It felt like it took forever to reach the beginning of the maze and the glass urn that was two thirds full of beads that were now glowing brightly. Reasa was already there, staring at the light her expression rapt. “Can you feel him, Liam?” The words whispered out, awe suffusing her voice.
It was only when she spoke that he felt the third presence with them, a distinctly male persona emanating from the urn. There was no conscious thought, nothing that indicated intelligence but there was something there, and it was getting stronger with each passing second.
Dropping to his knees beside his mate, Liam gripped her hand as they stared at the light, watching it pulse to a slow rhythm they weren’t party to. It was as if the light was undulating to a beat they couldn’t hear… a beat that was slowly picking up pace.
“Brandon?”
The light flared for a fraction of a second, and then it returned to its slow pulsing once more, a feeling of serenity washing over Liam. He could see that same serenity flowing over Reasa, the illumination from the urn bathing her exquisite features in an ethereal glow.
“We found him, Liam! We found him!”
Reasa threw herself into his arms, laughing and crying at the same time, completely overcome with the emotion of the moment. Liam held her close, tears mingling with his own laughter, the emotions mixing with a sense of disbelief that they had been successful at their task. True, Brandon wasn’t fully with them just yet, but there was enough of his psyche gathered that, perhaps, with a bit more time, he’d be able to find his own way back.
Exhausted beyond belief, Liam felt his mate’s own mental fatigue, and the way her body sagged against his. With a tired groan, he rose back to his feet, pulling Reasa up beside him. “We’ve done all we can for today. We can come back tomorrow if required. We need to rest, Reasa.”
It was a testament to how exhausted she was that she didn’t object to him ordering her about. When Liam slipped from Brandon’s mind and turned to look at her, Reasa’s head was resting on Brandon’s bed, her body slumped over with tiredness.
He was instantly concerned for his mate, so much so that it took him a moment to realise that the room was practically empty, Elina and Karn being the only two remaining that weren’t monitoring the patients. The room was darker, a handful of lamps casting a pale light around it.
“You’re back.” Elina’s cool words didn’t mask her concern. “You’ve been gone for hours, Liam. We didn’t know if we should try to force you to leave or let you be.”
“What time is it?”
“Almost midnight,” Karn answered, a frown marring his face. “I was all set to make you leave but your cousin here wouldn’t let me. Just like she wouldn’t let us remove you when you both started bleeding all over the place.”
His scowl was for Elina who merely shrugged and turned her gaze to Reasa. She could see Liam was exhausted but he had the strength of being Varcolac keeping him going; his mate didn’t. “Reasa looks wiped out, Liam.”
“Wait, what do you mean bleeding all over the place?” Her cousin’s concerned gaze turned to Reasa, gently raising her from her prone position and searching her face intently. Her eyes fluttered open briefly, and then closed again as if she was too tired to keep them open. “There isn’t a mark on her,” Liam breathed, suspicious eyes alighting on Karn.
“Don’t look at me,” the vampire growled, giving Elina a pointed look. “She ran the whole show today. You want to know why the girl’s healed, ask your cousin.”
For a moment, Elina really wanted to smack the smug look from Karn’s face but she fought down the errant thought, keeping her gaze firmly on Liam in case he reacted unfavourably. She was relieved to see that his initial suspicion was waning, and it was more curiosity than anything else on his face. “We can talk more about it tomorrow,” she answered neutrally, giving him the briefest of smiles.
Liam shot her another quizzical glance before his need to take care of his mate overcome his curiosity and he rose, sweeping Reasa into his arms and cradling her against his wide chest. “Where can we rest?”
Karn headed for the door. “You can use the room at the top of the stairs on the second floor. You can have the one to the right of it, Elina.” He paused as they passed him, his Praetorian instincts coming to the fore. “Brandon?”
“We did what we could, Karn. The rest is up to him.” Liam headed up the second flight of stairs and opened the door to the room they’d been assigned. The last of his strength was waning and all he wanted to do was crawl into bed.
Kicking the door shut, he clutched Reasa tightly and managed to pull down the cover on the bed. He sank down onto the mattress with her, laying his mate gently against the pillows. Fast asleep she was so vulnerable, and his protective instincts surged up within him. He found enough strength to pull off her boots and his own before he wrapped Reasa in his arms and pulled the cover over them.
He didn’t care how pissed off she would be when she woke. She was his to protect, and nothing would make him leave her side until she was rested enough to take care of herself. Liam’s eyes drifted closed, his heart slowing to beat in tandem with the woman’s in his arms.