The Huntress : The Alterealm Series Book 1

Chase leaned over me, his hazel eyes filled with determination. I was in a bed and had no idea how I ended up here. Had I blacked out?

“The King will be here in a moment.” Mitz’s voice filled the room. “He was dealing with a little uprising when Victor called.”

Turning my head, I watched her almost run towards me.

“He sent me here to see if I could lend a hand…” She stopped beside the bed, her usual cheery faced blanching when she looked down at me. With a quick look to the man hovering over me, she turned and ran through a door. “Get those filthy clothes off her.”

Now I was starting to worry. I felt Chase cut through the strap for my wand and then the one around my leg. When he reached around and pulled the case for my raptor off the back of my jeans, panic started to take over. Reaching out I aimed for his hand and ended up connecting with his wrist instead.

Grasping my hand lightly, he moved it and then used my own knife to cut away the leg of my jeans. Up until then I’d forgotten about the cut on my thigh and wanted to lift my head to look, but my muscles weren’t obeying.

“We have to get you cleaned up, Daxx.” Chase lowered his head and worked the material away from my leg.

I’d only heard Chase call me by my name a few times and each time it was when things were serious. Hearing him say kitten right now would have been a comfort.

Mitz reappeared over me, the worry plainly etched into her usual smooth brow. “Go get yourself washed. I don’t need you infecting her with the blood and dirt on you.”

I hadn’t even noticed if Chase was hurt, but from the sounds of it he was wearing the opponent’s blood and not his own. Mitz continued to mutter under her breath as she wiped my side. With a frown on her face, she looked around and then grabbed something sitting beside me.

I heard the material of my shirt being ripped through with a blade, but couldn’t summon the energy to look. A cool wetness moved over the burn on my side and oddly enough it felt better even though it hurt like a bitch.

Mitz looked over her shoulder and spoke to someone. “I can’t stop the flow on this one.”

Chase appeared in my limited view again. “Where the hell is Troy?”

“You have to give her blood.” Mitz’s voice wasn’t gentle and that sent a new wave of fear through me.

I felt the bed move and then could see Chase beside me. “It won’t do a damn thing if she bleeds it out as fast as I put it in.” With a gentle touch, he brushed the hair out of my face. “I don’t have healing saliva.” He sounded frustrated.

Fighting to focus on his face, I tried to reach up to him and then pain shot through my entire left side. Grunting, I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to make any noises I’d be embarrassed for later on.

When I opened my eyes, Chase was kneeling beside me stripping his shirt off. I knew I wasn’t doing well when I couldn’t even bring myself to look and appreciate.

“I got here as soon as I could.” Troy’s voice came from somewhere in the room.

When he came into my line of vision, I was surprised to see him streaked with blood and dirt. What had he been doing? He stopped abruptly beside the bed and looked down at me. “What the hell happened?” The ice in his voice surprised me.

“I’ll explain later, right now we need to stop our Huntress from dying.” Chase’s voice echoed in my head.

Dying? Now I fought to stay awake. The bed moved again and I could feel someone lying against my side.

“Open your eyes, kitten, I need you to co-operate with me.” Chase’s soft plea made me look up at him. “There you are.” I felt his arm move under me as he cradled me against his chest. My body felt like rubber and the only thing I could manage to do was blink. “You’ll have to cut me, Mitz.”

I didn’t know what was happening when Mitz appeared over me again, but I could make out my raptor in her hand. She gave me a reassuring look. “You’re going to be fine, love.”

I wanted to ask why she was going to cut Chase, but he lifted my head closer to him before I could say anything. Licking my lips, I tried to grasp enough air to say something. A warm sweet taste filled my mouth. Vaguely through the haze I recognized it was Chase’s blood on my tongue.

“Come on, kitten, try,” his voice pleaded against my ear.

I licked my lips again and an understanding went through me. I was dying. The only thing I could think was at least I wasn’t alone when it happened.

