Crying softly in pain, Snowhawk could feel herself growing weaker as her life bled away. She heard fabric ripping as Janus tore the sheets on the bed into temporary bandages. She could barely feel his touch as he bandaged her wounds. Her cries grew softer and as her eyes closed, she realized she might not make it through this. She felt Janus put his arms around her and hold her tightly. She mentally smiled at the fact that, if she were to die now, in his arms, she would go peacefully. Her eyes fully closed and she entered darkness.
“Snowhawk! Snowhawk, open your eyes! Love, please, don’t leave me!” Janus cried as her eyes slipped shut and her breathing further slowed. “Don’t leave me, love, please…” he told her, squeezing her gently as if trying to keep her spirit from leaving.
Nearly two minutes later, Nyx and several of the men under her command entered the room. “My God, Janus! What the hell happened?!” she exclaimed.
“I’ll explain on the way to the hospital. We need to get her down stairs as quickly and carefully as possible. Can’t risk letting the wounds tear more.”
The men quickly loaded her into a makeshift stretcher, created from another blanket. They carried her down the steps, then sped to the hospital. As Janus comfortingly stroked his bird’s face, Nyx again asked, “What happened back there?”
“Quillen raped her. He beat her and cut her hair. Then he cut her legs, arm, and back as I watched. I couldn’t do anything to help her.”
“Who the fuck is this guy anyway? He must have some pretty big balls to pull this.”
“He was her mate. That is, before my brother broke his horn and tried to kill him.”
“Tried to?” she said, almost sounding shocked.
“Almost did. I don’t know the details. We left as the two were fighting.” The lighter wolf paused, looking down and burying his face in his hands. “I can’t live without her again,” Janus almost whispered.
“She seems strong enough, Janus. I’m sure she can pull through.”
Janus nodded in reply. “I hope so…”
Even if she doesn’t, Nyx thought, there’s still a way.
Just as her name implied, Nyx was a creature of the night, and in more ways than one. That was not her only secret as in all truths, Nyx was actually male, using a new gift to disguise himself. To add to all this, this particular male was none other than Janus’ younger brother Adian. Sophie had almost killed him two years prior, but a vampire appeared that night as Adian lay dying. He called himself Kione and offered to “save” Adian on the single condition that Adian would complete one mission for him someday in the future. Adian agreed to the eternity of endless nights, be it from the loss of blood and lack of oxygen to his brain, or that he simply felt this was not his time to die, so their deal was sealed with Kione’s gentle bite. Some months later, Adian returned to his brother’s estate under his female identity.
He was shaken from his thoughts by his brother calling to Snowhawk. “Snowhawk! Love, keep breathing! You can’t leave me!”
Adian could hear the almost hysterical despair in his brother’s voice, and Snowhawk’s shallow, labored breaths were not a good sign. He turned to the driver and simply said, “Pull it over, we’re never gonna make it at this pace.” The driver complied and pulled the vehicle over. Adian moved into the driver’s seat as the driver left, and left the poor Feln on the side of the road to either find his way home on his own, or to be picked up by one of the other team members.
Janus blinked at Nyx and her insistence to get Snowhawk to the hospital. As the vehicle accelerated, Janus held Snowhawk tightly and whispered to her, “Soon, love, we’ll be there soon. Just hold on,” She was growing cooler by the minute and each breath was shallower than the last.
Another five minutes passed before they reached the hospital. Once there, Janus carried Snowhawk inside while Nyx tracked down the doctor that had treated Snowhawk twice before. “Great Orion!” the doctor exclaimed when she saw Snow’s ashen hued skin. “Bring her in here quickly!” she directed, opening a door to a nearby, empty room. Not needing to be told twice, Janus quickly carried her in then him and Nyx situated her on the bed, stomach down. “What happened, Janus?” the doctor asked, her ruby horn beginning to glow softly.
“She was raped. He cut her legs, arm, and back as I watched. I couldn’t do anything to help her…” Janus trailed off.
“Okay, I’ll do everything I can,” she said, gently putting a red-furred hand on his shoulder.
Janus nodded, then gently kissed Snowhawk. “I won’t be far, love,” he whispered. Reluctantly, he left the room. Nyx stayed behind, the doctor having asked her to. He flopped down in a chair in the nearby lobby, then placed his head in his hands, elbows on his knees. Tears fell from his eyes as the full magnitude of what happened hit him. “Snowhawk…”
*********
Back in the room as she sewed up the wound on Snowhawk’s arm, the doctor calmly stated to Nyx, “I know your secret.”
“Do you now?”
“Yes. I know what and who you are. If you think helping her is going to atone for your past, you’re wrong.”
“Nothing can make up for what I’ve done, dear Doctor. Or what I am.”
