Heya Readers,

My apologies for the unusually late update, it's been a rather busy week for me ;)

Thank you all for fanning and voting and commenting! It means the world to me and each and every comment makes me smile.

I started a new story on the side. It's called Your Violence, Their Silence and is about bullying in highschool. It's not a supernatural story nor is it about a teacher/student relationship but I really hope some of you would take the time to read it as well.

No worries! Thicker than Blood has main priority and I will only update the other story if I first updated this one.

Because people asked, the phonetic way to pronounce Tlanextic would probably be something like: Tjan-ECKS-tick. Hope that helps?

Please let me know if anything in this chapter was offensive again ;)

Love,

Robin

P.S. Don't forget to vote! :)

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Back inside the house I made a beeline for the shower again; I just had to cleanse myself after that horrendous experience. Nathaniel watched me go but didn't comment on it.

As I shrugged out of the beautiful dress I noticed that the hem was stained with crimson droplets, like Deidre's tears. A pity, but I didn't think I'd ever want to wear it again anyway, not now that it had been soiled with tonight's nightmares.

After my shower I still didn't feel the same but I went to check on Hayden anyhow. I felt the need to assure myself that he was fine.

Surprisingly I found Nathaniel in Hayden's bedroom standing at the foot of the castle-like bed with his arms folded across his chest. There was a frown creasing his forehead as if he was lost deep in thought, bad thoughts.

He simply lifted one arm and tugged me under it so he could hold me against his chest tightly. The gesture was absentminded and showed me how he felt the need for physical reassurance just like I did.

Hayden was fast asleep in the bed, his arms thrown up across the pillow the way babies and young children often sleep. He was a little old to sleep that way but he was so mature with his observation's usually that I didn't care.

He was softly snoring and his expression was peaceful, it was much easier to forget the disgusting memories I'd seen now.

'You needed to check on him too?' Nathaniel whispered. I nodded as I focused on the slowly rising and falling of my brothers chest.

'The man killed was one of Thornten's generals. Carston, Jules Carston, can you confirm that? Or was it impossible to get his name from the memories you took?'

I closed my eyes, 'It was him, I'm sure.' I had the image of that man clear in my mind's eye, the way he remembered himself in the mirror. He was young and handsome, charismatic with a smooth voice that he used to charm everyone.

I shivered when I remembered how he charmed little kids to come with him. For once the violent image of the man's death actually made me feel better.

'Come a ghrá mo chroí, I will make today's nightmares go away,' Nathaniel whispered, as he spoke his lips brushed against my ear shell. I shivered again but it was in a good way this time.

I loved this man, with all my heart and I loved how he had put aside his anger for now so he could reassure me. So he could make me feel better even though it was my own stubbornness that had caused me nightmares tonight.

He'd wanted to protect me form this although he had not gone about it the right way, I understood his actions better. It was the words "You do NOT want to see this" that I remembered now.

I allowed him to lead me away from Hayden's room although he paused at the door a moment with a focused look, my skin prickled.

Back in our bedroom he undressed me with a flick of his hand, the clothes simply melting from my body. His own followed the same way but were replaced so quickly with sweatpants that I couldn't even catch a glimpse.

'You will not touch me tonight a ghrá mo chroí,' it was a command, a darkly spoken one in a husky voice that promised all kinds of heaven and hell, sweet torture. He was in a dark mood still, this mate of mine, it would be dangerous to make him lose control tonight.

I obeyed as he told me to lie down.

He made good on his promise and took all the nightmares away, loving my body so tenderly that I was lost in oblivion. I didn't know he could be so sweet and loving, so painfully tender. Especially with the mood he'd been in, it was amazing.

*

Morning brought more disturbing news; the missing guard had been found. Or well... Parts of him at least...

Nathaniel received the news from Jaden with a stony face then cast me one look. It clearly said: do you wish to see? Surprised by that I asked: 'You're not going to force me to stay inside?'

