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It was little more than a tickle in comparison to the pain that writhed like a wild beast inside me. I wouldn't let something like that distract me from getting to Cordie. I'd burn myself to a crisp if it meant I could save her.
We ran for miles, following the bond as it led us further and further away from civilization. I hadn't had chance to move like this for a while. Using my full speed would attract too much attention in the human world, so we always kept it to a minimum. It would have felt freeing if not for the circumstance.
Time was ticking away and even though I was going all out I knew I was losing my chance at saving her.
The closer we got, the weaker the bond with Cordie became. It was doing the opposite of what it should, and yet I knew without a doubt that we were truly getting closer. It was just that she was dying so the bond itself was weakening.
We finally got close enough that I knew the building in the distance was where we had been heading this whole time. It was a farmhouse that appeared to be deserted. There were no vehicles around it, nothing to indicate life of any kind, and the building itself looked like it was a few good storms away from falling apart.
The only life force I could sense was Cordie's, and it was so faint it may as well not have been there. I pushed myself to my limit and beyond to get to her as fast as I possibly could. I knew that seconds would matter in this situation and with Cross backing me up, if I had missed something I trusted him to take care of it.
I burst through the door and a shower of gasoline washed over me. What the hell? I coughed and spluttered from the stench, but I ignored it as best as I could and went to the figure that was in a chair in the middle of the room.
It was Cordie, I knew that thanks to the bond, but it was like my mind didn't want to see what was in front of me. When I was able to make sense of it, I wished I hadn't.
The dagger—my dagger—was sticking out of her chest.
This couldn’t be real. Surely it was a nightmare.
The rubies in the hilt glittered in the light and I realized that not only had I been doused in gasoline, but somehow the house had been set on fire as well. I should have expected as much when I was drenched in gas, but I had other priorities.
Besides, fire wouldn't kill me, so I focused on Cordie. I needed to get her out of this place, but I didn't want to hurt her any further in the process.
A massive puddle of blood pooled at her feet, soaking the floor around her, like a moat around a castle. Her lifeless body was drooped over in the chair where those monsters had tied her down knowing that she would either die from the wound or when I inadvertently set the house ablaze by entering the house.
I dropped to my knees in front of her and clawed at the zip ties binding her, but they were so tight I couldn't get any purchase.
"Here." Cross' voice sounded from behind me and his pocket knife was shoved in front of my face. I snatched it out of his hand and with three quick flicks, I had it open and the zip ties cut.
The way Cordie's arms fell limply from the chair now that there was nothing holding them there made despair grow in my heart. I needed to move her, but I wasn't sure how.
We had never had a discussion about her being turned into a vampire, and I didn’t know if it was something she even wanted. It wasn't exactly an easy topic to bring up, especially when I knew the vampire council would probably never approve of it based on their opinion of me alone.
After she was attacked by Antonio and Mikhail, I had almost lost her. My blood was the only thing that kept her alive. And even then, I wasn’t sure it would be enough. Watching her fight for her life was excruciating, and I had let my fear of the vampire court keep me from turning her right then and there.
She had survived and, unfortunately, I never imagined we’d be back in the same situation again. I should have, but I was cocky and sure that now I was aware that people would target her, it meant that I could protect her.
How wrong I was.
This time I didn’t know if I could save her even by turning her. It wasn’t my place to decide for her whether or not she would want to live a life as a vampire either, but one way or another I knew that I'd take that decision away from her today. I didn't want to make it without her approval, but I didn't have any other choice.
When her heart stopped, I knew I had to try if I wanted her to live. We were too far out in the country for any kind of medical attention to get to us in a reasonable time, and though I could run faster than most vampires I knew it wouldn't be fast enough to get her to a hospital, even if I gave her my blood beforehand. Plus all that jostling would probably make her just bleed out on me anyway. Vampire blood in her system or no.
I lowered my head and pressed it against her knees as I gripped her calves. "Please, Cordie," I whispered. "Don't leave me."
24
Cross
Rook was on fire and he didn't even realize it. His only focus was saving Cordelia, which I understood completely. It was killing me to stand back and let him take care of things, but unless I wanted to trigger his rage or protective urges I knew I had to stay out of sight as much as possible. Just giving him my pocket knife had been a huge risk.
She was slumped, chin against her chest, arms now dangling at her sides while her body was limp and lifeless. Rook reached out for her lifeless body, setting his head on her knees for a moment. I knew he was wanting to move her from the house, but the flames had caught up with us, and he hadn't even noticed.
When he stood and prepared to lift her out of the chair I knew I had to stop him. "No! Don't," I insisted. "You're on fire, Rook. If she gets burned, it could keep you from turning her. We have to do this the right way and protect her body at all costs."
Rook looked at me with crazed eyes. He was in shock and looking straight through me, but hopefully he could understand my words and wouldn't touch her. I scooped Cordie into my arms bridal style, and we used vampire speed to run through the fire, which wasn't an easy thing to avoid. Sure, speed would get us through faster, maybe it would let less of the fire touch us, but it was unlikely.
“Damnit!" I yelled as I continued to run.