The doctor nodded as she finished, never having looked up. “That’s all I can do. She’ll be on her own now.” She sighed quietly as the glow faded from her horn. “She needs blood, but we have no Delphin blood to match her’s here. The only city that might is Juv, but that’s too far to go,”
“Don’t–!” softly cried the now sleeping Snowhawk. She was so weak it was difficult for her to whisper even this.
Adian knelt next to her, then gently brushed her bangs from her eyes. “You didn’t deserve this,” he whispered. “Maybe I acted wrongly two years ago.”
“Adian, two years ago, did you have the faintest clue this would happen?”
“No.”
“Then you have no reason to feel guilty. Though how the hell you figure yourself into this, I don’t know.”
“You’ll understand when you find out who Quillen truly is.”
The doctor gave a small nod, then called Janus in. Adian stood before his brother entered. “The next hours will be crucial. I wish I could say something more, but it’s all a matter of waiting now.”
Nyx looked at Snowhawk for a moment, then to Janus. “What now?”
“I’m staying here to keep an eye on her, and so she’ll know she’s not alone.” He paused for a couple moments, then continued, “Then I will find this son of a bitch and rend him limb from limb.”
“If you can find him. I would guess he knows he’s in for it and will sneak off into hiding for a while. Not to mention what he may tell the Society leaders.”
“The man who did this had ties to the Society?” the doctor asked.
“Yeah. He’s the head of security.”
“That Quillen?!”
“Yes.”
“I knew he wasn’t all there, but I never imagined he’d be capable of this. But, why her?”
Nyx looked at Janus as he looked at her, then Nyx dropped her head and turned to the side, leaving Janus to answer. “… Because Quillen is Legacy. And he’s pretty pissed off that Snowhawk wouldn’t willingly go back to him.”
The doctor stood in a shocked silence for a moment. “Should have realized when he tried to kill her two years ago.”
“How did you know about that?”
“I work here. I hear things. And for now, I shall leave you with her.” The doctor turned and left the room.
“Do you want to know how close she was?” Nyx quietly asked a moment later.
“How close?”
“Another five minutes. Probably less.”
“She would have been gone,” He knelt next to the bed and gently stroked her face.
“Not forever,” Nyx whispered.
“What?” Janus asked, looking up.
“Nothing.” She leaned against the wall; all they could do was wait. Once she realized the time, she quickly excused herself. She wanted to stay, but the sun that would soon rise had other plans.
Within eleven hours, Snowhawk had improved more than they could have imagined. Nyx returned just after the sun set some thirteen and a half hours after she’d left.
Janus glanced to her as she entered, “You certainly live up to your name.”
“Me and the sun don’t mix,” she replied. “How is she?”
“Much better, but still not out of the woods,” Janus answered, gently stroking his bird’s hair.
Nyx nodded. Her mind was elsewhere though. She needed to tell her secret, but she didn’t know how to begin, or how he would react. The last thing she wanted right now was to be pushed away. She had this driving urge to protect Snowhawk. As much as it probably didn’t need to come out now, fate decided to throw her hand in and force it out. The room seemed to grow darker, colder. Janus looked up and Nyx moved from where she had been leaning against the wall toward the bed. In the short hallway from the room to the hospital’s main hallway, a man appeared. He was ghost white in complexion and had long, dark silver hair that hung to his mid thigh.
“Who are you!?” Janus demanded.
Nyx hissed, “Kione. What the hell do you want?”
The stranger grinned, opening almost glowing gold eyes. “You inadvertently completed your half of out bargain. I’m simply here to collect her.”
“She’s been through enough. Leave her be.”
“So harsh, Adian.”
Janus blinked. “Adian?”
“Janus,” the younger Lupino replied, his faux exterior melting away to reveal the same wolf Janus had grown up with.
“I’m sure you to have some catching up to do. Now let me have what I want and I’ll leave you.”
“Not today, or ever, Kione.”
“Why do you protect the one that forced you to be what you are? After all, you once threatened to do the same to her.”
“Feelings change.”
Kione’s grin still had not lessened. “I’m sure. In any case, why don’t you ask her what she wants?”
Adian looked back to the bed where Snowhawk was slowly sitting up. Her dulled, half closed eyes told him the story. “Because you’re controlling her.”
“Not completely. Merely telling her what she could have if she came with me.”
“What? The endless nights? The constant bloodlust?”
“We’ll see,” Kione smirked. “Besides, that’s only a problem the first few years. You should be over the sun’s burn soon.”
The groggy woman was now standing beside her bed. At least, she appeared to be standing, but was actually floating. She began to drift toward the long-haired stranger and Janus jumped in front of her, grabbing hold of her arms. “Snowhawk, love, wake up!”
