Dawn's Keeper by Veronica Del Rosa

Author:Veronica Del Rosa [Del Rosa, Veronica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Veronica Del Rosa

* * *

Sound came to him first. Light feminine snoring. His brows twitched in confusion. He couldn’t remember going to bed with a woman. Soft skin rubbed against his hand, and he jerked away. The movement shot pain through his head. Nasty jackhammers worked over his optic nerves and temples.

The quiet snick of the bedside lamp slammed into his skull, and a scream clogged his abused throat. What had happened to his head? Why did it hurt so much? Trying to remember only brought more agony and confusion. A rogue had attacked him, and then nothing. Everything after was a blank.

“Shh, it’s okay. Drop your barrier, and I’ll heal you.” Elijah continued to thrash in pain, and strong hands clamped down on his shoulders, pinning him. “Keeper, listen to me. You need to drop your barrier. If you don’t, the heal won’t work. Concentrate. Drop it.”

He latched onto the words.

A barrier. Drop the barrier. The words crystallized in his mind, pushing aside some of the pain. Markus couldn’t heal him because of Elijah’s magic resistance. He hadn’t lied to Dawn when he’d said he was a genetic anomaly. He belonged to that feared and hated group, the ones executed without a trial because of one man’s actions.

Drawing on centuries of practice, he strived for calm. Pain was pushed into a dark corner of his mind, and he pictured the barrier. Smooth, solid metal encompassed his body. Bit by bit, he melted it. The metal heated, glowing red-hot until it became liquid, dripping onto the bed and away from him.

“Now,” Elijah hoarsely whispered. It wouldn’t stay down long and already it was working its way back towards his body. Markus didn’t hesitate. Speed was essential when healing one of his kind.

Crisp coolness engulfed him, a soothing balm to his aches. All pain receded from him, even the little aches and pains from day-to-day life. Elijah opened his eyes and blinked. Markus was inches away from his face, his usual sardonic expression hiding any trace of real emotion.

“This Prince Charming doesn’t need a kiss to wake up,” Elijah joked, waving him off so he could sit up. His friend moved back and paced the room. Markus raked his hands through his shoulder-length hair, and his long coat flapped behind him like an agitated bird.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again,” Markus hissed, his voice whipping at Elijah. “Or to Julia. She was beside herself and could barely tell me what happened. What were you thinking?”

“I was doing her a favour. Trust me, I tried to get out of it, but you know how she gets. She kept hounding me, so finally I gave in. She knows I’m fine, right?” He leaned against the headboard, worried over the younger mage. Most of her life, Elijah had protected and shielded her against the harsher realities, along with Markus’ help. A difficult task considering her status as Mage Enforcer, one she’d earned through hard work.

She had been an odd mixture of innocence and knowledge although all that had changed, thanks to Jackson.

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