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The immediacy of her answer warmed my heart, even in the midst of this nightmare. "I'm going to try to send you some of my energy through our bond, even though it's very weak at the moment. It would be better than nothing." I hoped it was, anyway.
Cordelia nodded, and like even that slight amount of movement took the last of her energy, she started fading away again. All color faded from her for a second and she was just an outline and the strongest parts of her features.
Cross, who had been listening to my side of the conversation, was not on board with the plan. He glanced at me and shook his head. "That's really not the best idea, Rook," he suggested and looked at me again before turning his attention back to the road.
"Why not? What do I have to lose?" I shook my head in disbelief. How could Cross suggest that this wasn't the best option? "I can't just leave her like this. She’s too weak.” And I didn’t know if she would be able to bounce back.
Cross let out an exasperated sigh. "Holy shit, Rook. You can’t let Ash see you like this. What’s he going to say if he sees you drained? We have to keep up appearances and not let anyone know about your attachment to Cordelia and how serious it is," he explained. "It could ruin our chances of obtaining a familiar. Or worse."
Mentally I put up a wall for a moment so Cordie couldn't hear what I said next. "She's dying. What could be worse?" I asked, confused. Losing her was the only thing I could think of that was even in the same arena, and right now that was the path that she appeared to be on. It was one I couldn't allow her to walk, not yet at least.
"He might alert the king and queen," he pointed out.
My gut churned. "Dammit." Cross was right. I hated when he was right.
Still, it wasn't enough to deter me from this course of action. Cordie needed to survive, she had a life to live and I wanted to love her for all the years she had left, however many that may be, but I wouldn't let Massimo shorten that unnecessarily. And I wouldn't worry about being able to return to court or not be responsible for not aiding her when she needed it the most.
He pulled the car to the side of the road and slammed the car into park, almost breaking the top of the shifter from the shaft. "Feed from me."
"Why in the hell would I do that?" I asked. I’d never drank from another vampire before. It was something that was frowned upon at court. After all, human blood was sustainable. Vampire blood was…different. It didn’t satisfy our hunger in the same way, and it usually had a sexual connotation to it. Mates fed from one another, but that was about it.
"You can use my energy to boost Cordelia, if that's your goal, but you won't be drained yourself," he explained, as he removed his jacket and held his wrist out to me.
I pulled the mental wall I'd erected down and focused on Cordelia. As I did I realized she was fading in and out, being gone longer than she was there, and the whole time she was holding on for a chance at me helping her survive. This was torture, watching her disappear, slipping through my fingers over and over again only to flicker back to life even fainter than before.
Had the asshole even closed the wound from his bite? Or had he taken what he wanted and left her to bleed out what little she had left? Would her body, as deprived as it was, even be able to process the energy I was going to try and give it?
I honestly had no idea, but I knew that I couldn't stand by and do nothing. I couldn't let her just fade from existence as though she'd never been there in the first place. She was too important for that. All that being said, I honestly had never done this before, so I had no idea if it would work, but it was the only thing I could think of trying, because above all else, I had to save her, no matter the cost to me.
15
Cordelia
I could feel my hold on my body slipping away, and I was in and out of consciousness. In the distance, I could hear Milo and Massimo arguing, but their voices sounded muffled and I couldn’t make out their words.
Part of me wondered if Milo had gone after Massimo, but the rest of me doubted it. In fact, I thought it was more likely that Massimo came back for a third helping and Milo was at least smart enough to realize that taking any more blood from me would kill me.
But then the most blissful warmth settled over me, and I felt the strength in his presence next to me as Rook's face came into focus. He looked worried, but he was also the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. He began to fade and I panicked. Not now. Opening my mouth, I attempted to call out to him, but I was too weak.
He slowly flickered back into view. I thought I'd lost him forever, that the brief conversation we'd had would be my last words with him, when the sound of Milo and Massimo's voices had drawn me from that in between state but apparently it wasn't enough to break the connections between us completely.
I wasn't standing anymore, but I wasn't lying down either, I was more slumped on whatever floor existed in this space. If I had the energy I would have pushed to my feet, but I didn't, and I knew if I tried I'd fail, so I remained where I was. It wasn't like I'd be able to look Rook directly in the eye anyway, given how much taller than me he was, even here in this made up space.
"Cordelia, you need to take some of my energy," he insisted. I knew he didn't mean to loom over me, but right now, being on the ground the way I was and him standing, just made him look that much larger, and if I was honest, made me a little nervous since it reminded me of Massimo right before he fed from me.
I shook my head. I couldn't take his energy. Firstly, I didn’t know how and secondly, he would need every ounce of reserve to fight these maniacs when he came to rescue me. I didn’t know how strong Massimo was in comparison to Rook, but Massimo was perfectly at home in the hunter’s lair and he didn’t seem the least afraid to be among Jonathon or Milo or any of the others. I knew that he was going to double cross them, just as he had with Rook, but I had no idea what his end goal was.
"You're too weak. If you don't take some of my energy, you're going to die," he said bluntly, his words ending my mind's rambling. Not having much energy made it difficult to focus on pretty much anything.
I knew he was right. I could feel myself growing weaker by the second. I knew that I was dangerously low on energy, especially since I had passed out when Massimo stopped feeding from me. Worry set in as the same fear I'd had earlier raised its ugly head once again, what would happen if Massimo tried to feed from me again? He'd kill me, there was no doubt about that, which just had me wondering if Milo would let him.
What if I needed to defend myself or try to escape past the vampire hunters? That wasn't possible right now. I couldn't lift a finger, let alone put up a fight.
"Cordie, what are you hesitating for?" Rook asked, his voice a gentle caress over my soul.
"I don't want you to be vulnerable," I murmured back. It was the truth, but I was also scared of what this energy transfer might mean to me. The vision I had of myself with the red eyes of a vampire flashed into my mind and I knew that my fear stemmed from the fact that it felt like I was becoming more and more like a vampire each time I fed from Rook, and now they wanted to do what, a metaphysical transfer of energy? What if this tipped me over the edge and there was no going back?
"My love, you're dying. Please, let us help you." Anguish strained Rook's voice and tore at my heart.
