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Chapter seventeen
TORY
Mynightvisionwas starting to fade again, and a deep weariness crept over me. I lay against Jack’s shoulder, no longer resisting, as he took us farther along the tunnels. They twisted and turned, and sometimes he’d turn off into a side tunnel and then have to double back. I saw more and more bloodstains like those before, where we now guessed the hatay had found innocent victims wandering the tunnels after being deliberately led there as prey for their dark appetites. Even that knowledge couldn’t fire me up.
The thought of the three men trapped below filled me with sorrow that seemed to physically weigh me down. I kept picturing their bodies, crushed by falling debris, lying there as the mummies or even the hatay crept up upon them in the darkness. Tears dripped down my face, and I couldn’t even muster the energy to wipe them away. Jack didn’t speak as we moved through the tunnels, and I wondered if he was mourning his boss, his friend, as much as I was. They had worked together for years—actually they’d been together much longer than that, I recalled. Maybe that was why they so easily gave up on each other. They knew they’d see each other again in the next life. I still couldn’t quite believe that. Losing West was like losing a much loved, though annoying, older brother. Well, not a brother exactly. My thoughts drifted back to the moment he’d fed on me back in that room. It seemed like it was days ago, and yet it must have only been a few hours since. I remembered the way he’d held me, the way he’d pulled me against him, as if he’d wanted me as much as I’d wanted him. Maybe it had only been the blood, but for a moment, I’d been in his arms, and he’d wanted me there.
The thought only brought fresh grief to my heart, and new tears formed and fell. Wesley too, though I barely knew him, and Zayn, that mysterious, charming stranger in the background, whose smile sent shivers down my spine and indecent thoughts to my mind. I’d lost them all.
Jack slowed and then bent down, lowering me to my feet. I swayed, so he wrapped his arms around me, holding me gently but firmly against him so I wouldn’t fall. He looked down at me. I could just make out the outline of his face, but not his expression. He reached down and brushed my tears away.
“Oh, Tory,” he murmured, pulling me close and stroking my hair. “I’m so sorry. Grief and loss are a part of this life, of this blessing, but we will see them again, I promise you.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“Come on.” He took my hand and stepped away, tugging me towards a small door in an archway a little way down. Pushing open the door slowly with his foot, he slipped sideways through the gap, his pistol ready. I followed him into the room. It was another bedroom, this one smaller, with a simple low wooden platform taking up much of the space. Not a priest’s chamber then, more like a servant’s or one of the farm hands. Jack guided me to the bed and helped me sit. I sank down, grateful beyond words for the rest. I watched as he closed the door and braced it with some wooden planks he found in the corner of the room. They had probably formed some kind of clothing stand or maybe a chair, but whatever it had been had collapsed. He gave the door an experimental tug and it held fast. He sighed and came to sit down on the bed next to me.
“How are you doing?” he asked, brushing my hair away from my face, where it hung in matted strands.
I didn’t have the strength to answer him, I just met his eyes briefly then lowered myself down onto the platform, closing my eyes. I was desperate to sleep, to rest, but also to float away into oblivion where none of this was real. He twisted and looked down at me, placing his warm hand over my forehead. I shivered as the warmth of his touch made me realise how cold I felt. A numbing coldness had spread through my whole body. I shouldn’t be surprised, I was covered in blood and wet clothes and hadn’t slept for more than a few hours in two days, maybe more. The thought drifted away, and though I shivered, I felt myself floating into welcome sleep.
“Tory. Tory! Wake up!” Jack’s voice was urgent, but I was past caring. I just wanted to sleep, so I ignored him. “No, Tory, don’t go to sleep. Please!” He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into a sitting position. I cracked open my eyes and looked at him crossly.
“But I’m so tired, Jack. Can’t we rest, please? Just for a bit? I can’t do any more.” I tried to lie back down, but he held me up.
“No, Tory, you’ve lost too much blood. If you fall asleep now, you’ll die.”
“I don’t care,” I whispered, and for a second, I really didn’t. The darkness seemed to press in around me, and any hope of escape had long since faded.
“I care,” he argued fiercely. “Shit, Tory, do you have any idea how much I care about you?” That made me open my eyes again. I looked at his strong, tanned face, pale and grey in the dark, and his blond hair covered in ash.
“You... You...” I couldn’t form a sentence, so he did it for me.
“I love you, you silly woman. I have for years. And there is no way you are leaving me just as I’m finally allowed to tell you how much I want you. I am not waiting decades before I can tell you again.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded. “Okay,” I murmured. “No sleeping.”
He made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh of relief. “No sleeping. You need blood, and we need to get you out of those wet clothes before you freeze.” I could barely move, so he stood up and began to undress me. He unbuttoned my shirt and gently peeled it away from my body. I winced as it tugged at my sliced-up skin. The same thing happened when he pulled away his blood-soaked shirt. He laid them out as best as he could over the wooden slats he used to brace the door and then pulled my trousers off too, arranging them next to the shirts.
“Hopefully they’ll dry there,” he murmured more to himself than to me.
Turning, he looked down at me on the platform. I was shivering violently, though I didn’t actually feel that cold anymore. Apparently that was not a good thing, because he put his hand on my forehead again.
“Shit, hold on, Tory.” There was some rustling, and then the platform creaked as he climbed on and lay down next to me. Pain flashed through me again as he pulled me close, pressing his body against mine, and he felt like searing coals. He’d even removed his trousers, and I sighed as the warmth of his naked body began to penetrate my skin.
“Here.” He slipped his arm under my neck and pulled me in close, until my nose brushed the skin of his throat. “Drink, Tory, please. Take as much as you need.”
“But...” I started to pull back, though I felt my teeth begin to sharpen at the fresh scent of his skin so close to my mouth.
“Like you said, plenty of time for me to rest if I need to.”
It was all the encouragement I needed. My body was craving his blood, and within a second, it was spilling over my lips and onto my tongue. I felt him sigh, but not from pain, and his hand ran down my thigh, trailing gently over my skin. The burning nectar of Jack’s blood flowed into me, setting my veins on fire. I gasped, pulling back for a moment as I felt it flow directly to my side, burning and searing. The pain intensified, and I cried out.
Jack pulled me back in. “Keep drinking,” he ordered. “And breathe.” I did as I was told, sliding my teeth through his skin like butter. My good hand came up to fasten on his arm, my nails digging into the muscle as I tried to endure the pain of my body using the power of Jack’s blood to heal itself. As the pain lessened slightly, I felt my broken wrist catch aflame. I became more aware of his hard body against my own, and I ran my hand up his arm, along his broad shoulders, and down his back. A surge of pain flashed through my side, and I gripped him hard in reflex, sinking my nails deep and scoring his back. He gasped, and I pulled back.
“I’m so sorry!” I whispered, horrified I’d hurt him.
Jack grinned down at me, and I realised my vision was improving again, as I could see his smile in the dark. “I’m not sorry,” he said. “Feel how not sorry I am.” He rolled onto his back, taking me with him so I sat astride his hips but lay across his chest. This time, it was my turn to gasp as his hard cock pressed up against my pussy. Desire shot through me, and I pushed myself up with both hands to look down at him. The motion caused me to rub against his hard length, and his fingers gripped my hips as I did. I noticed my fingers spread out over his chest and lifted the left hand, looking at it in wonder.