He shook his head, 'I wished to keep the brutality of MY world at least away from you. Last night you forced your way in anyway... It's up to you now, do you wish to see all of its horrible cruelty and violence? Or was last night enough to shock you into accepting the protection that I offer?'

I thought about that shortly, he seemed sad about it, as if he not only wanted to shelter me but keep the violence from tainting me, my innocence. I knew that he'd once said I was a gentle soul, he wanted to preserve that.

I wasn't so sure, I had stabbed a total of three people the past few days. I was half Demon and I'd wished bad things on my step mom and so called father plenty of times.

His need to protect my innocence collided with his order that I carry around a belt of knives of course. No matter that the knives were very small and they were meant for defense when flight wasn't an option.

'Yes I will come to see, I will not live in ignorance and let you carry this burden alone. Not seeing the violence will not take it away or make it better. I don't think it will change me for the worse,' I spoke, my voice clear and steady.

A sudden revelation came to me: 'My father might be a Demon and my grandfather an Arch Angel, but my heart at least is human. That will never change.'

Nathaniel's face finally showed an expression, a gentle smile played around his lips and pride glowed in his stormy eyes.

'Together a ghrá mo chroí,' he told me and I knew he meant that there would be nothing between us from now on. Walk this world together, two half's of a whole.

'Together Nathaniel,' I whispered back as he dipped his head and softly brushed his lips over mine. Something clicked into place in that moment and I knew our bond had changed, progressed. He had accepted me as his equal now, not the girl he had to look after.

When I pulled back from him I realized Jaden was still standing right next to us, following the entire exchange avidly. More than that: Hayden had walked into the room and by the look on his face he'd heard what I'd said too.

'You know daddy is a Demon Amethyst?' he asked, his eyes bright as if he'd received a Christmas present or something.

I nodded slowly, 'Yes I remembered Hayden.'

'He said it was a secret... He said I was the only one...' Hayden continued hurrying over so that he could wrap his arms tightly around me. 'I'm glad you know.' His eyes darted quickly to Nathaniel for a short moment, a look shared between them.

I hugged him back nodding, 'Of course Giant. Now I need to go with Nathaniel to check on something, will you be good and do your lessons with Missy? Or is Deidre teaching you today?'

'Deidei is,' he nodded, already letting go and hurrying off. He was very attached to the redheaded cool eyed woman and I realized that I really liked her too. Now that I knew so much more about her it was hard not to like her. She was an entirely different person when she let her guard down.

'Amy?' he stopped at the kitchen door to look over his shoulder at me. 'Can we talk and cuddle in bed later? Just us like we always used to?'

I smiled at his innocent look and request, 'Of course Giant. I'll look forward to it.'

When he'd disappeared from the room I nodded and squared my shoulders. 'Okay let's see what today brought us,' I nodded at Jaden to lead the way.

There was a speculative look in the Panther's eyes as he looked at me but when Nathaniel took my hand and pulled me with him to the door he squared his shoulders. When we passed him he ran his knuckles over my cheek, 'I see you Amelia.'

After that he led the way through the mansion and out the front door.

I didn't know what that meant but it seemed Jaden had found some new kind of respect for me... Impressed maybe with the way I'd dealt with Nathaniel last night and then with the way I'd spoken about my revelation just now.

Outside it became quickly apparent what we'd come to see. There was a few men, either vampires, witches or shifters and they were walking around as if processing a crime scene. All that was missing was uniformed police officers and the yellow tape.

In the middle of the front lawn something small and lumpy was covered by a white sheet, dark red coming through it in big ugly stains. I didn't really want to know what it was, underneath the sheet, it was too small to be a body or even an arm and it terrified me to think that it was just a head.

Nathaniel looked around critically while flaring his nose, obviously using his powerful sense of smell to track for strangers. I wondered how effective that would be with the swarm of people around...

He must have read my mind because he said: 'I smell no unfamiliar scents, you reckon Thornten had an Angel do the delivery?'

