Blood Ties

8

Lessons to unlearn
~
Accalia
~

"My brothers, are they here?"

So soft he sounded, so becoming of what lurked within. He attacked Cadence, took her blood as a life source and would have killed her if he wasn't stopped.

Gangly with red-rimmed eyes and a citadel of tallness, he was nothing short of breathtaking in the worst way possible.

Rexton Fenris was standing in front of Nina and Accalia like he could do no wrong. Donning an aged attire and blood painting him — Cadence's blood.

Accalia couldn't falter the heartstrings that shifted inside her. He looked like he had been through hell and back, taking a part of him only to return with an outer shell.

And he couldn't be stopped as he stepped through the threshold of the house, his footing reeling the women back.

Accalia concluded how weak she was quickly, how strength and power such as him wouldn't compare to her hunter skill set. She would be crushed against his strength.

Nina could take him on, but with her petite frame and the fear drilling through those green eyes, Accalia doubted as much.

The suggestion of steadiness filtered through Accalia's head amidst the chaos and she gently asked, "You're Rexton. Rexton Fenris, aren't you?"

She got his attention with a snap of the head, nodding desperately at her and she sheathed a knife she had behind her back to her side pocket. Attempting to fight him would only lead to death.

Rexton looked relieved, gently closing his eyes and nodding. "Yes, miss, I am."

When the Fenris manor dinged with knocks on the front door, Accalia knew Cole had come to finish her off. Her days of healing had run its course and she would be left with no way to survive. No way to fight this out. Cole had returned to claim his prize.

Nina comforted her in the fact it wasn't him, there was no smell of a lycan she could detect, but even then, in the grand scheme of things, the bloodstained boy wasn't what Accalia expected to cross paths with when she opened the door.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Rexton whispered, shifting his head around to take everything in and for a split second, Accalia believed him. "I wish to find my brothers."

"You already hurt someone," Accalia informed him, her back tickling with anticipation and the notion of how weaker she would become if he made a move. She wouldn't mistake his lanky form for weakness and she wouldn't ignore the blood on his shirt. He can't be underestimated. 

Rexton paused, his head shifting up and cloudiness hazed those eyes. "She was here, the girl I drank from ... I didn't mean to harm her. I pray no pain lingers with her ..."

Accalia wished the same for Cadence.

But why did he want the same for her? A creature such as him, stalking the earth, how could he find it so easy to lie with such conviction? Perhaps the trait of vampirism? The ease to lie to garner trust and then betray it for blood.

"You're a relative of hers. I can sense it. She's close with you," Rexton came toward Accalia in a few strides and his eyes became haunted, like a ghost latching onto him. "Can you tell her I am sorry? Will you?"

Nina came between them and she raised her hands to mean no harm. "Back up a little."

Rexton squeezed his eyes shut and nodded continuously. "I wish to see my brothers. You two ... you and you are connected to them. Mated."