“She can’t hear you, Janus. Only me,” he informed them. Janus held onto her tightly, but she managed to break away. She floated to Kione and he took her into his arms, falling limp at his touch. “What a pity that your world has to lose such a beauty,” he said, his grin never lessening.
“I will take her from you, Kione,” Adian growled, “before you turn her.”
“Good luck, young wolf,” he said with a final grin, then vanished with Snowhawk.
“Dammit!” Adian growled.
“… Dare I ask what you became to still be here?”
“I don’t think you’re that dense, dear brother. In any case, that’s not the issue here.”
“Why do you want to help her, Adian?”
“Because I owe the both of you that much. The wounds stopped hurting and I’ve accepted that I deserved this, especially now.” Adian paused for a moment, then headed toward the door. “I’m going after her. I’ll contact you when I find her.”
*********
Snowhawk awoke in a darkened room, someone gingerly holding her in their arms. She at first assumed this to be Janus and so, thought nothing of it. Her eyes focused on her surroundings and she found herself in what appeared to be a room of a castle, decorated in deep, rich colors. “Where am I?” she asked, still not fully awake.
The one holding her pulled her now short hair back and away from her neck as he sat her up. He leaned in toward her neck, wrapping one arm across her chest, and whispered, “Someplace safe.”
As soon as he heard the voice, she knew this man, who ever he was, was not Janus. She tried to break away from him, but found herself to still be too weak. “Who are you?!”
“Think back to just a few hours ago. Well, about a day now,” he said as he nuzzled her neck. “The name’s Kione, dear.”
“What are you doing?” she asked as he moved further back on her neck.
“I told you earlier I was going to help you. And I shall.” She cried out softly as he lightly nipped her neck, breaking the skin and drawing blood. “Such delicate skin… And sweet blood too,” he commented as he licked her neck. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to take you where you won’t hurt anymore.”
“I like the pain. It lets me know I’m alive.”
“But is it really all it’s cracked up to be?” he asked as he turned her around to face him. His left hand sat in the small of her back; his right was at the base of her skull. He smiled seductively and pulled her to him. She again tried to break away, but he only pulled her closer. “You have nothing to fear,” he told her, then leaned down to her neck.
“N– No, please…” she whimpered.
Just as he bit down, the door of the room burst open. “Let her go, Kione,” Adian warned.
“Meddling wolf,” Kione growled as he pulled away from her neck. “Do you really think you can stop me?”
“All I have to do is get her away from you.”
“Easier said then done, I should think,” the vampire grinned.
“Not necessarily,” Adian returned, then quickly lunged at Kione.
The vampire twisted out of the way, pulling Snowhawk with him. She cried out in pain as the wound on her back was nearly pulled open again. “Be careful, Adian. It wouldn’t take much to reopen her wounds.”
“Using her as a shield won’t help your position any, Kione.”
“She’ll thank me for it after I turn her.”
“I won’t give you the chance.”
“But I shall, dear wolf.”
“Only in your dreams.”
Kione grinned. “So you say.”
Adian again lunged at the other vampire, but found himself stopped by Kione’s booted foot in his chest. “Hand her over, Kione.”
“No. You can’t stop what is meant to be, wolf.”
“And this isn’t,” he growled, knocking Kione’s leg aside then grabbing Snowhawk. He quickly moved away from the still grinning vampire.
“She’s mine now, Adian, and you can’t keep her from me.”
“Snowhawk belongs to no one but herself. She is my brother’s by her own choice,” he told Kione as he protectively clutched Snowhawk. She was trembling in both fear and pain.
“And just what are you going to do once you return her? Become their protector? You’ll always be a fifth wheel to them, Adian, unless you claim what’s in your arms as your own.”
While Adian could admit he found this to be a very tempting proposition, he had to decline. “No. I think not. Especially if that’s how you intend to eventually get her to become yours.”
“And who ever said I did?”
“I’m not as stupid as everyone makes me out to be.”
“Maybe you won’t be a failure as a vampire yet,” he grinned. “Now, take the prize that is in your arms. You don’t want her in pain anymore, do you?”
“The only way I would is if she told me to turn her, Kione.”
“But can you not see it? The pleading look in her eyes. The trembling of pain.”
“Only if she says it.”
The older vampire smirked. “Ah well. It’s of no concern to me. I’ll come back for her at my leisure.”
“We’ll be waiting,” Adian growled.
“Good,” Kione replied, then vanished.
Adian growled again, then looked to his right hand as he felt a warm liquid oozing over it. The hand he had on her back was covered in her blood. The wound on her back had begun to split open again. She cried softly in pain as he tried to pick her up without further injury, finally managing to do so after having to hear several of her half-neighs of pain, something carried over from her Delphin form, he guessed. She continued to cry, burying her face in his chest as he carried her out.
