Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance (Legacy #3)

22. Axel

22

AXEL

A xel? Axel, can you hear me?

He blinked as he watched the blood pool on the floor beside him, the puddle growing bigger and bigger the longer he stared at it.

Until he tried to dip a finger in it.

Then the fucking thing would disappear.

And now, apparently, this was a fresh level of fuckery. He could hear her. The one whose name he couldn’t remember.

Axel? Axel, please answer me.

She sounded so desperate. Or maybe that was just his own voice manifesting in his head. Because he was fucking desperate.

He shoved his hands through his hair, pulling on the strands that had grown out longer than he liked. Bree had someone shave his face a few days ago, but there was now a layer of scruff along his jaw again.

Axel? Where are you?

Well, fuck it. May as well have a conversation with himself. What else was he going to do in here besides try to catch mythical blood?

Where are you? he countered.

The penthouse in the Charter District.

He paused at that because why would he conjure that type of response?

Axel? the voice came again.

You’re at the penthouse?

Yes! Yes, I am. Where are you?

He reached out, trying to dip his fingers into the blood again, the puddle instantly disappearing as he scraped his nails against the floor. Another hallucination. That was all this was. Because if it was really her, she would be able to?—

What’s your name? he demanded. What do I call you?

There was a pause that had him smiling to himself. He wasn’t falling for all these mind tricks of the bloodlust. He could still spot?—

You call me kitten, the voice answered.

That seemed even more far-fetched. Why would he call her that?

And why was this door unlocked?

Wait. Better question. When had he gotten up and walked across the room?

He looked over his shoulder. The blood on the floor and the walls was gone. In fact, he was thinking clearer than he had in weeks.

Cautiously pulling the door open, Axel peered into the hall, finding it empty. Which was perfect. Because she was nearby. He could practically feel her. And if she was nearby, then he could finally— finally —have her.

He paid no attention to his surroundings. His entire being was narrowed in on finding her. Seeing her. Tasting her. Having her. His. She was his and no one else’s. If anyone tried to stop him, he’d simply end them. He just had to get outside of these walls.

He continued wandering, taking several staircases down. Surely he must need to go down to find his way out. That was logical. He was already underground. How much deeper could he go? Okay, that was a silly notion. Obviously they could go deeper into the ground. There were earth Fae down here, but?—

He went still when he entered a large room and found Bree lounging on a settee along one wall. She wore her usual red dress, her legs crossed and arms spread across the back of the furniture. He relaxed a fraction when she smiled at him.

“My room was unlocked,” he said, suddenly wondering how he was standing. His legs were weak, and he could feel himself trembling.

“I know,” Bree said. “I’m the one who unlocked it.”

“Why?” he rasped out.

Slowly, she got to her feet, closing the distance between them. She reached up, brushing a lock of hair from his brow. “I told you I’d find her for you, didn’t I?’

His brows pinched together. “You found her? Where is she?”

“Somewhere only you can go,” Bree replied.

“And you’re just…going to let me go? I won’t come back.”

She patted his chest before smoothing down his shirt. Then she stepped back from him. “I trust you’ll find yourself exactly where you need to be. Fate is funny like that.”

Then he watched her saunter off down a hall, leaving him standing in the middle of the foyer.

He wouldn’t be coming back. Not if he truly was about to find her.

He’d find her and take and have and all would be well in the world again. His power at his fingertips. Back with his family. No more godsdamn hallucinations. No more mania.

He looked around at the shops that lined the road. Once again, he didn’t remember leaving the foyer or walking out here. Looking back over his shoulder, the House of Four towered behind him. He was never stepping foot in there again. When this was over, if Theon needed something from the vampyres, he could go himself.

The penthouse.

That was where she said she was.

It became his singular focus as he made his way through the roads of the Underground. He passed others—Night Children, Shifters, Witches, and Fae. Oddly enough, he didn’t even care about the Fae. Because she was getting closer. He could feel it.

The only time he paused was when he passed the turn for the Leisure District. The faint scent of jasmine and citrus caught his attention, that underlying smokiness and spices almost having him turning in that direction. But what would she be doing in the Leisure District? That was where people went for pleasure of all kinds. Opioids. Taverns. Sex.

