Black blood—same as hers—welled instantly.
Without breaking stride, I pressed the bleeding wound firmly against her mouth. “Drink,” I ordered, voice low and strained. “Take it while we move.”
Her eyes widened in shock, but she didn’t pull away. Her lips sealed around my torn flesh, and the moment she began to suck, a rough groan escaped my throat. The bond flared again as her tongue slid over my skin, pulling my blood into her body.
“Faster!” The asshole bellowed from his spot on the wall.
Pushing me away after a few mouthfuls, she licked her lips. “It doesn’t taste like you.” She grimaced a little. “There’s none of the heat or smoky power. It tastes wrong...like ash and dirt.”
“Dirt?” Fucking hell, what didthatmean?
My heart skipped a beat as she tripped. Holding her close, I rubbed the welling blood against her wound. I waited for it to knit her skin back together like it had in the past, but...nothing.
Fear etched her eyes. “It’s not working.”
The fire inside me chose that moment to gutter out, leaving me weak and empty again.
“Come on.” Grabbing Rook around the waist, I took most of her weight. If we truly had lost the gifts we’d been given, then...we had to get as far away from Uncle Wen, Auntie Mei, Dillon, and Whisper as possible. Before it was too late.
Do you think it’s connected?Rook asked as we continued walking.Our blood has lost the silver and gold because we’ve lost the ice and fire?
I didn’t want to reply because her questions mirrored my own fears.
What if all those experiments she’d told me about at Snowflake Corp were coming true?
What if we hadn’t survived the ascension, after all? What if our bodies had failed the final test and we were already dead...we just didn’t know it yet?
Stepping onto yet another covered corridor linking two quaint gardens together, I pulled her to a stop behind a carved screen with oriental clouds and lotus blossoms. We stumbled in unison, catching each other. The world tilted beneath our feet. The symmetry of our weakness and systemic collapse was almost laughable at this point.
My temper sparked with red-hot hate.
What the hell was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to walk out of here without fighting back? How could I justify being the cause of everyone’s death if I failed?
FUCK!
“Keep moving!” the leader barked, too far away to see what we were doing but close enough to shoot if he felt like it.
Rook went to obey, but I stopped her.If I want to fight...will you fight with me?
Her brows pulled together as she looked over her shoulder—toward the pavilion we’d left behind.But what if we fail and put them at risk?
“Last warning.Move!” A gunshot rang out, smashing through the architrave. A splinter lodged in my cheek like a tiny dagger.
Rook immediately teased it free and tossed it away, her touch exquisitely gentle.
I’ll do everything in my powernotto fail.
She held my stare, searching. I felt her inside me, ransacking my soul and accepting all my flaws.I wish I could help. I wish I knew how to—
“MOVE!”
We fell back into a slow shuffle.
Fuck, did I honestly think we could fight in our current condition?
But if we didn’t fight, she’d end up trapped in Cinderkeep. Harvested like I had been...
My heart almost tore itself out of my chest.
