“Yes, Abaddon,” Justin said when they began to walk again. He was thankful that Demetri hadn’t carried him. His skin wouldn’t have tolerated the pressure. “I’m not saying he’s without fault, but as far as I’m concerned, I think he just wants to get to know me.”
“A thousand years of fighting against him and I’m supposed to set that aside?” Demetri asked.
“You’re doing that now,” Justin pointed out. He rolled his shoulder when a sharp ache pulsed and then winced as the claw marks flared with pain. “You two are working together to take Elron and his men down.”
“This doesn’t make us allies,” Demetri said.
They came to an open grand dining hall, and Justin looked around. Tables were demolished, glass shattered, and blood was splattered over the walls and floors. It looked like the war zone that it was. The scent of blood filled his lungs, and Justin’s incisors ached. He tried to concentrate, to push his thirst aside, but the need to feed was overwhelming.
“Deep breaths,” Demetri said when he looked back at Justin. “You are still so young with your change. You must learn to master it.”
“Easy for you to say,” Justin said as he slid an arm around his stomach. “It doesn’t feel like a steel-toed boot is kicking you in your gut.”
Abaddon came into the room from the opposite hallway. His eyes locked onto Justin before the man hissed, his features pinching with anger. Two men pushed Aberdeen into the hall. The assistant fell to his knees, his hands cuffed behind his back.
“He is mine to deal with,” Demetri said as he nodded toward the assistant. “He will be punished for his betrayal.”
Abaddon stood there gazing at Justin. “He needs my blood to fully heal.”
“Not on your life!” Demetri snapped as his canines elongated.
Abaddon turned to Demetri, and his eyes narrowed. “Your blood will not help him. He has life-threatening injuries. Only his Master can heal him.”
Justin was in too much pain to argue that Abaddon wasn’t his master.
“He’s looking better already,” Demetri argued. “You’re trying to play some sort of trick.”
“My son will slowly and painfully die and you think I’m playing a trick?” Abaddon’s tone was feral. “You are truly blinded by your hatred of me, Demetri Frost. You would rather your mistress die than allow him to receive the blood he needs?”
Demetri’s jaw worked furiously back and forth. “Then put your blood in a banana bag. He’s not drinking from the source.”
“Yes.” Abaddon nodded. “Drinking from the vein can be quite…intimate. But not always. When it is between parent and child, it is only a chance for the two to bond, nothing more.”
“Bond how?” Justin asked. He wanted to know the details before he agreed to this. And it was his decision, although he did take Demetri’s protest into consideration. But if Abaddon was telling the truth, Justin would rather suffer through drinking from another than die.
“He’ll be able to read your thoughts,” Demetri supplied. “Know you in ways I’ll never be able to. The bond will be soul deep.”
Demetri was scared of losing Justin to his father. He could hear it in his lover’s voice. Justin narrowed his eyes as he stepped closer to Demetri and lowered his voice. “You doubt how much I love you, don’t you? You think the first chance I get I’ll go running to my father. I’ve loved you since forever, Demetri and if you can’t trust me—”
“It’s not you that I don’t trust.” Demetri grasped a piece of Justin’s hair and wound it in his fingers. “It’s Abaddon.”
“I can think for myself,” Justin argued.
Demetri’s face hardened as he nodded. “But I’m going to be present.”
“I wouldn’t do this without you.” As painful as it was, Justin leaned up and pressed a kiss to Demetri’s strong jaw. “I love you, Demetri.”
“Elron?” Demetri glanced around as if he suddenly remembered his brother.
“He’s chained down,” Abaddon said. “And ten of your men are watching over him. Wulf has gone to fetch something to transport him in.”
Justin didn’t like how Abaddon stressed the word fetch. Apparently Demetri hadn’t either. His amber eyes glowed fiercely.
“What?” Abaddon asked innocently. “It’s true.” A slow smirk pulled at the side of the man’s face. “By the way, my son’s union makes me your father-in-law.”
Abaddon was getting too much enjoyment out of this. Justin was ready to put his father and lover in time-out.
“Title only.” Demetri growled. “Don’t push your luck.”
Justin walked to Abaddon and gazed up at his father. The man was as lovely as ever, and his expression softened when he looked down at Justin. His green eyes held a wealth of emotion, which made Justin swallow roughly. “Behave, please.”