Something inside of him went feral at the idea.

His .

She was his.

If she had gone there for any of their offerings…

No. Somehow he knew she wasn’t there. Something in him was drawing him away from that path and towards the Charter District. That was where she’d said she was. Or the voice inside his head had said that. This…kitten.

Gods, maybe he was still hallucinating.

But even if he was, he was still free from the House of Four.

So he continued on, those scents growing as strong as the pull in his gut.

“Late night, huh?” the doorman said in a gruff voice as Axel drew near the building that housed the penthouse. He’d shown up here bloody and disheveled more than once, so his appearance wasn’t out of the ordinary.

He nodded to the male, but didn’t linger because she was here. He could feel it in his bones, in his blood, in the center of his soul.

The lift seemed to take hours to finally get to the top, and when he stepped into the living area, the space was dark. Everyone here was likely sleeping, and since the wards recognized him, they wouldn’t have alerted Theon or Luka to his presence.

Somehow knowing exactly where she was, Axel climbed the stairs to the second floor. Luka’s room was down the hall, and Theon would be on the third floor with Tessa. He stopped outside his room, fingers trembling as he reached for the doorknob. Feeling the surrounding wards unlock, he slipped inside, quietly closing the door behind him.

And there she was. Asleep in his bed. Waiting for him.

Except she wasn’t asleep.

She lurched upright, a hand coming to her chest. Her amber eyes almost glowed in the dark room. Coils of black hair framed her face and fell around her shoulders. She blinked several times, that hand moving from her chest to her mouth as she stared at him.

“Don’t be scared, kitten,” he said, watching her while he leaned against the closed door.

“Axel? I… How are you here?”

She slid from the bed, but she didn’t come any closer. One hand rested on her stomach, a black Mark on the back of it, while she twisted the fingers of the other into the sheets.

“You told me where to find you,” he said in a low tone, every last shred of self-control going into keeping himself on this door. He’d been waiting so long for this moment. He was going to savor it.

“I did, but I didn’t expect you to… You have been unwell,” she said, her stare never leaving his.

“How would you know that?”

“I… We learned some things. Let me get Theon,” she said, taking a single step.

Then she stilled when Axel straightened. There was no way she was leaving here. Not now that he finally had her in his grasp. Not until he’d tasted her, the warm blood on his tongue, feeding every part of him.

She swallowed, her throat bobbing. “Axel,” she whispered. “Let me go get Theon. Please.”

“Theon won’t understand,” he said, transfixed on the pulse point in her throat now. He could hear it beating wildly like the wings of a hummingbird. He could feel her, both relieved and terrified, but there was something else there. Something he couldn’t place with the mania of being this close to her and her blood and blessed paradise when he finally got to take it from her.

But there was something off about her scent too, now that he was this close. Jasmine and citrus, yes. Smoke and underlying spices, but also…something woodsy? No. That couldn’t be right. Unless?—

“Were you in the Leisure District?” he snapped.

She took a few steps back. “Yes,” she answered. “We were visiting the Alpha and Beta. Trying to find you.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What else?”

Her brow furrowed. “What else? Nothing. What else would I do in the Leisure District?”

“Any number of pleasures and sins can be found there,” he snarled, prowling forward. Each step amplified his need and craving. His body was buzzing with it. His ears were ringing with it. Gods, he could swear even his canines were tingling with anticipation.

“You cannot possibly be accusing me of—” She cut herself off mid-sentence, flames flickering in her eyes as a glimmer of irritation filled her features.

It made him pause for only a moment. He liked it when she was like this.

“We have been doing nothing for weeks but trying to find you. I have researched for hours while simultaneously fulfilling my obligations to your kingdom. I have hardly slept. Corbin and Lange make sure I eat. And all of this on top of—” She stopped speaking again when he came to a stop directly in front of her. Her next words were breathy, but still laced with anger. “How dare you accuse me of doing that when I would do anything for you.”

“You smell different,” he said, reaching out and wrapping a coil of black around his finger.

Something akin to surprise crossed her face, but she snapped, “You just plain old smell.”

