“Hey,” someone called from the living room. “Is everything okay in there?”
Callie wiped away her tears; she refused to let anyone see her cry. She refused to letCarterbe the cause of any more of her tears.
“It’s Saber,” Lucien said. “Can you invite him in? I need help cleaning this up.”
“Yes,” Callie croaked.
Lucien helped her rise, and keeping his arm locked around her waist, he led her around the body. He held her face in his chest so she couldn’t see Carter. When they entered the living room, he spotted Saber standing in the doorway; Logan stood behind him, but Asher must have stayed with the vehicle.
“You can both come in,” Callie rasped.
The sound of her brutalized voice caused a muscle to jump in Lucien’s cheek. Carter had gotten off too easy.
“Is everything okay?” Logan asked as his pine-colored eyes ran over Callie before settling on her forehead.
“There’s a body to dispose of,” Lucien told them.
Saber stepped into the apartment. His face was expressionless as his cobalt blue eyes ran over the room before settling on Callie. His face remained distant. Lucien had no idea what to make of the man, but then, that was nothing new. He hadn’t known what to make of Saber ever since he started working with them almost five years ago.
Saber shifted his attention back to Callie as she kept her chin raised and her eyes focused on the window across from them.
“We’ll take care of it,” Logan said as he entered the apartment.
Callie didn’t move as the two of them walked past her toward the kitchen.
“This way,” Lucien said and guided her through the living room to her bedroom.
When he settled her on the bed, she clasped her hands together in her lap. Inhaling a shaky breath, she leaned forward and put her head between her knees as she tried to calm her racing thoughts.
“You shouldn’t have killed him,” she murmured to the floor.
“I should have killed him slower,” Lucien said as he sat beside her on the bed and rested his hand on her back.
“He was human.”
“He was a monster.”
“Yes, but his death will affect you.”
“It was worth it.”
Tears burned her eyes again, but she blinked them away. Taking a deep breath, she sat up. She couldn’t hide from what happened here today, and she refused to let herself fall apart.
Lucien rested his fingers against her brutalized throat. Red fingerprints were visible against her skin, and they were already darkening to a deep purple hue.
“Let me give you some of my blood,” he said. “It will help you heal faster.”
Callie blinked at him. “Will it… will it change me?”
“No. I would have to take a lot of your blood and give you a whole lot more of mine. I’ll only give you enough to heal you faster.”
“Oh.” She pondered his offer as her stomach turned. She didn’t like the idea of drinking blood, but she would have to get used to it if she was going to join him. “Okay.”
Lucien draped his arm around her waist, and pulling her closer, he kissed her temple before biting his wrist. When his blood welled forth, he offered it to Callie. She clasped it in both of her hands, and keeping her eyes on his, she brought it to her mouth.
She didn’t know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t the sweetness mixed in with the coppery taste of his blood. She expected to be repulsed, and though her stomach churned with the realization she was drinking another’s blood, she wasn’t as repulsed by it as she’d expected. No, instead, she discovered shelikedit.
As the blood seeped into her system, strength flooded her. Her tension and the tenderness in her throat eased until she could breathe easier. When his blood stopped flowing, he removed his wrist from her mouth and bit into it again.
