The Huntress : The Alterealm Series Book 1

I felt like I was whole again as sleep slowly lifted. There were hushed voices coming from the other side of the room and I stayed there with my eyes closed not sure if I wanted to see who was in here with me.

The bed moved beside me and I heard a soft chuckle I was beginning to recognize. “You may as well open your eyes. We’re not going to go away.”

Lifting my eye lids, I looked up at Chase. He was grinning and it didn’t take me long to figure out he could feel the moment I had regained consciousness. “How do you feel?”

I moved slowly up on the pillow and then stopped when I could feel the air on my skin. Looking down, I watched as he pulled the sheet higher and realized I was naked under the bedding. Flicking my eyes to him, he lowered his lashes and to hide his thoughts from me.

“Daxx.”

Chase sat up so I could see past him to where Quinton stood a few feet away. “Hey.” I could barely manage more than a whisper. I wanted to sit up but due to my naked state I decided I would just have to stay put for a little longer.

Quinton strode over and knelt beside the bed. “How are you doing?”

I tried for a smile, but wasn’t sure how it came out. “A little rough, but better than I was.”

“Quinton was wondering if you might be more comfortable in your own room on the other side of Alterealm.” Chase’s voice was casual but through the connection we now had I could feel frustration that was bordering on anger.

I looked from the hazel eyes that were watching my own carefully over to the brown ones that were filled with concern. “I think I’ll just stay here for a little longer. Things might be sealed up, but I don’t know how moving around is going to be just yet.” I looked around the room. “How is it there’s only you here, Quinton?”

He shrugged. “Chase has limited your visitors to one at a time for the day, so the others are home grabbing some rest before they come over.” Motioning to the table beside the bed, he grinned. “Mitz volunteered me to bring you over some food.”

“They don’t cook here?”

Chase chuckled. “Yes, we cook here. My guess is Quint was driving everyone crazy so Mitz sent him here to see with his own eyes that you were doing better.”

“Oh.” I tried to move up again without revealing that I had nothing on under the sheet. With a silent look to Chase, he stood up and went over to a dresser on the far side of the room. He pulled out a large white shirt and held it up.

Coming back over, he glanced at Quinton briefly and then to me. “She needs to drink more juice after the amount of blood she lost.”

Quinton stood up. “I’ll go get it.” He looked down at me and then moved quickly out the door.

“He’ll run the whole way,” Chase whispered as he leaned over the bed. Reaching under me he sat me up slowly, watching my face the whole time. With one hand against my back, he held out the shirt to me. “I didn’t want to put you in bed in wet clothes.”

Doubting I would have noticed didn’t seem to be the right thing to point out, so I just took the shirt and worked my arms into it. Every muscle in my side hurt as I raised my arms and lowered it over my head. When I was finished, he helped me sit up straighter on against the headboard. Taking a minute for the spinning to stop, I bunched up the blanket at my waist and moved it off of my left leg. I hadn’t seen how it looked last night and the dull ache told me it must have been bad enough.

Bending my leg so it was out of the blanket I looked down to see a good four-inch red scar along the top of my thigh muscle. It didn’t look as healed as I remembered the one across my side looking. Reaching down I ran my fingertips along it to feel it was still very sensitive.

“Troy focused on the other injury, figuring that one wasn’t as life threatening.”

I looked from the mark up at him. Certain pieces started to fit together. Chase saying his saliva didn’t heal, the sensation along my side when he was trying to get me to take some of his blood. My cheeks warmed when the image of one twin over me without his shirt while the other one licked my side filled me head. I looked down at the blanket.

Chase sat down on the bed. “Don’t even go there, kitten.” He pulled the shirt down further on me and then slowly moved the sheet away so he could see the mark on my side. It looked less angry than the one on my leg, but in my opinion had a long way to go before I’d be wearing any belly baring tops.

Glancing up from the injury, I looked at Chase, his eyes were filled with regret and concern. In the same way he had figured out the twisted thought I’d just had I picked up on where his thoughts were going. “I would have gone regardless of what you had to say on the matter.”

Nodding slowly, he lifted his eyes to mine. “I know.” Clearing his throat, he leaned further away from me. “I have a few things to take care of. Will you be alright if I leave you with Quint when he gets back?” His tone was strained.

“Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine.”

I frowned at the clipped sound in his words. “I know you have kingly things to do. You don’t have to babysit me. I’ll be okay here by myself.”

With a sound of frustration, he got up and tucked his hands in his pockets and glared at me. “There is no matter more important than your health. I will only be a few minutes.”

I was swamped by emotions and couldn’t tell where the ones from him started and my own left off. Chase dropped to one knee and leaned over me so his face was only a few inches from mine.

“I have to feed before I give you more blood and I am giving you more because your gashes do not please me in with the way they’re healing. The one on your side went deep, we are not risking something inside not healing completely.”

Grasping his goatee gently, I studied him for a moment. “I want to do it.”

He gave me a puzzled look. “Do what?”

I swallowed. “Feed you,” I whispered before I could change my mind. “You gave me your blood and saved my life, it’s the least I could do.”

The irises of his eyes started to turn a light-yellow shade. Taking hold of my hand that was keeping his face near he leaned closer. “I didn’t do it so you owed me one.”

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

In silence, he watched me, our faces only inches apart. “When I do, it will be because you want me to, not to settle a debt.”

A mix of relief and disappointment filled me, again I didn’t know if they were my feelings or not. “Deal,” I whispered and then moved closer and kissed his mouth lightly. I expected him to kiss me back, but he just stayed where he was his eyes moving over my face.

“I was hoping it had looked worse because of the blood everywhere.” Quinton stood over us with a glass of juice in his hand and pain in his expression.

I realized the blanket was still leaving the marks visible. “It’s better than it was.” I let go of Chase so he could sit up again.

“You need to give her more blood, Chase.” Quinton held out the glass to me.

I took it and concentrated on drinking what was in it, avoiding looking at either brother at the moment. The emotions were making me dizzy.

“I have to go feed and then I will.” Chase stood up and looked down at me as he spoke to Quinton. “Stay with her until I get back?”

“Of course.”

****

After more blood and another nap, I was sore and my leg was stiff, but it was like three weeks of healing had been fit into one day’s time. If the royal fortune ever took a loss, the brothers could start their own pharmaceutical corporation and heal the sick and injured with a little injection of their blood. Of course, the fact that it had to come from their live veins might present a bit of a marketing issue, but it was still a thought.

Chase was off doing King stuff so I took this time of not being hovered over and tossed on some track pants and headed out to see if I could find my way around the tunnels and hallways. I’d only gotten ten feet down the hall from his bedroom door when I sensed I wasn’t alone. Turning slowly, expecting a royal brother to be looming over me, I was pleased to see it was only Tim. He towered over me, but at least he couldn’t send me back to rest. I looked him up and down, trying to find any sign of injury. There weren’t any.

“You’re alright now?”

He grinned down at me and I almost sighed in relief to see that it wasn’t a perfect set of teeth and a charming smile, in fact he looked like he belonged in my neighborhood. “I have you to thank for my life, Huntress.” He bowed his head in that way that was starting to get on my nerves.

I snorted. “Well you saved my ass about a dozen times, so I still owe you a few.”

“I am sorry I allowed you to be injured.”

“I’m pretty sure you didn’t exactly allow that to happen.” Was he crazy? Did he really think I was going to blame him for the psycho maniac that had tried to dice me up? I looked up and down the hall. “Does Chase have a workout room or something on this side?”

He bowed his head again; I stifled the urge to smack the top of it. “I’d be pleased to show you there.”

Lifting my hand to motion for him to lead the way, he paused.

“I was surprised when the King placed me at your door to be your guard.”

I shrugged, not sure why but wasn’t about to admit it. “Maybe he thought we worked well together.” Then I grinned, “we bleed very well together too.”

He studied me for a long minute and then nodded abruptly and began to walk down the hall in the opposite direction. At least with my own personal escort I wouldn’t get lost on this side.

Chase’s workout space wasn’t as elaborate as the one on Troy’s half but it was still way beyond any gym I could ever afford to go to.

“You are well enough for a workout?”

I turned and gave Tim another shrug. “Sure. I just want to do some stretches and get things loosened up a bit.”