He smiled a pointed thing. “You would do anything for me?”

“Yes,” she rasped as he released her hair and skated a fingertip along her jaw. Her eyes fluttered closed, and her entire body leaned into that single touch.

“Sacrifice anything?” he said, that finger sliding down along the column of her neck.

Her eyes flew open as she jerked back, but she wasn’t nearly fast enough. His arm was already wrapped around her waist while his other hand clamped onto the back of her neck.

“Axel! Wait! I need to tell you?—”

Her words dissolved into a strained whimper as his teeth sank into her throat. Warm and luscious, she tasted exactly like he knew she would. Hot and fiery. Sweet and citrusy. He groaned, sucking harder, and his power wells. Gods. His power wells stirred in excitement, thin wisps of shadows appearing. Her hands were on his chest, pushing and shoving against him, but she would never be able to overpower him. Even when her fire appeared, he had enough magic now that his shadows created a barrier, keeping him safe to feed, and it only strengthened with each pull.

He took, and he took, and he took.

Life must give, and death must take.

Every second made his shadows thicken. Every minute strengthened him. Every swallow had him only wanting more. The chase. The hunt. The victory. This was his prize. After weeks of waiting, weeks of agony, this was his to claim. His to have. His to make bleed.

He took another hard pull. Her fingers had curled into his shirt, but they loosened some, another strained cry coming from her lips.

Axel, stop.

Her voice was faint, a whisper in the back of his mind.

Relax, kitten, he crooned back. It will all be over soon.

All of him was focused on her. On how she tasted. How her blood felt sliding down his throat and how her skin felt beneath his fingers and tongue. That scent that still was off yet somehow right. Sounds were fuzzy and muffled because nothing mattered but this.

Until there were hands on his shoulders and darkness wrapped around him, dragging him away from what was his.

Axel snarled as his mouth was ripped from her, his canines scraping and tearing flesh. Blood ran down her neck. All that blood being wasted! Seeping between the fingers of another who had his hand pressed to the wound. She was lax in his arms, and the male was murmuring low, trying to wake her. Who was he to touch what was his?

He snarled again, baring his teeth, but when he tried to attack, he was yanked backwards again, so violently he fell, landing on his back. Another male was instantly on top of him. Inky black swirls obscured emerald irises as the male tried to pin him down. But he had his magic back, and he had just fed. He was just as strong, and with a roar of rage, he rolled the male, landing a punch to his side.

“Axel! Enough! You were going to kill her!” the male barked, grabbing his shirt. He pulled, the fabric ripping, and Axel landed another punch, this time to the male’s jaw. He spat out blood, another wave of his magic throwing Axel to the side. “Don’t make me do this, Axel,” he pleaded. “I know you’re experiencing blood lust, but I need you to?—”

He was cut off when he went flying backwards as shadows picked him up and threw him. Axel didn’t give a fuck what he needed. He only cared that this asshole had taken him from what was rightfully his and someone else had her. From a swirl of shadows, he pulled a dagger, advancing on the male who now had black wings.

“Are you fucking with me right now?” the male said, clearly annoyed as he conjured a blade of his own. “Axel. You have to stop. If you drink any more, you will undoubtedly trigger the curse.”

“She is mine ,” Axel snarled, his shadows converging around him

“You’re right,” the male retorted, his sword raised in a defensive position. “She is yours, and you’re hurting her instead of protecting her.”

Axel lunged, steel meeting steel at the same time that shadows met darkness. The male met him blow for blow as they maneuvered around the room. That other male still held her in his arms, blood still dripping to the floor.

“No!” Axel cried, abandoning the fight and trying to get back to her again, but darkness latched onto him and forced him back to the ground. His shadows clawed and thrashed.

“Don’t make me do this, Axel,” the male muttered again, standing over him and breathing hard.

Axel kicked out, connecting with the male’s shin and making him bark a curse. It was enough to loosen the grip of his magic, and Axel was back on his feet.

“Get a fucking band on him, St. Orcas! Now!” the other male yelled.

“I’m trying,” the male he was fighting yelled back. “Focus on Katya.”

“We need Cienna for this.”

