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But there was something he could do to help. At least he was pretty sure it would work.
Using the second bonding chain, he spread it out in a double line, laying it over Shayna’s throat. She arched slightly, then relaxed. He could feel some of his power leaving his body and he knew the proximity of the chain next to Shayna’s skin now allowed her to siphon his power and start healing. Altered flight was hard on humans, causing severe headaches and nausea.
Watching her draw a deep breath, he again considered slipping the chain over her head. If he did, she’d really be able to take on his power. The latent abilities that she’d previously exhibited would grow stronger, and her healing would progress quickly.
He was damn tempted.
He touched the chain at her neck and touched his own and felt a corresponding power surge within his own body. Her body arched again, stronger this time.
He’d gain from the bond as well, maybe even enough enhanced power and ability to battle his father if it came to that.
But he hated the thought of violating her freedom. It was bad enough that he’d basically abducted her from Seattle. But to go this far, to actually make it impossible for her to take the chain off without risk of dying—shit, he didn’t think he could go through with it.
But he was tempted.
The sooner they started hunting the weapon, the better.
He leaned forward, planting an elbow on his knee, then dropped his head into his hand.
He couldn’t do it.
When Rumy had first given him information on the winner of his little online game that proved Shayna’s ability, Marius had thought he could rip Shayna out of her life and force the bond. Once her power came online, she’d be able to find the last of several dangerous, mass-destruction weapons and keep them out of the hands of Marius’s maniacal father. In that way, Shayna would help save not just his world but the human world as well, since Daniel had designs on both.
Despite his belief that two worlds hung in the balance, though, he couldn’t force her to do anything against her will.
He just couldn’t.
Shayna must be given the chance to choose.
As he debated, his stomach cramped and without thinking, he began to rock as he attempted to force the pain away. Daniel had kept him blood-starved during his last incarceration, which had left him with a problem he’d have to deal with sooner or later. He would be cycling through a bout of blood-madness at some point, a condition caused by being deprived of blood, but hopefully not before he had everything settled with Shayna and maybe even the extinction weapon already in hand.
For now, he worked to control the pain in his gut and the disorienting swirls in his head. After a few minutes, he brought his symptoms under control and the debilitating pain eased back. Based on past experience from other episodes of blood-madness, he’d be good for several hours, possibly even a couple of days.
* * *
As Shayna came to consciousness, she felt that Marius was close by, even though she couldn’t open her eyes. She could sense his presence in a way that was as much a mystery as his sudden arrival in Seattle.
She pressed a hand to the top of her head and moaned. She was in so much pain that she was pretty sure knives whirled inside her head.
She’d been abducted just outside her apartment building—that much she could recall. She also knew that she needed to pull it together to figure out just what kind of hell she’d gotten mixed up in. But right now, the pain was the only problem she could focus on. She didn’t even know how she was surviving it.
She put both hands over her eyes, aware that she lay prone on some kind of bed. At least a comforter was keeping her warm. The space was cold and dark except for the glow from a fireplace opposite and what might have been a few candles on a stand to her right.
Barely opening her eyes, she saw that Marius sat on the side of the bed near her.
“Shayna, how you doin’?” He spoke quietly and sounded so compassionate for a vampire.
“I … hurt.” She wanted to say something more, to explain about the knives, but she couldn’t.
“I need you to focus on the chain at your neck. Can you do that? It will help you to heal more quickly. You’ll be able to siphon my power, and the pain will start to subside.”
“What … are you talking … about.” Her stomach boiled.
She felt Marius’s warm touch as he picked up her hand and moved it very slowly and gently to her throat. She felt the solid links beneath her fingertips just as he’d said. And the moment she made contact, a stream of power flowed through her hand and up her arm.
She gasped, because the same energy touched her mind and sent healing waves through her embattled brain. “Oh, God, that feels so good.”
“Keep siphoning. This will all be over in a few minutes. You’ll see.”
