Gabriel had been waiting for the moment when Lucian would weaken, and he took advantage, leaping to his brother’s side, sweeping his tongue across the gaping wound he had created to close it.
His lifemate was at his side. Very gently she took Lucian’s hand in hers. “You think there is no more purpose to your existence.”
Lucian closed his eyes tiredly. “I have hunted and killed for two thousand years, sister. My soul has so many pieces missing that it is like a sieve. If I do not go now, I may not go later, and my beloved brother would be forced to attempt to destroy me. It would be no easy task. He must remain safe. I have done my duty. Let me rest.”
“There is another,” Francesca told him softly. “She is not like us. She is mortal. At this moment she is young and in terrible pain. I can only say to you, if you do not find her, she will live a life of such agony and despair, we cannot imagine it, even with all our great gifts. You must live for her. You must endure for her.”
“You are telling me I have a lifemate?”
“And that her need of you is great.”
“I am no gentle man. I have killed for so long, I know of no other existence. Tying a mortal woman to me would be sentencing her to live with a monster.” Even as he made the denial, Lucian was not resisting as Gabriel’s lifemate began to work on his savage wound. Gabriel filled the room with beneficial herbs and began the ancient healing chant as old as time itself.
“I will heal you now, my brother,” she said softly. “A monster such as you think you have become will be able to protect the woman from the monsters who would otherwise destroy one such as she.”
Gabriel cut his wrist and pressed the wound to his twin’s mouth. “I offer my life freely for yours. Take what you need to heal. We will put you deep within the soil and guard you until you are at full strength.”
“Your first duty is to your lifemate, Lucian,” Francesca reminded him softly. “You can do no other than find her and remove her from danger.”
*****
Jaxon, Five years old
Florida, USA
“Look at me, Uncle Tyler,” Jaxon Montgomery called proudly, waving from the top of the high wooden tower she had just climbed.
“You’re crazy, Matt.” Russell Andrews shook his head, shading his eyes against the sun as he stared up at the replica of the high platform used for training Navy SEALS recruits. “Jaxx could break her neck if she fell.” He glanced away toward the fragile woman lying on the chaise longue, cuddling her newborn son. “What about it, Rebecca? Jaxx isn’t even five yet, and Matt has her training for Special Forces,” Russell said.
Rebecca Montgomery smiled absently and looked up at her husband as if asking his opinion.
“Jaxon’s great,” Matt said immediately, reaching to capture his wife’s hand and bringing her knuckles to his lips. “She loves this stuff. She was doing it practically before she could walk.”
Tyler Drake waved to the tiny girl calling to him. “I don’t know, Matt. Maybe Russell’s right. She’s so small. She takes after Rebecca in looks and build.” He grinned. “Of course, we were lucky in that department. The rest of her is all you. She’s a daredevil, a little fighter, just like her daddy.”
“I’m not so certain that’s a good thing,” Russell said, frowning. He couldn’t take his eyes off the child. His heart was in his throat. His own little girl was seven years old, and he would never allow her near the tower his compatriots, Matt Montgomery and Tyler Drake, had constructed in Matt’s backyard. “You know, Matt, it’s possible to force a child to grow up too fast. Jaxon is still a baby.”
Matt laughed. “That ‘baby’ can cook breakfast for her mother and serve it to her in bed and change diapers for the little one. She’s been reading since she was three. I mean, really reading. She loves physical challenges. There’s not much on the training course she can’t do. I’ve been teaching her martial arts, and Tyler has been working on survival training with her. She loves it.”