“Fucking Arius,” the male muttered, tossing his sword to the ground, that inky magic thickening around him and spearing straight for Axel.

He tried to move. Leap out of the way. Something . But the magic jumped with him, encasing his feet and ankles and cementing them to the floor.

With another snarl of rage, Axel started pooling his shadows, letting them writhe around him until a giant feline stood beside him, snarling and snapping.

“For fuck’s sake. Not you too,” the male muttered, holding out a palm. A black band lay in the center of it, until it didn’t. Until the male’s magic engulfed it, and then it swirled around Axel’s wrist, the band suddenly appearing.

His shadows sputtered out, the feline dissipating, but his fury didn’t.

As the male approached, Axel took a swing.

“By the gods, Axel! Stop!” the male snapped, blocking the punch. “Do you want me to let you kill her?”

Axel, stop.

His head swung to her. Her eyes were open now, fixed on him. Her warm skin was pale, her face leeched of color. Blood still trickled across her throat, the shirt she wore now stained red around the collar, and all he could think about was needing more. He’d finally had her, and now she was being taken from him again. A trick. This had been a trick to lure him here and torture him some more.

“I won’t go back there,” he said, not sure who he was even talking to, but his eyes went back to the male. His eyes were wholly emerald now, the darkness gone. “I’d rather die.”

“We’re not taking you back there,” the male said, his tone softening. “We’re going to take you home.”

“Home,” Axel repeated, the word foreign on his tongue.

“Yes, brother. Home.”

“Axel?” Her soft voice was scarcely above a whisper, ravaged and raw. “Axel, look at me.”

He slowly slid his gaze back to her.

“I need you to come back. This isn’t you. I need you to come back.”

Each of her words were pained and clearly a struggle to get out, and something in his chest cracked as he stared at her.

Then it shattered when her voice echoed in his mind.

We need you to come back. Me and our babe.

Her hand slid to her stomach, resting atop it as her eyes fell closed again.

He lurched forward, needing to go to her, but he was still being held in place by Theon’s magic.

Theon.

His brother.

“Let me go, Theon,” Axel said, still straining against the magic.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” Theon said, massaging his jaw where Axel had hit him. “We just had a decent brawl, and I know you would have stabbed me and then gone back to her.”

Axel flinched. It was a full body reaction to his words. “I’m not going to… Thank you. For stopping me.”

Theon’s eyes narrowed as if he was debating if he was being honest or if this was all a ruse.

“You have this band on me. I can’t access my magic,” Axel tried, lifting his arm in emphasis.

“Your magic is the least of my concerns here, Axel,” he said. “You look…”

Axel looked down at his ripped shirt and loose linen pants. He didn’t even have shoes on. How had he not noticed he wasn’t wearing shoes? He’d walked across the entire Underground barefoot. When he really thought about it, though, he didn’t remember the walk here. It had to have been a good two hours, if not more, and he didn’t remember it. He only remembered being focused on her, knowing where she was, and how he could finally have her.

And then he’d nearly killed her. Her and…

That couldn’t have been true. That was a lingering hallucination from the bloodlust. There was no possible way because the Fae were given regular contraceptive shots. Sure, when he fucked around with other Legacy, he took a tonic beforehand to ensure there were no unwanted Arius heirs, but he hadn’t bothered with Kat because of the seasonal Fae shots.

“Axel?” Theon said, his tone a touch softer but still a firm command. “I know you want to be near her, but after what just happened here?—”

“It might not be a bad idea,” the other male cut in, and it was only then that Axel registered it was Tristyn Blackheart who was lifting Katya’s lax form to the bed. “I sent a message to Cienna. Gia is on her way, but having Axel near might ease discomfort until she gets here.”

“Ease discomfort,” Axel said with a disbelieving huff. “I did this to her.”

“I understand,” Tristyn said. “But you weren’t in your right mind, and there’s something you don’t know.”

“I know,” Axel said tightly.

“You know about the bond?” Theon asked in surprise.

And that made two of them, because what fucking bond?

The confusion on his face must have been evident because Theon said, “If you weren’t talking about the bond, what were you talking about?”