I went through a few light moves, testing the resistance of my leg and side. It pulled but it wasn’t anything unbearable. Looking around for a bar or something that was at least a reachable height for me, I spotted nothing remotely close enough to what I needed. Glancing over my shoulder to the man standing beside the door like he was part of the wall, I motioned him over. “I could use a hand.”

His face was filled with a look of doubt, but he came over.

“Put out your hand.” I watched as he extended his hand as if I was going to cut it off. I grinned. “I need you to be my bar. Hold my foot so I can lean into some stretches and get the blood flowing.”

Relief washed over his expression. Nodding he opened his hand again so I could lift my foot into it.

“Much better.” I worked on the leg that hadn’t been injured but still noticed it pulled my side a lot more than I probably should have. “You’d think I had been in bed for weeks with the lazy feeling of my muscles.”

“You almost died, my Queen” Tim offered quietly.

“But I didn’t.” I leaned forward over my leg again and ignored the way my side complained. “I can’t afford too much downtime.”

“I don’t understand.”

Ignoring the burning in my side I stretched up again. “I have a job in my realm too.”

He grinned. “Yes, you are a hunter there as well.”

Nodding, I put my foot back on the floor and squatted a few times. I hadn’t heard from Frank in the last few days but there were always dry spells when it came to bail jumpers, so I wasn’t worried yet.

Nodding to Tim, I kicked my sore leg a few times before placing my foot in his hand. This side was a little tighter and the stretching took me a few more times to get it to the point I was comfortable with it.

“Maybe you’re pushing a little too soon,” Tim offered in a quiet voice.

I leaned down again and grit my teeth against the burning sensation. His grip on my foot tightened making me pause and straighten. He eyes were locked on the door and I saw real fear in them. There was only one man on this side that would bring the large man to task. “Busted,” I whispered before I pulled my foot free and turned to see Chase standing in the door.

“This doesn’t look like resting.” His eyes moved over me as if he was looking for a new injury.

“Just working out the stiffness.” I watched as Tim moved quickly over to the door and exited without a word.

When I turned back, Chase was standing well inside my personal bubble. “I left you to rest, Daxx.”

Why did I feel like a child when he used my name? “I feel fine, better than fine.” I offered what I hoped came across as a cheeky grin. “That blood of yours is quite the rejuvenator; you should bottle and sell it.” He grunted his expression still serious. Moving away from him, I walked over to the weapon wall and pretended I was studying it. “I don’t like lounging.” I glanced over my shoulder to see him watching me. “And I don’t like getting my ass kicked in any realm.”

“You have an advantage on this side of the realms that most of your opponents do not have.”

Turning I watched him move in my direction. “Really? And what is that?” If I had some advantage I really wanted to know what it was.

“Your size, I’ve watched you fight. The way you maneuver is something most over here could only dream of doing.” He paused right in front of me. “And one other thing, you fight ambidextrously…”

“I what?”

“You seem to be able to use both arms equally well. I do the same, only it took me fifty years to master it.”

I felt somewhat pleased that I’d done something in half the time. “Well, when you get injured as often as I do, having a backup arm is always good.”

Reaching behind me, he pulled my weapon of choice off the wall. “So why do you fight with a small knife and tonfa?”

At least he hadn’t called it a cute knife. “Because I’m good with them.”

He nodded, like he was considering what I said. “Yes, but over here you are not limited to non-lethal weapons.”

I snorted, remembering the battle axe trying to chop me in half. “So, what do you suggest?”

Placing the tonfa back on the wall, he moved down it further. “I’m thinking something similar to what I use, only smaller than a katana.” He reached up and pulled two Sais off the wall. “These, they are perfect for your size and can be both defensive and offensive.” I watched him flip them from one position to the other. “There are multiple ways to score a hit with them…” He demonstrated some more.

They were a cool weapon. I’d never considered them before I suppose because walking around in my neighborhood with those on your back would be a good way to get arrested. But here, on this side, all was fair. “Okay let me try them on.” I held out my hands and he shook his head.

“After, learning to move, your body’s size and advantage comes first.”

I shrugged. “Fine.”

“And we take it slow today.”

I really hated feeling like an invalid and the sooner we moved past that the happier I was going to be. “I feel great.”

He smirked. “That’s lovely to hear, but it’s still slow.”

My choices were his way or get my ass beat in the future. I didn’t like having no real choice, but I sucked it up. “Fine.”