Somehow, while Jessica had been healing Roman, the fighting had come to a close. There were no signs of the humans anywhere that Jessica could see. Standing around them was a room full of bewildered and varyingly injured vampires.
“Well, fuck me. That was—” Xavier trailed off.
Someone made a wet, sputtering cough that snapped Jessica’s attention away from the peering audience. In the back of the group, a vampire was slumped near the ground, blood dripping down his chin. Jessica scrambled off of Roman and made her way across the room. The Knights of Darkness parted ways as she moved, their expressions full of awe and wonder.
She knelt next to the injured vampire. Saving Roman had renewed her strength enough that she was able to heal the vampire before her. Looking around the room there were a lot of horrifically injured vampires.
Someone had brought Maureen into the room as well. Jessica shared a look with her grandmother and the two of them made their way around the room mending all the injured they could find.
Jessica looked at Roman and smiled. She had done it. She had saved him. It was all over.
CHAPTER 15
When it didn’t look like more humans were going to ambush them, the Knights of Darkness made their way back to Muse. In one of the private dining rooms, everyone ordered a ridiculous amount of food. Roman wolfed it down gratefully. One would think being tortured would ruin an appetite, but he couldn’t stop himself from filling his plate with an assortment of the gourmet goodies that the Knights and Jessica kept forcing in front of him.
“So, in summary, they have some kind of chemical weapon they laced their weapons with,” Roman said as he finished debriefing the Knights on what little information he managed to gather while captured.
“But how? I mean there isn’t a chemical alive that should hurt a vampire?” Xavier asked.
“If I had to guess, maybe they did something with vampire blood. But I’m shooting in the dark on that one.” It only made sense. If they wanted him to last long enough to give them information, they wouldn’t have cut him so badly. There had to be some reason why they bled him so much. Granted everything at that point had been a bit of a blur. All he knew was he was lucky to be alive.
He pulled Jessica closer to him. It had been nothing short of a miracle that she had saved him. From what she had briefly told him, she had incredible healing powers. While more than grateful and in awe of her, Roman had to admit, that was a little unexpected.
But the biggest shock to his system was actually how well Jessica was fitting in. Roman was surprised at how quickly the Knights of Darkness seemed to have warmed up to Jessica. Honestly, he had expected a lot of hell to be raised if it came out that his mate was a human. But Xavier had explained to him that it was pretty hard to not earn their respect when she had done so much to help them rescue him.
“Well, whatever they’re planning now, we got a real ace up our sleeve. You should really thank your little girlfriend. I’ve never seen anyone do anything like that. It was amazing,” Xavier said.
“Yes, she is.”
He clasped her hand even tighter. While it had been quite a shock exactly how much he wanted her, after what they had just been through, he was more confident than ever. He needed Jessica in his life. She was his savior, his angel, his everything.
“Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re entirely out of shit to worry about. I mean, getting humans involved is going get us even more on Lucem Diem’s shitlist,” Xavier said.
Roman scowled. This was the last thing he wanted to think about. But deep down he knew Xavier was right. The humans weren’t just going to give up on whatever their plans were. Now that Jessica was in the mix, she was likely going to be a target as well.
Then there was the matter of vampire society at large, not to mention Roman’s parents. Considering his now-broken engagement with Arabella was not going to go well. Given the fact she was nowhere to be found, it was likely they were going to find out soon. She’s probably already on the phone crying to mommy and daddy like a spoiled princess.
Jessica leaned her head against his shoulder and all thoughts on the future melted away. The only thing that mattered was at they were both here and they were together. Nothing was going to get in the way of that again. He would make sure of it.
He leaned back into her and took a deep breath savoring her scent. God, she makes me feel more alive than I have ever. If there weren’t a bunch of people in this room, he would have taken her right at this table until she screamed his name.
“Well, I think it’s about time that I head out. I’m not as young as I used to be after all,” Maureen said. She looked over at Roman.
“I don’t think I need to mention that if anything happens to Jessica, that you’ll have to deal with me, do I?” Maureen asked. Despite the seriousness of her tone, Roman could see a glint of humor in her eyes.
“Nothing in this life or the next is going to get their hands on her.”
Maureen nodded thoughtfully, glancing down at Roman and Jessica’s intertwined fingers. He had refused to let go of her ever since they had left his prison. She smiled at the two of them.
“I know.”
“Are you sure you have to leave, Grandma?” Jessica asked. Maureen nodded her head
“Yes. After all, someone has to fix your door and clean up.”
Xavier coughed sheepishly and very pointedly avoided looking at either Maureen or Jessica. It surprised Jessica that he looked so embarrassed. After all, he did recently threaten to rip her throat out. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.
“I trust this gentleman to see you cared for until it’s ready,” Maureen said with a wink. Jessica blushed, but she didn’t pull away from Roman. She had to admit, she didn’t want to leave his side for a second.
The dinner eventually died down, and the Knights made their way out of the dining room. Soon, only Jessica and Roman remained.
“Well, I guess that’s that,” Roman said, getting up.
“And are you sure you feel alright?” Jessica fussed. She knew she had healed him with her powers, but she couldn’t help but feel anxious.
He tilted her chin and looked at her.
“Never better, my love.”
For a moment, they just stood there, gazing at each other, as if taking everything that had happened in. There was so much that Jessica wanted to say, but the words died quickly in her throat. There didn’t need to be a lot said. As Roman wrapped her hair around his fingers, she knew what they were. How could she possibly have any doubts left? After what they had been through, it was clear that they genuinely were bonded together.
Roman brushed her cheek tenderly as if he was trying to prove to himself that Jessica was still there. She leaned into his touch and let out a contented sigh.
“So, what exactly happens now?” Jessica asked.
