Page 85 of Bonded Through Bite

“It’s a bunker built to stand a war. Panic room—vampire style. And it’s not far from here,” San says.

I scan my phone again and a snarl escapes me. We really need to hurry this up. Samantha shudders and the tips of her fangs peek out just before she starts twisting in Santiago’s hold again.

“How are we going to feed her?” the wolf asks, eyeing Samantha worriedly.

Saying the words feels like cutting out my unbeating heart. “We aren’t. I can’t lose blood with Patricia around. San, you need to heal her bite marks on me too.”

“What? No!” Zack loses it. “We are not going to starve her. Fuck no!”

“It’s all right,” she whispers.

“Fuck no, it isn’t,” he roars and she flinches as a low rumble rises from Santiago.

“Cut it out, both of you.” I sigh.

“It really is all right, Zack,” Samantha says, gaining strength in her voice. Her hands twitch in mine. “If Rafael says he can’t lose more blood, then he can’t. And even if he could… are you sure you want me up and running? It’ll be easier for you to subdue me when I’m this weak.” Giant tears roll down her cheeks and her lower lip trembles.

I sense the outburst coming in the pit of my stomach and manage to wrap her in my arms when she lunges. Zack moves almost as fast, holding her tightly. There’s fury and pain mixed together in a volatile concoction that boils over and makes her thrash and whimper.

“You are not going anywhere, dove,” Zack says soothingly, then grunts when she manages to kick his injured leg. “Now let's get you into that bunker so we can take care of this thing.”

“You agree with this madness?” Santiago asks incredulously.

“I can feel hints of the pain she’s in, the thing is tearing at her, so yes. I agree. And if your bitch of a maker turns out to be a hindrance, I might kill her too,” he growls.

I wish he would kill Patricia. He might even manage it if San and I are out of the picture. And I wish like hell I could tell him that, but the command burned into my bones to not fight against her prevents even that.

All I can do is pray that some god somewhere hears me and keeps Samantha safe.

“I might want to kill the bitch too,” Samantha whispers. I wish she were joking, but she sounds dead serious. The bond between us feels violent, but in the same way I feel when I think about the thing attacking and hurting Samantha.

“Sweetheart, you are not going anywhere near Patricia.”

“We’ll see,” she mutters.

“We need to get moving,” the wolf says and gathers Samantha into his arms. Santiago jumps up and paces.

“You are seriously suggesting that we starve her,” he says and the cold that always rides him is gone. He’s fiery and ready to fight for her.

“San, it’s Patricia. What other options do we have?”

“We could… we…”

“We can’t kill her outright. The wolf is not in shape to take her on either. If he even could. And she won’t tolerate Samantha. You know that.”

“I thought we already settled on the plan,” the wolf says and gets on his feet. His leg seems to hold him a bit better. At least he can stand.

“We did,” I say.

San clearly wants to argue but moves over to me and begins licking Samantha’s bite marks closed. It’s a combination of heaven and hell. I wish I could keep the marks until they naturally fade and that he were licking my skin for some other reason than healing.

My mind races all over the place and goes over disaster scenarios. In all of them, Samantha ends up permanently dead.

Once San is done, he lifts his head and backs away. He’s still swaying on his feet, worse than the wolf, and my gut clenches.

“There are some blood bags in the cellar. Take them with you,” I say.

“You’ll need those yourself,” he argues.