She was there instantly, her hands on my chest, her face hovering above mine. Those green eyes—so striking, so terrified—searched my face.
"Elias?" Her voice cracked.
I tried to answer, but blood bubbled up from my lips instead. Human blood. The taste of it was wrong, coppery and mortal on my tongue. My chest heaved with the effort of breathing, lungs working overtime to pull in oxygen my body suddenly needed again.
Everything hurt. Not the clean, distant pain I'd felt as a vampire that did little more than turn me on, something I could observe and compartmentalize. This was immediate and overwhelming, radiating from everywhere at once.
"You absolute fucking idiot," Talin sobbed, cradling my head in her lap. "You beautiful, reckless, impossible idiot. What did you do?"
I managed to form words despite the blood. "Saved... you." Each syllable felt like swallowing glass. "Lost everything else... but saved you."
"Not everything." She pressed her forehead to mine, and I felt our bond humming between us. Changed, transformed, but unbroken. Still there. Still us. "Stay with me," she whispered. "Please. Don't you dare leave me now."
"Trying..." My hand found hers, warm and trembling. Or maybe I was the one trembling. Hard to tell when my entire body felt like it was coming apart at the seams. "But turns out... being human again... really fucking hurts."
I might have passed out for a bit then, and when I came to, there was movement at the edge of my vision. I blinked, trying to bring it into focus.
Killian, his face pale even for a vampire, stared down at me, his expression not giving anything away, but his eyes way too bright. Behind him, the others gathered around us. Judy, wringing her hands, Angel and Lizzy clutching each other, Jamal staring with open horror.
"Get him on the table," Judy commanded, her voice cutting through the silence. "Now."
Strong arms lifted me. Killian's, I thought, though my senses were too scrambled to be sure. The world spun. My stomach lurched. Breathing took conscious effort, my lungs hitching with each inhale.
They laid me on the hard wood and someone flipped on the kitchen light. It was too fucking bright, and I couldn't see. I moaned as they arranged my limbs.
Talin's hand never left mine.
"What happened to him?" Killian demanded.
"He came into the djinn dimension." Talin's voice was thick with tears.
"How the fuck did he do that?" Jamal this time.
"I don't know how. He grabbed the binding thread. The one connecting me to Marcus's dimension. He..." She paused and I wanted to comfort her, to give her my support, but I could barely move without pain wracking my body.
More silence.
"That's impossible," someone whispered. Angel, maybe? "Vampires can't just... threadwalk. It doesn't work that way."
"Apparently it does." Killian's voice was filled with awe. "But they don't come back the same… do they, now?"
"She brought me back," I managed to rasp, squinting against the bright light shining down into my eyes. "Felt Talin's magic... when I was burning. She wouldn't... let me go."
Judy's eyes widened. "The mate bond saved you... " She trailed off, her expression shifting from shock to fascination. She shared a look with Killian before her stunned eyes came back to me. "Elias, I think you're something new. Neither fully mortal nor vampire. Sustained by the connection to your Threadwalker mate."
"Will he live?" Talin's question was barely audible.
"I don't know." Judy laid her hands on my chest, and warmth seeped into my skin through my shirt. "I've never seen anything like this. His heart is beating, his lungs are working, but his body is still in shock."
"I could turn you again," Killian offered quietly.
"No." I tried to shake my head, and the pain made me want to vomit, so I stopped. "No," I repeated.
Killian moved closer, his dark gold eyes studying me with an expression I couldn't read. "You stubborn bastard. After everything I taught you about survival, you throw it away for?—"
"For her." I cut him off, my voice gaining strength. "And I would fucking do it again."
Killian's jaw clenched. For a moment, I thought he might argue. Then he nodded once, sharp and final, and took a breath. "I know."
