The Silk Of The Predator (Book #1 In Series)

Althea

I woke up with my head on Elias's chest, his arms around me. It was still dark outside, and I tried to figure out what had woken me. I shifted in his arms, twisting around to look around me. Nothing, just darkness. I still felt uneasy, so I wiggled out of Elias's arms and walked to the door. I paused to grab my sword that was leaning against the doorframe. I clipped on my belt that lay beside it and slid my sword into it, and padded down the hallway.

As I was walking I felt a small draft and shivered. I glanced around and saw the basement door open. I was about to head towards it when I felt a prickling sensation, then felt a sharp point on my throat, "Hello, Althea," a voice whispered. Wade. His deep drawl giving him away. I froze, and my hand gripped the pommel of my sword. "I wouldn't if I were you," he whispered harshly in my ear. My breathing quickened. I contemplated yelling for Elias, but knew as soon as I did, Wade would kill me. I don't know how I knew, but I knew that he had the sword, the sword that could kill me. My heartbeat started to race and a million thoughts ran through my mind at once. Finally, gathering my courage, I screamed, "Elias!", then threw myself to the floor.

The scream tore out of my throat and I knew that everyone had to have heard it. Feet came pounding down the hall from all directions. I recognized Elias's footsteps even as he was running. He slid to a stop beside me and lifted me up. Gray and Matt had Wade's arms pinned behind him, and Zach had Wade's sword point pressed to his throat, yet he wasn't looking at Wade. He was looking at me. "Althea, are you okay?" he asked and he sounded breathless. "Yeah," I breathed, "I'm okay,". Elias wrapped me up into his arms, and it didn't seem like he'd be letting go anytime soon. "Ally. God, when I heard you scream..." he whispered into my ear, trailing off, but I got the gist of it. "I'm sorry," I whispered back, leaning back against him. He nuzzled his face in my hair, and I noticed that he was shaking slightly. Wade started laughing. Elias tensed and he lifted his head. "Take care of him, and meet us in our room. Zach tell Vik," Elias told them, and they nodded.

Elias led me back to our room, and sat on down on the bed, his head leaned back against the headboard, as I slid my sword out of my belt and unbuckled my belt and put them back by the door. Then I walked over to Elias, and sat next to him. He pulled me into his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned back against him and nuzzled my face into his neck. We sat like that for awhile, until we heard footsteps coming down the hall. Eli let his arms fall, and I slid off his lap, but still sat right next him. I shifted so I could sit Indian style, and laid my head on his shoulder.

Gray and Matt paused in the doorway, and Gray knocked lightly on the door with his knuckles. "Come in. If the door's open, then you can come. You know that right?" Elias asked. Gray smiled softly, "Yeah. Just trying to be polite,", and they both walked in. Matt sat in the chair that was pushed back against the wall, and Gray sat at the end of the bed. About a minute later, Zach and Vik came in. Vik crawled up onto the bed and Eli opened up his arms. She took my place on his lap, and leaned back against his chest. Zach sat on the end of the bed, on the opposite side of Gray. "So, what happened?" Zach asked, sitting forward. Eli looked, and I quickly explained what happened. Silence followed my words.

Zach pulled out Wade's sword and laid it out across his knees. "Well we had a little chat with Wade, and after a little convincing, told us that Silas spoke to him in a dream," Zach told us. "Wait, what?! Seriously?" Elias exclaimed. Zach nodded solemnly, "Yeah. Well, he said that Silas told him about this sword," he placed his hand on the flat of the blade, "Apparently, Silas helped him escape, however he did that,". "Wade seemed to believe that that sword was capable of, um well, killing Althea," Gray said, hesitating on "killing". "In order for that to be true, he would have needed either mine or Silas's blood. I definitely didn't give him any blood, and Silas is dead," Elias chimed in. He raised his hand to brush the hair out of his face, and I noticed something on his arm. "Hey wait," I said reaching out to grab his arm.