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Lex is sitting upright on the floor, his back against the wall. “Yeah, I’m not feeling so hot,” he says weakly, his eyes half-closed.
I look around the room, searching for a feeder that’s still alive, but there aren’t any.
“Get him up,” I tell Kade and Gabriel. “We’ll get him back to the hotel and—” My nostrils flare and my fangs extend at the smell of Calla’s blood. I turn my sharp gaze in her direction to see she has sliced her wrist open with her dagger. Her blood spills onto the floor, and she kneels in front of Lex, lifting her wrist to his lips.
“Drink,” she says in a firm voice.
His eyes fly open, narrowing on her as she presses her wrist against his mouth.
Kade and Gabriel stand by on either side of him in case he snaps and tries to attack Calla in this state. I don’t think he will, but better safe than sorry, especially right now.
Lex opens his mouth, his lips closing around the wound. Color floods back into his face seconds later as he swallows mouthfuls of Calla’s blood. She whimpers softly when he wraps his fingers around her wrist and sinks his fangs in, drinking deeper.
I crouch behind her, smoothing a hand over her hair. “Just breathe,” I say softly in her ear.
“I’m fine,” she insists, but I can hear the pain in her voice. Lex is too injured to attempt to make this feed pleasant for her, so despite her being willing, it’ll still hurt.
“Easy, Lex,” Gabriel says, watching closely with a slight frown.
Kade’s eyes are locked on Lex’s face. “Okay, that’s enough.”
He doesn’t stop.
Calla’s pulse spikes with panic, and both Gabriel and Kade tense, watching him closely, as if they’re ready to move in an instant to pull Lex away from her.
I give him five more seconds. “Lex.” My voice is low, firm. It reaches him on a level that makes him stop immediately. I don’t use our sire connection often—in fact, I can count the number of times on one hand—but this moment warrants it. As much as he cares for Calla, he isn’t in control—he wasn’t going to stop.
His eyes open, and he pulls back, Calla’s blood dripping from his fangs, down his chin. “I… sorry,” he murmurs to her, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and retracting his fangs. Shame ripples off him in dark waves, his pupils dilated and his brows tugged close together.
She shakes her head, blinking slowly. “You don’t need to be. I’m okay.” She stands, then immediately sways on her feet.
I straighten in a flash and catch her around the waist, guiding her to lean into me as Kade and Gabriel haul Lex off the ground.
The few vampires lingering watch us curiously. I glare at the one male who looks a little too long at Calla, probably wondering what she’s doing with us.None of your fucking business.
Kade disappears for a minute, reappearing with a cooler filled with blood bags, which is presumably the reason they were here in the first place.
“I want to go home,” Calla mumbles, her eyes no longer fully open.
“Ah, shit,” Lex says, looking over at her and frowning. “I took too much.”
“She’ll be fine,” Kade assures him, though his tone is tense. I can tell he doesn’t want to be angry with Lex, but he put Calla in danger. He lost control of his bloodlust because of his injuries, and if we hadn’t been here to stop him, things would’ve been a lot worse. “She’s probably loving how nice Atlas is being to her right now.”
I roll my eyes but don’t bother responding. The five of us walk out of the facility, each covered in too many types of blood to count.
Calla’s words play over in my head as we get in the car.
I want to go home.
So do I, my stubborn little human. So do I.
* * *
Back at the hotel, Lex flops onto the couch and turns on the television, flipping through the channels. He still looks a little worse for wear, but certainly better after drinking from Calla. He’s quieter than normal, still feeling ashamed for losing control with Calla, and there’s no sense in trying to reassure him she’s fine. He can see it for himself.
Kade tosses him a blood bag, tearing into one himself and forgoing a glass. The two of them drink straight from the bag, tossing the empty plastic onto the coffee table once they’ve sucked them dry.
Lex grabs the television remote again and changes the channel from whatever cartoon garbage he’d found less than five minutes ago to a local news station.
