CH.89

Serena hovered above Knox's unconscious form lying motionless atop a large king-sized bed.

Her eyes were still glowing with an eerie, otherworldly white light, like twin orbs burning from within.

She climbed onto the bed and straddled Knox's muscular frame, settling her slight weight on top his chiseled, tattooed chest with her thighs clamped on either side of his powerful torso.

Her slender fingers reached out, tracing featherlight patterns along the coarse stubble lining his strong, angular jawline with an almost reverent tenderness completely at odds with the strange atmosphere permeating the room.

Then, with an agonizing slowness that made it seem an eternity was being stretched out in that single weighted moment, Serena leaned down until her slightly parted lips met Knox's in a searing, passionate kiss.

A blinding burst of incandescent white light immediately flowed from her mouth in a raging torrent, pouring into Knox's body like a river of molten starfire.

The very air around them seemed to come alive the next moment, swirling and churning in a dizzying vortex of black and white light intertwining in a mesmerizing spiral.

It was as if a miniature tornado or tsunami raged directly above the entwined pair, the clashing energies twisting and pulsing with increasing ferocity in some kind of arcane ritual.

The storm of light and shadow continued to weave in an hypnotic dance.

The room itself seemed to groan and shudder under the sheer weight and power of the forces being unleashed until Serena's body swayed limply as if every last ounce of energy and life essence had been drained from her very being in that bizarre exchange with Knox.

She was on the verge of collapsing bonelessly on top his muscular frame when his eyes suddenly flew open, revealing pools of oblivion that seemed to reflect the terrifying depths of the abyss itself.

His powerful tattooed arms, thick cords of muscle rippling beneath the myriad of sinister ink adorning his bronzed skin, lashed out on reflex.

They wrapped around Serena's pliant form in an inescapable vise, steadying her before she could tumble off him and crash to the cold, unforgiving tiled floor with bone-shattering force.

Knox sat upright in one smooth, fluid motion, cradling Serena's unconscious body against the ridged expanse of his bare, heaving chest with surprising tenderness.

His eyes flickered rapidly, shifting from black to a vivid, bloody crimson before finally settling into molten pools of amber that seemed to glow from some inner furnace as he stared down at the woman nestled in his arms.

His expression was utterly unreadable, giving no hint to the thoughts or emotions churning behind his intense gaze.

One of his hands slowly reached up to brush a few stray tendrils of ombre hair away from Serena's serene features with a featherlight caress.

The action was so gentle, so at odds with his imposing exterior and the aura of barely restrained violence that perpetually clung to him like a second skin, that it seemed almost alien.

But then his countenance hardened in an instant. The tenderness fled his angelic visage as it was replaced by an icy one of danger.

"Come forward. Now!" his deep baritone carried a weight and command that brook no argument from even the most hardened soul.

The words seemed to reverberate in the very air itself, laced with an undercurrent of menace that promised severe consequences for any who dared defy him.

Serena's shut eyes flew open once more and her glowing eyes met his in a stand still.

Just then, the infirmary door burst open with a bang to reveal Meredith and Enzo rushing inside.

The two had been in the throes of passionate "husband and wife duties", tangled amid rumpled satin sheets and the heady aromas of desire, when they felt a sudden powerful pulse of energy emitting through the very air around them.

The force of it was so palpable, so overwhelming in its intensity, that it caused the hairs on the backs of their necks to stand on end in primal warning.

They didn't even have a chance to fully dress before instinct propelled them into action.

Enzo hastily tugged on a pair of loose sweatpants while Meredith clutched a silk robe tightly around her curvaceous form before dashing toward the infirmary while fearing for the worse. However, the scene that greeted them was one straight out of their wildest fantasies and most terrifying nightmares all rolled into one. It was simply unbelievable!

Serena was perched on Knox in an almost obscene parody of intimacy. But it was Knox's state that truly stole their breath away.

The same man who had been lying comatose and unresponsive for over a day despite every effort to rouse him, was now wide awake.

Meredith took a few faltering steps forward, her brow furrowed in utter confusion and disbelief.

She had exhausted every possible avenue, tried every trick and technique in her vast arsenal to pull Knox back from the void he'd been trapped in, but to no avail. Until now, it seemed.

So how? How had Serena, of all people, managed to accomplish what she and Enzo could not?

The older woman felt a sliver of unease prickle along her spine when she truly looked at Serena for the first time.

The younger woman's eyes were wide and vacant, glowing with an eerie, otherworldly white light that made the fine hairs along Meredith's arms stand on end.

An unnatural, jerky sort of trance seemed to have ensnared her, her movements stiff and almost puppet-like as if she were being controlled by some force.

But it was the sheer power, the sheer weight of the energies swirling around Serena in an almost visible miasma that caused true trepidation to take root in Meredith's heart.

She could feel it pulsing through the air in dizzying waves, the hairs on her forearms lifting as an electrical charge sparked and danced across her sensitized skin.

This was no ordinary force they were dealing with.

Enzo, on the other hand, felt a cold, simmering rage that caused his demon-tainted blood to boil.

He knew that energy signature too well. He knew it in a way that caused his very soul to recoil in recognition and warning.

A low, feral snarl of fury rumbled up from the depths of his broad chest as he lunged forward, clearly intending to separate Serena from Knox by any means necessary. However, an invisible force slammed into him like a freight train, halting his advance mere inches from the pair in silent warning.

It was Knox giving his grandfather in a silent warning not to make any mistake in touching his mate. Though his piercing amber eyes, glowing like twin furnaces from the depths of some primal forge, remained locked with Serena's in an unwavering stare.

Serena’s head slowly tilted to regard Enzo through her luminous orbs without so much as blinking.

A small smile curved her full lips as she uttered a single word - a name that caused Enzo's demon-scorched heart to stutter in its cadence.

"Xaphan..."

The title rolled off Serena's tongue in a sultry purr. "It has been far too long, my old friend. You're looking well, all things considered."