“We don’t have the manpower to patrol the whole forest,” he barked. “The vamps weren’t anywhere near the lodge. I found the kid all the way on the other side of the creek.”
“Again, I have to ask, how was she able to slip past—”
“Darius?” The whisper was faint, but panicked, the sound of it sending a bolt of fear down my spine. “I think… I fucked… up…”
I spun around just in time to see Gray collapse to her knees, her arm wrapped tightly around her midsection. Blood spilled out between her fingers, staining the snow a sickening shade of crimson.
“Gray!” I dropped to my knees before her, catching her just before she face-planted. “What happened?”
“Last vamp.” She nodded toward the direction she’d come from. “Still alive. Staked him. But… not before he…”
“He’s a dead bloodsucker now.” Ronan’s eyes turned black. With one of Gray’s hounds on his heels, he grabbed my sword and took off running.
“Did he bite you, love?” I asked Gray.
She shook her head. “Knife. I was… stupid. Left my… inside unguarded…”
“Shh, it’s okay. Let me take a look.” Gently, I pulled her arm away from the wound, inspecting the damage. It was a nasty gouge about five inches long, slicing straight down beneath her breast. The blade had carved through clothing, flesh, and muscle. Milky-white slivers of rib shone through the gash, the wound pulsing with blood.
“Gray! Holy shit!” Haley emerged from the forest with Asher, both of them crouching down beside us. “Oh my God, what happened?”
“Stay calm,” I told them. “She’s going to be fine. Just give her some room.”
“Beaumont…” Ash’s tone was a warning, but I glared right back at him.
“Take off your sweatshirt, hellspawn. Put it behind her, then kindly back off.”
He finally obeyed, and I turned my attention back to Gray, easing her backward onto the sweatshirt.
“I’ve got you, love. Try and relax.” I leaned forward and brushed a kiss across her temple, a trickle of her blood coating my lips. It melted in my mouth, stirring my own blood to life. Something in my chest flickered, but I ignored it, focusing instead on the woman before me.
Using my fangs, I pierced the vein at my wrist, then held it over her mouth, allowing her a few drops before moving my wrist to her wounds.
It was an inelegant solution, but the best we had in the moment. Unlike when I’d healed her in the Shadowrealm, she was conscious now; my blood would burn inside her wounds like living fire. But once the pain subsided, it would bond with her blood, along with her magic, and start the healing process.
Too bad we don’t have our own private cabin…
My eyes drifted closed, and in that quiet darkness I watched the memories of our time together in the realm like a movie I’d never tire of. There, in the cabin nestled in a snowy wood, was the first time I’d made love to her. It was the time and place where I’d fully, unapologetically fallen in—
My eyes opened with a start.
Memories. Real memories. More of them, coming in faster and more clear now. Like the attack at Norah’s house, saving Gray from the avalanche and all the time we’d spent in the cabin after had occurredbeforeour final moments in the Shadowrealm.
Beforethe memory eaters had stolen my history.
“Thank… thank you.” Gray was sitting up on her own again, wiping my blood from her mouth, when two things hit me at once.
I’d just saved Gray’s life.
And I’d just remembered the absolute most precious piece of my own.
I took her face between my palms and tilted it toward me, capturing her beautiful blue gaze.
Then, as if I’d just figured out the answer to a complex question that had been plaguing me for years, I said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m fairly certain I’m in love with you.”
Thirty-Two
GRAY