He reached the vehicle he had brought and carefully positioned her inside on her stomach. He half ran to the driver’s side and slid in, picking up the cell phone and calling his brother as he pulled away. “She’s safe and I’m on my way back now.”
“Adian– thank you.”
“We’ll be a few hours. You may want to keep that doctor handy. The wound on her back has begun to reopen and she has a couple bites on her neck.”
“Care to tell me who this guy is when you get back?”
“I’ll tell you what I know when I return,” Adian replied, then hung up.
Over the past year and a half, Adian has found that being a protector was more rewarding than just taking what he wanted. He enjoyed helping Snowhawk, and his brother, but he had said that he would see that she was never by hurt by Janus again. She didn’t deserve to be hurt, and if Janus could do nothing but use her, then his brother would lose that which he held so dear. The younger Lupino knew he had the power to take her from him with a quick, painless bite. But he would wait and see; bide his time and keep a close eye on them. There was no point in taking her away from him now that she was happy. “Or would be if she hadn’t been cut to shreds,” he mumbled. “Besides, barring any serious accidents, a Delphin will outlive a normal Lupino at least twice over. And I am far from normal.”
*********
After returning to the hospital and the wound on Snowhawk’s back being sewn closed again, Janus and Adian sat in her darkened room and Adian relayed his story. “Just after sunset the evening following Sophie trying to kill me, at which point, yes, I was still alive, a man emerged from the shadows. He called himself Kione and offered to help me on the condition that I would one day help him. Not knowing this was his intention and not caring of the consequences, I agreed. He turned me there, then took me somewhere to heal. The rest, as they say, is history.”
“Yes, but who is he?”
Adian shrugged. “Not a clue, other than the fact he’s a very old vampire. He taught me a few things, but only stayed around for a few nights.”
“Which leaves you unaccounted for for several months.”
“I was strengthening myself.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. Why are you do damn curious all the sudden? You think I wanted this to happen?
Janus sighed. “Sorry, Adian. Maybe I’m being too protective of her right now.”
“It’s understandable, brother. But I have changed quite a bit over the past two years. Gave up a lot of things. Stopped acting like such an ass.”
“Took up cross dressing,” they heard Snowhawk say.
The older Lupino jumped up and ran to the bed. “Love, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
“Like shit…” she grumbled.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t find you sooner, love.”
“I should have fought him off.”
“There’s no way you could have, Snowhawk,” Adian began. “Quillen is a hell of a lot stronger than you. Plus, add in the fact the bastard knows you almost as well as my brother and I’m sure you get the idea.”
“Love, his human form is stronger than my Lupino form. Please don’t blame yourself. This is in no way your fault.” He reached out to touch her face, but she shied away from him. “Love–”
“Please, I just– I need to be alone.”
“But do you think–”
“She’ll be ok, Janus. Neither of them would try anything this soon. Come on, we’ll find you some decent food and I’ll find a place to rest for the day.”
Janus nodded. “Very well.” He gave Snowhawk a gentle kiss on her cheek, then the two of them left the room. “Dammit, I feel so helpless.”
“There’s nothing you can do, Janus. Or could have done. Quillen is too strong, just as you said, and truthfully you would have had a snowball’s chance in hell against Kione.”
“And you?”
“Brother, I’m basically immortal. It may take a few nights, but Quillen would be no real problem. Kione– that’s another story. He’s a much stronger vampire than me.”
“Why do you feel you owe us this?”
“If I hadn’t broken Legacy’s horn, this wouldn’t have happened. He wouldn’t have snapped like he did and she wouldn’t have been raped. More than likely, I wouldn’t be a vampire because Sophie probably wouldn’t have tried to kill me. That is why I owe you this.”
“Thank you, brother.”
“But,” he began, “let me tell you one thing, Janus. If I ever see her cry because you have hurt her, I will take her from you. I will protect her from everyone because the last thing she needs is more pain.”
“Why would I ever hurt her?”
“You have been known to in the past, brother. So this is the only warning you’ll receive.”
“Adian…”
“Just remember, Janus. If I see one tear because of you, then you will lose her forever.” The younger Lupino turned and stalked off.
“What the hell was that about?” Janus asked to no one in particular.
“I do believe your brother may like your bird,” stated the Doctor, popping out of no where.
Janus jumped and spun around. “Where the hell did you come from!?”
“I’m always around. I work here. By the way, next time you’re looking for me, just ask for Lisa.”
“Very well,” Janus sighed, then shook his head. “I think everything just got several times more complicated.”
“Maybe,” she replied, “but you have to realize he feels a lot of guilt for what happened.”
Janus nodded, but really had nothing else to say. What could he say? His own brother was threatening to take away the very thing he had missed for so many years. Not to mention the issues with Kione and Quillen. He would have to be more careful than ever with her now.