The Huntress : The Alterealm Series Book 1

It took Michael and Chase to get him back to my room. He was barely able to keep himself upright by the time we reached it.

Once they got him propped up in the bed, I dismissed them, assuring them I would call if I needed anyone.

I bathed his cuts again, they were starting to clot, iced a hand that looked no better and then sat on the bed staring at him. The time to wait had passed, my patience was depleted. “Tell me what happened.”

Quinton lifted his eyes and looked at me. “I did.”

Shaking my head, I crawled up the bed and sat closer to him. “Not that. Tell me what happened all those years ago.”

“Oh that.” He closed his eyes again.

“Damariss Maxx,” I blurted out before I could change my mind.

His eyes opened again and he gave me an odd look.

“My real name,” I whispered.

“Damariss,” he said quietly, “I like it.”

I rolled my eyes. “No one likes it.” I smiled at him. “Now you have to tell me your secret.”

He sighed. “I almost killed a woman. From your side.” He panted to catch his breath, “in the early nineteen hundreds.”

I didn’t know what to say to any of that, so I just placed my hand on his waist and sat there without saying anything, hoping he’d continue.

“I’d go and see her. She was so pretty and knew what I was and she was okay with it. Human essence is…” He stopped suddenly like he wasn’t sure what to say.

“Better?” I asked.

Nodding, he tried to straighten up on the bed, without moving much. “I didn’t just like her for that.” He took a shaky breath. “We fooled around.”

I was a little surprised, but kept my mouth shut.

He cleared his throat. “I got carried away, mixing feeding and…” His eyes darted around the room like he was trying to figure out how to say something.

I bobbed my head. “Sex. I get it.”

“It’s dangerous. I took too much and before I came to my senses she was almost void.” His sad eyes filled with pain. “I brought her back with me, breaking more laws than I should have gotten away with.” His voice faded.

“What happened to her?”

“Blood didn’t work, several of my brothers tried. It prolonged what was left of her time, but she never recovered.” A tear rolled down his cheek and I froze not knowing what to do. “She existed, quiet and docile for a few more years, Mitz cared for her here.”

I couldn’t imagine having to live through something like that and then have to be reminded every day afterward for even a day, never mind a few years. “I’m sorry, Quinton.”

He looked at me with so much hurt in his eyes. “I took her life, her vibrancy from her—”

“You got caught up in the moment and made a mistake.” I reached over and touched his cheek gently. “I think you’ve paid your penance.”

Quinton shook his head. “No amount of time will ever make it right.”

Sitting back, I looked at him for a moment. “I didn’t say it would make it right. But you need to look after yourself too.”

He shook his head.

I panicked at the thought of being here in this reality without him. I couldn’t do it. “Quinton, don’t leave me to deal with all of this on my own.”

I caught the annoyed look he gave me before he lowered his eyes so I couldn’t see what he was thinking. “You’re not alone, you will never be here.”

“No. I have several giants that hover over me like I’m a prize possession. You’re the only friend I have here.”

His eyes moved back to mine quickly. “You think of me as a friend?”

I nodded, not sure why he was so surprised.

“I haven’t been close to anyone in a hundred and fifty years.”

I shrugged. “Well, your people skills are a little rusty, but I’m no social butterfly either, so we’ll work on it.”

“Damariss, I don’t know what to say.”

I grunted. “You can start by not saying my name.”

“I like it.” He tried to shrug nonchalantly but hissed out a breath when he was reminded of the state of his beaten body.

“Let me help you, Quinton.”

His eyes skimmed my face and he shook his head. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t hurt me. You seem have developed this serious big brother thing with me and I know you would never do anything to hurt me.” He shook his head. “Please, I need you to be okay.” I’d never told anyone I needed them and it must have been clear to hear in the way my voice trembled because he looked at me with so many thoughts going through his eyes, I couldn’t keep up.

“I don’t know if I can.” Wincing, he lifted his good hand and held my chin gently. “I’d be afraid of hurting you.”

Shrugging out of his hold, I scrambled off the bed and went over and grabbed my phone. “Pick a brother then, we won’t be alone so you don’t have to worry.”

He was quiet for a long time before he heaved a painful sigh and looked up at me as I hovered with the phone over him. “Troy.”

Nodding, I hit the number to call him. When he answered with concern in his voice I quickly said. “Can you come to my room, now?” I waited for his short reply and then hung up the phone and set it on the table. “There.” When I looked back down at him, his eyes were going red slowly. I swallowed the reality of what I was offering suddenly dawning on me. I’d just offered up my neck to a being from a race I still didn’t quite understand and was giving my blessing for him to take a bite. Would it hurt?

