Evans, Gabrielle - From This Moment [The Moonlight Breed 7] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic Ma by Gabrielle Evans (ebook reader with highlight function .TXT) 📗

thing he wanted to happen.

So he continued to focus on Raven’s fight with Zuriel.  It served  the big dummy right for all the hell he gave everyone in the coven. He  vaguely wondered if the big vampire was his brother’s mate, because  that would be hilarious. Somehow, he didn’t think so. Zuriel just liked  men in general and treated most of them to the same kind of attention.

Hell, if dick-grabbing was the  equivalent of prenuptials, Zuriel  would be mated to half the guys in Haven by now. Not that he was  calling his brother a  slut or anything, but if the shoe fit, Zuriel would  probably buy a belt to match and  wear it on any  given Friday.

Honestly, he had no right to judge anyone, and his twin was free  to live his life however he wanted. Zavion just didn’t want to see him  get hurt. For all of his wicked ways and  naughty antics, he wasn’t  different than anyone else. Zuriel just wanted someone to love him for  him, and apparently, he hadn’t found the right man yet—not that it  stopped him from looking.

“Are we ready?” Destin asked when he stepped into the foyer  where everyone was gathered with two Enforcers flanking him.

They weren’t putting him in a cell or treating him harshly, but no  one was taking any chances. Until they felt confident they could trust  the man, he was under constant supervision. Surprisingly, Destin  understood and didn’t protest the invasion of his privacy or  the  constant shadows that followed him everywhere.

“You’ll stay with me, right?” Zavion grabbed both of Cian’s  hands when his mate set him back to the floor and stared up at him  pleadingly. “Please, Cian?”

“Sure, I’ll stay.” He nudged Zavion ahead of him  and indicated he  should follow Dr. Woods.

From This Moment                       109

By the time Zavion was dressed in a blue gown that showed off his ass and was spread out facedown on a cool, metal table, he was trembling from head to toe with nerves. “I don’t like this.”

“That’s my line,” Cian responded with a wink as he settled into a chair beside Zavion’s head. “Deep breaths.” A mask was placed over his mouth and nose, and Zavion did as instructed. “Count back from

ten.” Leaning forward, Cian pressed a kiss to his forehead and  brushed his hair  back from his face. “I’ll be right  here  when ya wake

up.”

“Okay,” he mumbled before beginning his countdown. He’d only

made it to seven when the anesthesia took hold of him, dragging him

under and plunging everything into darkness.

* * * *

“You’re sure he won’t feel anything?” To a degree, Cian trusted

Destin Woods, but when it came to his mate, no  one  was immune to

his overprotectiveness.

“I promise he won’t feel anything. The procedure will take about

ten minutes total. His neck will be sore for an hour or two, and he

might feel sick to his stomach or have a headache for the next twentyfour hours. That’s it.”

“What about his spinal cord?” He hadn’t wanted to freak Zavion  out any more than  he already was, but the guy had  brought up a  legitimate concern. “How do ya know that this won’t sever something vital?”

“I don’t,” Destin answered seriously.  “However, the chips are

below the  spine and deep enough that the silver shouldn’t cause any

problems. If the microchips were  shallower, I wouldn’t attempt it for fear that the silver would burn too deeply and damage  the spinal  cord.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’d be lying if I  said nothing can go wrong, but this method does pose the least  amount of risk.”

110                        Gabrielle Evans

“Okay.” Of course, he’d known there would be a certain amount  of risk. There really  wasn’t another option, though, and he wanted any  and all threats to his mate eliminated. They may have won this time,  but if there was a next time, they might not be so lucky. “Go ahead,  Doc.”

Destin talked as he worked, probably to calm Cian and distract him, which was just fine by him. “So, what’s the story on Demitrius?  Does he always look like that? Or is it just an intimidation thing?”  The blade of the scalpel gleamed in the fluorescent lighting as he sliced it across the back of Zavion’s neck. “I don’t have the proper

tools here. Can you hold this open?”

Grimacing as his mate’s blood slicked his fingers, Cian did his  best to hold the wound open while Destin retrieved a tiny, ambercolored glass bottle. “From what I gather, he’s stuck that way. Some  genetic fluke, he says.” Those who knew Demitrius didn’t give a  damn what he looked like, but Cian  understood that  the man was self-

conscious about his appearance. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, that’s kind of my specialty.” Destin held a dropper over the  open gash on Zavion’s neck, letting it drip the silvery liquid twice  before pulling it away. “If he’ll let me, I might be able to help him.”

“That’s somethin’ you’ll have to talk to him about,” Cian  answered with a wince. Zavion’s blood hissed and bubbled, and the

smell rising up from his neck made his nose curl. “Gods above, this is

awful.”

Destin kept a close eye on his watch, announcing the two minute mark as he reached for a clear bottle of saline solution and poured  half the contents into the opening to flush out the silver. “I’ll have to  stitchup Cicero and Zuriel, but I’m lucky this time.” Grabbing Cian’s wrist, he jerked his hand out and pierced the tip of his index finger with the scalpel. Then he flipped Cian’s  hand over and ran the digit along the seam of Zavion’s cut where he held the flesh together.

From This Moment                       111

Within seconds, the skin knitted back together, leaving only a faint pink line that would probably fade before the hour was up. “Did it work?”

“Let’s find out.” He lifted something from the table that looked  like the metal detector wands they used in airports. Destin pressed a  couple of buttons, waved it over the top of Zavion’s neck, and  grinned. “It worked.”

“What is that?”

“The Hive has programs on the computers