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After tearing the bag open, Elijah squeezes the contents into a glass and hands it to me, but when I try to grab the glass and fail, my arm too heavy to lift, Rainey takes it and presses the rim to my lips. Crimson slips into my mouth and down my throat.
Pain, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, slams into my gut, a thousand knives twisting and turning in my flesh, and I choke, splattering blood over the front of Rainey’s shirt, her face, her arms.
Elijah rushes forward and props me up as I heave, staining my sheets with crimson.
“He needs her blood.” Delaney’s voice alerts us of her presence, but my vision is so blurry I can see nothing but two shapes in the doorway.
“We need to find Bronywyn,” Cole says, as the shapes move closer.
“Any idea how we’re going to do that and convince her to help us? After last night, I can’t imagine she’ll be lining up to come back here.”
“Then we take Tarnley to her.”
“Which we can only do if we find her,” Rainey replies to Elijah. “Any idea how we do that?”
“I can try to track her,” Delaney offers.
“We’ve tried that back before she decided to pop back up in Billings,” Rainey says. “She blocked us.”
“That was before we knew about the bond. We can use Tarnley’s blood to track her.”
“Don’t bother,” I manage, throat feeling like I swallowed molten lava. “She won’t help.” Her threat is burned into my memory, and I’ve no doubt she will make good on it if given the chance.
“We have to try,” Rainey says. “We can’t just let you die.”
The hunter believes she owes me her life since I saved it back when she’d been attacked in the middle of a club a few months ago. But the truth is, she owes me nothing, and if she goes after Bronywyn, the witch I once trusted more than anyone will kill her.
“She will kill you.”
“She won’t get the chance,” Elijah growls. “Do it, Delaney. Use his blood.”
“Okay.” Something pricks my hand, and I’m unable to do anything but lie there and take it. I try to speak, but the words die in my dry throat as I fade in and out of consciousness.
I’m not entirely sure how long it takes her to perform the spell, but the last thing I hear before slipping under once more is Delaney’s voice.
“I’ve got her.”
* * *
Bronywyn’s faceilluminated by the firelight of the lanterns is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. She’s sunlight in a world of midnight; a ray of beauty in the ugliness that has become my life ever since Elijah turned me.
“How are you?” I feel compelled to ask, despite the need to put distance between us. I’m in love with my brother’s woman. How much lower can a man stoop than that?
She turns to me and smiles. “I’m well, thank you, Tarnley. How are you?” Her eyes narrow on my face, and I imagine she’s sensing the unease in my belly. Elijah has been gone for hours, far longer than normal, which can only mean one of two things.
Either he’s dead, or he’s lost himself to the bloodlust once again.
“I’m well, thank you.” Ignoring every survival instinct in my body, I move closer, coming to stand directly beside her as we stare out at the steadily fading night. The first rays of sunshine are beginning to emerge from behind the mountainside in the distance, and I know I’ll be forced underground soon.
“I miss the sunshine,” I tell her. “The warmth of it.”
“I can only imagine,” she says, sadly. “Early morning is my favorite time of day.”
“May I ask why?”
She turns back to me and smiles, the blinding beauty in her gaze all but dropping me to my knees. “It offers the chance for a fresh start. A moment of peace before the chaos of life settles in around us.”
“That is a beautiful explanation.”
