Now the only things messed up are my clothes. I need to go change."

  He stood up and wrapped an arm around me. We went upstairs, away from the multitudes of people.

  When we got to my room, I put on some new clothes. He had his back turned to me, staring out the window. I threw on a pair of yoga style pants and a tank top. I walked over to where he was standing and wrapped my arms around him.

  "You like that window, don't you?"

  "I just like making sure you're safe, even though I didn't do so good tonight."

  "Don't start that again." I paused for a minute. "Anesta seems to be coming around. That's good."

  "She's not so bad. She's just in pain." His eyes started looking down toward the floor as he talked to me.

  "Why is she in pain?" I was puzzled by his statement.

  "Anesta has been looking for centuries for her soul mate. She's been waiting and longing for her other half. She's never looked outside the realm of witches. Then she learns that bodyguards and witches can also be mates. So she expands her search into the guards as well. Then she finds out about Allaysia and Edmond, and realizes that she's been so closed-minded for centuries. She's been looking for a witch instead of looking for magic. It's disheartening because now she worries that she has already missed her chance. There's so many more places to look as well."

  "Oh. I hadn't thought about that." It would be lonely to be alone for centuries. I thought for a moment. "I think you… I think we're soul mates."

  I didn't intend to blurt it out so boldly, or awkwardly. I was becoming increasingly horrible with timing and words.

  He hugged me. He didn't seem surprised by my statement. I started pulling his face down toward mine, but he caught my arms and stopped me. I was a little hurt, but mostly confused.

  "I'm sorry. I guess I thought you felt the same way." I felt my voice cracking and heard its uneven tones.

  He grimaced slightly. "I care for you, but this is dangerous."

  I tilted my head. "Why is this dangerous?"

  He sighed loudly and walked away from me. "Everyone thinks that Dramus was this crazy lunatic that sat in a dungeon and looked for a way to drain an essence. That's not how it happened though. He was just trying to kiss a witch and found himself inhaling her. That sort of thing doesn't happen like that for the other dark ones. They have to try to inhale. That could very possibly happen to me, considering I share his blood."

  I shook my head. "That's crazy. You're nothing like him. You're pure and light. I can't see it, but I can feel it."

  He looked away with shame and guilt in his eyes. "That's not a chance I'm willing to take with your life."

  I put myself in front of him and forced him to look at me. "It's a chance I'll take all day."

  He put his hands on my shoulders and sighed again. "I wouldn't let you take such a chance. I won't do anything that jeopardizes your safety ever again."

  I rolled my eyes. "You haven't ever jeopardized my safety. I'm a big girl, and I can make my own decisions."

  He was avoiding eye contact with me. "Not about this. I can't let you risk your life just to be with me. It's not fair and it's not practical. It's just your emotions running away with you, and for some foolish reason, I've allowed myself to get wrapped up. I'm only endangering you by getting so close."

  "Don't. Don't do this. We've been stuck in limbo for so long - together but not togethe
r. Don't do this."

  He groaned, letting his hand roughly slide through his hair. "Aria, you don't know what you're saying."

  I could feel tears forming in my eyes. "I know we're soul mates. I can feel it. Every time we touch, every time you look at me, every time I even get close to you, I can feel it. I can feel the pounding in my heart getting heavier anytime you're gone for too long. I know I'm right about this. Don't say that it's just my foolish emotions, because I know it's so much more."

  "I don't think you understand. Soul mates are hard for immortals to understand, let alone mortals. I know that you feel for me, but it's the attraction to my immortality. It's a normal feeling. Mortals have always been drawn to immortality. A link. It's not me. Magic is completely intoxicating. It draws you in without you even realizing it. Your magic isn't here yet, but I can still feel it pulling me in. It's strong and almost irresistible. But that doesn't make us soul mates."

  I was dumbfounded. I'd been certain that he knew it was as real as I did. I couldn't believe he didn't feel the same way. But I was mostly crushed by the fact that he viewed me as he did any other mortal.

  The dams broke and tears began pouring out. "I thought… I was sure that… I know I feel something between us. I know it's more than an attraction to immortality. I'm not attracted to anyone but you. All I can think about is you." I watched as he winced lightly, and I sloppily wiped my tears away.

  He spoke even quieter. "You and I have a strong bond, because of how much time we've spent together. The magic in your veins is stirring from being in such close contact with mine. When you're immortal, all of those feelings are amplified to a degree you can't even comprehend yet. Once you transform, you will see all of that with such better clarity. You will also understand the emotional linkage as well. When you transform, the strength of that link will be gone. The connection that draws you to me will be gone."

  His eyes twitched with pain, and he took a steadying breath.

  "You don't want to kiss me. Not like this. I've fought so incredibly hard to resist such temptation. Everyday I fight the urge and try not to let myself want you."