“Nothing,” Axel muttered, running a hand through his too long hair. “What bond?”

“You know what? Let’s not go into that here. Not until you’re…thinking more clearly,” Theon said, eyeing him.

“I’m not eight anymore, Theon,” Axel sighed. “You don’t need to protect me from the world. It already swallowed me whole and spit me back out to be fucked all over again.”

“Axel—”

“No,” he cut in. “If it will help her, just tell me what to do. Stay close by, and stop me if I try to… You know. Again,” he said, refusing to meet his brother’s gaze.

There was a long stretch of silence before he felt Theon’s magic release him. He moved stiffly to the bed, sucking in a sharp breath at all the blood. Not because he wanted to taste it, but because what had he done to her?

“It’s all right,” Tristyn said. “We’re here if you try anything.”

“What should I do?” Axel asked hoarsely.

“Just touch her. A physical connection will help.”

“A physical connection?” he repeated, his hand shaking as he reached for her. “That sounds like a Source bond.”

Another few seconds of silence ticked by before Theon only said, “Sort of.”

Axel skated the tips of his fingers along her arm, realizing now she was wearing his shirt. He eyed her stomach. Even with her curves, his shirt was too big on her, obscuring her belly. He traced the new Mark on the back of her hand before sliding his palm up, laying it flat over her torso and splaying his fingers wide. There was no possible way.

“We should get out of the Underground,” Theon was saying. “Take her back to the Acropolis manor. Cienna can meet us there.”

“Cienna?” Axel asked. “She can’t leave the Underground.”

“A lot has happened, Axel,” Theon said, rubbing at his brow with his thumb and forefinger.

“Is that why Blackheart is here instead of Luka? And where is Tessa?”

He could swear Theon winced. “Yeah, that’s why.”

“Great explanation. Cleared up a lot of things,” he replied dryly.

“I think we should wait until Gia checks her over. If Gia says we can move her, then we will,” Tristyn cut in. “But there are only so many places I can Travel in the Underground. There are too many wards and enchantments down here that can cause unexpected complications.”

“You can Travel?” Axel asked.

“Again, a lot has happened,” Theon said. “So let’s focus on Katya. Then get you cleaned up and your mind cleared. Once we’re out of here, I’ll explain everything.”

“My mind clear. Right,” Axel muttered, his hand still on Kat’s stomach.

She couldn’t be pregnant. The others would have sensed it. Some of the tension eased from his muscles at that thought. More than that, Kat shifted on the bed, her features twisting in pain, and that snapped him out of any remaining stupor. Despite being filthy, he climbed onto the bed, being careful not to jostle her too much as he pulled her against his chest. If physical contact would help, then that was what he’d do. Anything to fix this colossal mess.

He didn’t know how long it was until Gia finally arrived, her chin-length dark auburn hair swaying around her sharp features. Her violet-blue eyes went straight to Katya, her lips pursing. Setting her leather bag down, she stepped forward, faint light flaring from her hands as she held them over Kat.

“You need to speak to Cienna,” she said, her eyes closed in concentration while she worked.

“We will when we get back,” Theon said from where he stood at the foot of the bed.

“Not you,” Gia replied. She opened her eyes briefly, connecting with Axel’s stare. “You.”

He watched as her hands hovered over Kat’s stomach, and in that moment, he knew.

He knew it hadn’t been a hallucination. Katya had somehow spoken to him the way a Source and Master communicated. He could only assume it had something to do with the new Mark on the back of her hand.

But that also meant she was carrying a child.

His child.

He couldn’t even protect her from himself, and now he was supposed to protect a child? A child that would be killed on sight if discovered because Fae and Legacy were not to procreate.

His stomach lurched at the thought of what his father would do when he learned of this. It was a death sentence for Kat and the child, and for him?

He’d likely find himself back in the dark for the rest of his days.

“You’re breathing too fast, and I need to focus on her right now,” Gia snapped. “Do not pass out or vomit.”

“Okay,” he rasped, as if he had any control over that.

“Axel, she’s going to be fine,” Theon said. “I’ll make sure everything is fine.”

Except not even his older brother could fix this or protect him from the fallout.