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Caelan lifts me, and this time I don’t fight him, though the urge definitely still remains. I let him carry me to Elias, who’s already at the door of his study as we arrive, nearly colliding.
“Give her here,” Elias says immediately, and Caelan hands me over without question. Elias sits me on the edge of his desk. “Shannon.”
I blink slowly. “What’s wrong?”
He gently places his hand below my sternum, over the inky black wound. Even though his touch is soft, I jerk as a sensation like ice cuts through my overheated haze. “You’re not used to handling this much energy. It’s festering. And your soul is still healing. I need to take some of it from you before the stress causes any further fractures.”
It’s finally starting to sink in. “Oh.”
Waves of guilt wrack through him, and I shudder as their weight echoes in my mind. He must notice because his energy and all sense of his presence cuts off abruptly. He’s shielding himself.
Elias frowns. “We will have to do something about that…” He’s talking more to himself. With a shake of his head, he reaches out and cups the back of my head. “I’m going to siphon off some of your life energy. Is that all right?”
Caelan lets out a snort from where he’s loitering by the doorway. “First time I’ve ever heard you bother asking anyone,” he comments, though not so acidly as he might have under other circumstances.
I nod, and Elias flashes me a smile, then leans in, kissing me.
I’m familiar enough with his kisses that I can immediately tell there is something different about this one. Not just that I can feel it all the more intensely because of the state I am in, but something else. Something that tastes like his shadows and static, something more than just a physical connection. The very essence of his soul is reaching out, ghosting against mine, with a soft, cloying pressure like his lips working with my mouth.
The sensation is heady and intimate in a way that defies human description. I shiver against him as he draws me in, entwining our energy together, then takes mine.
The phrase ‘killing me softly’ has never made more sense. He’s draining something from me, something vital, but it feels so incredible I want to give everything I am to him. His grip on me tightens as I start to go slack. Weakening, lethargic and heavy, the flame of my life flickers and dims. But it had been burning so unbearably brightly to begin with that this is a relief.
Iwonder if this is what it feels like to be fed on by a vampire?
Technically, I ponder dizzily, it can’t be far off. After all, don’t vampires drain life energy just the same? Elias takes it directly instead of requiring blood as a vector, that’s all.
His low chuckle vibrates against my lips. Then he finally pulls away.
“Better?” Elias asks.
I stare at him dumbly, eyes glazed. “Fuck,” is all I manage to mumble.
Caelan huffs a short laugh, folding his arms and shaking his head. “You are so goddamn extra sometimes.”
“That was hot,” I say, finally finding my voice.
Elias is looking far too smug about it, although he smooths the expression over with care. “Be that as it may, how are you feeling now?“ he prompts again.
Oh. Right.
Although I had felt weakened in the moment, the sensation doesn’t linger. I’m still a little more alert and sensitive than when we had been cuddling, but not in the excessive, near manic way it had escalated to over the afternoon. The heat, the desire to tear out of my own skin, and the overwhelming sensations, all of that has faded.
I breathe out heavily, then nod. “Much better. I just feel… normal.” As much as any of this can be normal.
Now that all immediate cause for concern is dealt with, Caelan cackles. “I can’t believe you tried to fight me.”
Years of ingrained habit would have me duck my head sheepishly and apologize butyou know what? I’m not sorry.
“And I’ll do it again,” I say instead.
Caelan’s grin grows wolfish. “Oh, you areon.”
“Perhaps,” Elias interrupts mildly. “That is better left until Shannon is fully recovered.”
“Spoilsport.” There isn’t much heat in Caelan’s protest, though. He recognizes Elias is right about that one.
It does make me think, now that I have more capacity to do so. About my recovery, as they term it. The high of that much energy had been exhilarating but also terrifying and overwhelming. The headspace I had been in was scary to look back on. There’s no way I can go back to work or college in such a state. At best, it would be impossible to focus or function. At worst, I could end up doing something far more reckless and impulsive than just trying to spar with Caelan.
