She swallowed past the initial discomfort and continued to drink, and soon her body relaxed, the blood working its potent healing powers.
“That’s it,” I murmured, squeezing her hand as I held my other wrist to her mouth. Her lips were soft and warm, her breath ragged against my skin, tears streaking her stained cheeks as she swallowed, but the lacerations on her face and neck were already closing, her bones mending, her pain receding.
Her gaze stayed locked on mine, her grip fierce.
“I’m right here, sparrow. Right here with you. Just a little more—you’ve got this.”
Finally, certain she’d ingested enough to do the job, I pulled away from her mouth, my wounds healing instantly.
“Better?” I asked, wiping a trickle of blood from her chin.
Haley nodded, her eyes flooding with relief. In a hoarse voice, she said, “Thank you, Elian. For a minute there, I thought I might… Well, anyway. Yeah. Thank you.”
“Are you kidding me?” I teased. “After all the times you’ve served as my personal juice box, this was the least I could do.”
Another smile touched her lips, but it faded just as quickly, exhaustion finally settling over her. Part of me wanted to keep her talking, but she needed to rest. Her body would heal more quickly in sleep. Still, I wasn’t leaving her side tonight. I’d keep watch over her, just as she’d done for me more times than I could count.
In Midnight and Blackmoon Bay both.
When her muscles finally relaxed and her breathing became deep and even, I pulled the blankets up to her chin and leaned in close, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“Sleep, little sparrow. I’m right here. I promise you—”
“Where the hell is she?” A dark voice bellowed, edged in panic. “What happened?”
Jax.
The moment he found us in the bedroom, he fell to his knees at the bedside, his hands fisting her blankets, the anguish on his face twisting like a hot knife through my gut. It was so intense, so acute, it amplified my own pain a hundred times over until it filled every hollow part of me like cement, rooting me to where I stood.
“Angel,” he whispered.
“She’s going to be okay,” I said softly, risking a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but didn’t pull away. “Where’s Hudson?”
“Don’t know,” he said. “He’s still not talking. Dropped me off and bounced again. But if I had to guess? He’s out looking for whoever did that to Haley. Now tell me what the fuck happened.”
With a heavy sigh, I did my best to get him up to speed, but I didn’t have the whole story either. “From what little I could gather from Haley, Keradoc’s guards ambushed her on the wall. She fought back—ended up in Beggar’s Moat. That’s where Hudson found her. She was in bad shape when he brought her back.”
“And now? Is she… Hell, Saint. Is this all her blood? I can’t even… I’m…”
“She’s unconscious, but yeah, she’s okay. Just processing the vampire blood. I think she’s through the worst of it, but it may be a few hours before she’s fully healed.”
“Healed? Wait, youhealedher?” he demanded, his voice suddenly tight. He got to his feet and fisted my shirt, his eye narrowed. “What were you thinking? You damn well could’ve turned her!”
“She needed my blood. We had no other options—she was too fucked up.” I shook loose of his grip and turned my attention back to Haley. “Besides, you’re freaking the fuck out over nothing. The only way I could turn Haley into a vampire is—”
The words died abruptly on my lips.
Oh. Fuck.
16
ELIAN
Ahuman could only be turned into a vampire through a blood swap. She’d have to drink my blood, but before that, I’d have to drink hers within a relatively short span of time. Hours, maybe.
Which I was pretty sure I’d done.
And the worst part?