Jaden replied, 'I made the same conclusion, I was second on the scene and smelled only Mattis and Gareth who found him when he swept the lawn on his round.' I wasn't sure if the Panther had a better sense of smell than Nathaniel or not but Nathaniel seemed satisfied with the answer.

'Anything else found besides that?' Nathaniel nodded towards the sheet covered lump.

'No but I think you better take a look at it.' Jaden said the dreaded words and I swallowed a few times hoping that this time I would be able to hold down my food. I didn't think it would be any better but one could hope of course...

Nathaniel nodded and pulled me into the circle of his arms protectively, his lips brushing my ear as he spoke softly: 'You can still turn back a ghrá mo chroí. No one will blame you if you turn back so soon after last night. I can tell you all you need to know when I've seen it myself.'

I shook my head, 'No together.'

A warm breath filtered across my cheek, 'Yes.'

I expected him to let go of me but instead he lifted me around the waist so that my back was pressed against his front and my feet dangled at least a foot above the ground. In a flash he was beside the sheet covered lump.

It lifted off by unseen hands to reveal a bloody mass I couldn't even recognize, my stomach heaved instantly at the sight. Nathaniel was in my mind at the same moment and filled it with the scent of the rain and the storm.

Surprisingly my body felt calmer right away and my stomach stopped roiling. 'Thank you Nathaniel'

Now that I looked closer I realized it was in fact a head but it was so crushed and disfigured that it was hard to make out. You couldn't even tell what it had originally looked like except that the person had once had long dark hair now matted and dark with blood and pulp that I didn't want to identify.

Nathaniel was sniffing the air as if trying to ascertain that it was in fact Mattis, the missing guard. 'You are sure this is him Jaden?'

Instantly I knew what I had to do and the thought made my stomach queasy even with Nathaniel's reassurance. 'Put me down, I will check,' I said my voice containing a slight quiver now that I really hated. There was ten other people out here all watching us and more importantly me with curiosity.

I didn't want to disappoint anyone and especially Nathaniel any further by puking again.

'Ams there's no need, by the scent alone it's most likely him. This is a warning from Thornten to tell us he's not afraid. That he's able to enter the sanctity of my home without detection,' he said as he stepped back away from the head.

He placed me back on my own feet when we were a few feet back and spun me around to press my face against his chest. Hiding me from view from his men.

He spoke in my mind, 'I'm so sorry that you've been pulled into the Thornten conflict. For this alone I wish I could still hate Deidre... What did she even do to warrant Thornten's fury?'

I knew the answer to that so I replied: 'She saved a child, that's what she did Nathaniel. Thornten wanted to kill the child as punishment for one of his mistresses, his very own offspring!'

'Ifreann na Fola... I should have killed the bastard when I had the chance!' he cursed out loud. At his words pretty much everyone around us looked up in surprise.

'Eh... Yeah I was wondering why the hell you never did that Nate,' Jaden replied sardonically. 'You might have missed it but there's something embedded in the skull and it appears to be Tlanextic's mark.'

'Ifreann na Fola,' Nathaniel spat out again, forgetting for a moment that he held me as he jumped back to take a look at the area Jaden pointed at. I had only once before heard him utter curse words in Gaelic like this and that had been when he'd thought someone might have hurt Hayden.

I shrugged out of his arms and crouched down next to the head so I could look more closely myself. That was my grandfather's mark they were talking about.

It helped if I pretended it wasn't a head I was looking at but something entirely different that just happened to look that way. Detach myself from my emotions and cling to the storm that was Nathaniel inside my head and right next to my body.

It wasn't clear to me what the mark looked like but on the bloody ruin of the man's cheek something was engraved. Flowing serpent like lines around a small circle with an upside down triangle in the middle. There was more around it but that was lost with the damage done to the head when it was dropped to the lawn.

'Amelia... This changes things, do you think you can handle it? I can stay in your mind to steady you,' he touched me with a large hand on the small of my back as he crouched down beside me.