“It’s healing before she can get enough.” Mitz leaned over me again.

“Then cut deeper.” Troy’s voice came from beside me somewhere but I couldn’t find the strength to turn my head and look at him.

“Do it.” Chase said.

Closing my eyes, I thought maybe if I could just rest for a minute all of this would make sense. I could feel someone holding my chin but ignored that and left it to them to look out for me in this silent moment. My side still hurt and I wondered why in all of this I could feel that and nothing else. A warm stinging feeling moved along it and I could only surmise it was meant to feel that way.

“Stay with me, kitten, I need you to swallow.”

Lifting my eye lids took a lot of concentration, but I managed to open them enough to see Chase’s concerned face near my own. I wanted to thank him for picking me up out of the dirt, but when I tried all I could do again was lick my lips and gasp to breathe.

“Cut me again.” Chase’s voice was shaking and it bothered me.

I tried to summon the willpower to reach up to him, but I couldn’t feel my arm. Something ran down my throat and I almost gagged on it. When I tried to move my head the hold on my chin tightened.

“One more, love, then you can rest.”

I couldn’t see Mitz, but I felt comfort in her tone and tried to do whatever they were asking me to so I could close my eyes and rest finally.

“It’s not enough,” Chase growled from somewhere in the room.

“She’s strong, Chase. We’ll let her rest for a while and then rouse her and give her more.”

I had to agree with Mitz, or would have if my body wasn’t feeling like lead. I just wanted to sleep.

****

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I recognized was Chase’s hazel eyes only inches from my own.

“Welcome back, kitten,” he whispered.

My whole body throbbed and at this point I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing, but I was still here so maybe things hadn’t been as bad as I’d thought. I could feel movement on the bed, but wasn’t able to summon enough energy to turn and see why.

“I need you to stay awake for a few minutes, my Huntress and take more.”

I blinked and wondered more what but before I could ask. Troy was leaning over me, the look in his eyes shadowed the same expression as his twin’s.

“She’s not going to stay conscious for long, stop dicking around.”

It sounded like Quinton, but I couldn’t see him. The bed shifted and I found my head being lifted again. This time I could feel the warmth of skin against my face and it was a comforting feeling. I felt the wet against my mouth and licked at it, knowing this time that it was Chase’s blood that covered my tongue. If he was still trying to give me his blood maybe I wasn’t doing as well as I thought.

It took every ounce of strength I had to swallow a few times.

“You should just cut your wrist.” Quinton said from beside me.

“The closer to the heart the better her chances.” Chase’s voice drawled from above my head.

Understanding now that he was cradling me against his chest to give me his blood, I tried again to move and take what he was offering. I could feel his hand grasp the back of my head as he held me close to him and managed to stick my tongue out brush it over his skin.

“That’s it, kitten, fight back.” I could feel his breath against my cheek as I tried to swallow once more.

Feeling drained I closed my eyes and let my head fall back into his hold.

“You should go feed, Chase, keep up your own strength.” Troy’s voice said quietly.

“I will when I know she’s resting.”

I could feel Chase’s arms lowering me back into the soft pillows.

“We’ll stay with her. You go now.”

Quinton was still here and he didn’t sound pleased. For a brief second the fog lifted enough for me to wonder who exactly the we covered, but I didn’t want to try to open my eyes to find out.

“You may have to give her more throughout the night, Chase. We can’t contribute because then she’s going to be really pissed if she wakes up and finds she’s connected to more than one of us.”

I wasn’t sure, but that sounded like Rafael. How many of the royal brothers were hovering around me?

I felt the bed move and then the cool air hit me where Chase’s warm body had been. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes, call me if she wakes.” Chase’s voice faded like he was walking away.

“You boys come home when he gets back, the Huntress will sleep through the night.” Mitz told them in that motherly way. “Chase will need rest too if he has to keep giving to her.”

I had questions but they were going to have to wait as my body lazed and peacefulness seemed to fill me from the inside. I embraced it and let myself go.