“You don’t have to do this,” he said quietly as if he could read my thoughts. As far as I knew he couldn’t.

“I want to.” I sat down, hoping to convey that this wasn’t a big deal, even though my heart was doing double-time inside my chest. Unable to sit I jumped up off the bed and took my raptor off my back and set it beside the phone. I didn’t want a reflex reaction to make me stab the man I was trying to help.

The door opened and Troy towered in it. His eyes moved over me and then he looked at his brother sprawled on the bed. Coming in, he closed the door and went over to the bed quietly. “I had hoped it looked worse than it was, but now that you’re all cleaned up I can see how bad it is.”

Staying where I was, I quickly blurted out. “He’s going to take some of my essence.” There. Now I had to go through with it.

Troy straightened and looked over at me and then back down to his older brother lying there with glowing red eyes. He nodded his head once as if he knew the reason he was here. Leaning over Quinton, he spoke in a soft voice. “I won’t let you hurt her.”

Quinton took a deep breath and then jolted as pain flooded through him. “Get me on my feet.”

I rushed over and stopped with one knee on the bed so I could see around the large King taking up too much space. “You don’t have to move, I can just…”

“I’ll stand.” His voice was loud, leaving me no room to ignore his wishes.

“Fine.” I bounced back up and paced a few feet away. About a hundred questions flooded through my brain in the short time it took Troy to get him on his feet. Would it hurt was the first thing, which made me feel like a wuss for even thinking it. What would I feel while he did it? Clearly if people donated willingly it couldn’t be a horrid experience, right?

Troy held Quinton for a few seconds to make sure he was steady enough and then he backed away slowly. He looked over at me and I don’t know what the look was he was sending my way, but it let me know that I’d better follow through on this.

Before I could run out of the room, I went over and stood in front of Quinton, looking up at his battered face. It was just the reason I needed to move a little closer to him. He was my friend and I wanted to help him.

I stood there trying not to visibly shake. Quinton didn’t move, he just continued to stand there and sway, his red eyes moving over my face. It was a good thing I was one of those aggressive females, because clearly I was going to have to make the first move. Stepping into his body, I placed my hands against his chest lightly enough that I wouldn’t hurt any of his injuries. He placed a shaking hand on my shoulder.

Remembering where Troy had told me they bit, I brushed the hair back from my face and tilted my head to the side, hoping he did this quickly before I had time to really think about it.

Quinton pulled me gently by the back of my neck until I was cradled into him. His hand was shaking and breathing was uneven, I didn’t know if it was from his injuries or the anticipation. Glancing over at Troy, he stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes as red as his brothers.

When Quinton leaned down, his face brushing over my neck I almost squeaked out a sound of fear, which was something this girl didn’t do.

“Thank you, Damariss,” he whispered against my skin.

When he bit into my neck, there was a little sting, but nothing like I was preparing for. I could barely feel his teeth in me. The only thing I felt was an odd tingling sensation that spread from the bite and strangely enough a sort of peace came over me. Seriously, I thought as Quinton pulled me tighter into his embrace, what’s the big deal with this?

Without warning, he straightened away from me and released my shoulders. “You taste like my sister,” he said under his breath before he walked over to Troy, panting like he was still trying to catch his breath. “Nothing ever happens to her!” He growled and then stumbled toward the door.

“Wow, he has the whole big brother thing down pat,” I chuckled.

Rafael came flying through the door. “I just passed Quint, he was crying…” He

looked at me. “Oh my god! Is she alright?” His eyes flicked to my neck.

Raising a hand, I touched it to feel it wet.

“She gave consent,” Troy said before Rafael could say anymore.

“Are you just going to stand there and let her bleed out?”

Troy jerked me around in his arms and lifted my hair. A pained look crossed his face. The room began to spin, so I clutched his shirt to keep from dropping to the floor.

“Troy. Are you going to help her?”

I looked up to see his face blur before me, but I could still make out his red eyes.

“I don’t know if…”

“For Christ sakes! Besotted! The whole lot of you.” Rafael swung me up into his arms and I had to grab his neck to remain steady. “I don’t know where your little blade is huntress, but I am only going to close the wound. Of that you have my word.”

I felt myself nod and moved my floating head to the side so he could. He lowered his head and I could feel his breath on my skin.

“Stop!” Troy growled from somewhere near my head. Strong hands pulled me out of Rafael’s arms and I found myself looking up into red eyes I knew.

Leaning into his warmth, I tilted my head and almost sighed to feel his lips brush over my skin. With each stroke of his tongue across the bite mark a shiver went through me.