'This is my grandfather's mark? You are sure?' I asked out loud to no one in particular. It was satisfying to hear some of the men gasp in surprise.

'There's no doubt Ams,' Nathaniel confirmed. He wanted me to meet his eyes so he could better see how I was dealing with this but I kept them focused solely on that small detail. The mark was burned into the skin with a hot poker of sorts, it was clearly done when the man was alive, judging by the swelling around it. Yet the skin was surprisingly whole right next to it.

It was there that I carefully touched the head with the tip of my pointer finger. I did not want to touch him anywhere else, certainly not the bloody or pulpy parts.

Instantly I felt a burning in my head as my somewhat dormant powers roared to life inside me. I had a better grasp of what was happening now and Nathaniel's presence in my mind truly did steady me.

The head was completely crushed in the back, even more caved in than the one I'd touched last night. In a fraction of a second it felt as if power streamed through me, through my finger and out across the head, reassembling the astral version of it.

It was from there that I could take out the now restored memories and access them as if I was reading a live person's mind.

Nathaniel's presence did more then steady me I realized then. Instead of being assaulted by memories I didn't pick or searched for I felt mentally suspended within them as I whirled around to look for the one that I needed. The man's name.

It came to me as soon as I thought of it: Chimalli.

It was an Aztec name I knew immediately and it was clear as day he'd been an agent for Tlanextic, but what had he been doing here? Why had he been dropped on Nathaniel's lawn?

The answer came to me from the man's memories; he'd been my guard of sorts. Keeping a watchful eye out to ensure I was safe and as well as could be for now. There was plenty of memories that resurfaced for my investigation that showed me as I grew up. He'd been watching over me for thirteen years.

As I pried, the memory came to me that showed the moment he was assigned to be my guard.

I stepped into the office confidently and with my chin held up high, it was an honor to be here. To be assigned a job by the Hand of Tlanextic himself! Of course Tlanextic would never busy himself with simple things like running the territory.

He was as close to a God as creatures in this world could get! He would not wish to taint himself with my lowly presence.

But the Hand himself!

All my hard work and skills had finally paid off if I'd been brought to the notice of the Hand for an assignment. I would do my absolute best and make them proud of me!

As I stepped into the office the Hand looked up from behind the desk and fixed me with his coal black eyes. They seemed to go right through me and I stood even straighter, allowing him to see the blaze of my loyalty.

With a twitch of his lips the Hand nodded, 'Chimalli have a seat.'

The office was spartan, with only a large desk and an high backed chair behind it where the Hand sat. The windows gave a view down over the slopes of the Andes, or at least a tiny portion of it.

The only other furniture in the room was a chair similar to the one the Hand sat on right in front of the desk. It looked anything but comfortable yet I sat down on it with as much grace as possible. I would not stumble nor complain in front of the Hand.

The Hand dominated the room with his large wings spread out behind him for display. Charcoal black like his eyes and hair but streaked beautifully with fiery red and gold, much like a sunset against the black satin of night.

'There is a task our Lord wishes you and you alone to fulfill, do you think you are ready to accept such a responsibility?'

I took a deep breath before speaking, feeling no nerves as I said: 'I am ready.'

The Hand nodded, 'Yes I think you are. You have done well, very well in your service these past few centuries.'

A pause as the Hand rose from his seat to his full height, he was a tall man and impressive as he stood. There was lean muscles and tawny golden skin everywhere except when hidden by the ancient warriors tunic he wore.

'There's a young girl that the Lord wishes protected, you will go to America to do so. You will be her shadow but she is not to know you are there and you will only interfere if her life is in danger. Keep any creature of our world away from her.'

That was the most unusual request I had ever heard but I immediately stood up and saluted. 'Yes Sir, I will be her Shield like my name proclaims.'

I felt dizzy when I pulled myself out of the memory but I knew I had one more question I needed answered. Why had Thornten taken my guard? When even?

I didn't have to submerge myself deep in the memories this time, I could stay on the fringe and peek inside the memory that presented itself at my question.