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I moaned and pressed my knuckles to my mouth.Oh, God, Joey. I’m sorry.
I told myself I’d had no choice but to fight back. But every time I shut my eyes, I pictured my brother locked in one of those basement cells, pale and drawn, waiting for the vampires to come for him.
When Gabriel finally came to bed, I was staring tensely up at the ceiling.
“Cher.” He dimmed the lights and pulled me into his arms. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“A little.” I moved a shoulder in a shrug and cuddled into him. “What if they—?” My breath scraped in.
“Tell me.”
My fingers spread out on his bare chest. Beneath my hand, his heart beat slow and steady. I moved my fingers lower to feather over the healed-over knife wounds. Wounds that would’ve left a human in intensive care for weeks—or dead.
“What if they kill him?” I whispered, as if speaking it out loud would somehow make it happen.
His grip on me tightened. “They won’t.”
“How can you be so sure? You didn’t see Andre, I did. The agreement was that if I did anything to help you, Joey was his.”
Gabriel went rigid, but when he spoke, his voice was even. “I’m sure because they’re smart. As long as Joey’s still useful to them, they won’t hurt him.”
“Useful to them? How?”
“As bait,” he said succinctly. “They know I’ll come after him.”
I closed my eyes. “Because I agreed to the blood bond?”
He nodded against my hair. “But even without the bond, I’d go after Joey. This is personal now. They used him to threaten you, and then planted you right in my household. I can’t let them get away with that.”
“Oh, God.” Bile filled my throat. “I didn’t want this. Ineverwanted this.”
“There was nothing you could do to stop it. It’s been coming for a long time. Now, relax.” His fingers stroked down my spine, powerful, comforting.
My breath sighed out. Gradually, my muscles released. I cuddled closer, careful not to press against his wounds. His enticing scent filled my head.
He continued to murmur to me. Telling me I was safe now, to let go, get some sleep.
My eyelids drifted down, but I forced them open and drew his head to my neck. “You’re still hurting. Drink from me.”
I felt his hesitation. “I shouldn’t. You’ve already given me too much today.”
“Gabriel,” I said. “You need it. How are you going to stake that prick if you’re too weak?”
His mouth curved against my skin. “And here I thought you were all sweetness and light.”
I snorted. “Stop talking and drink already.”
“Yes, Mam’selle,” he said in a meek tone that didn’t fool me for a second. But I felt the prick of his fangs, and then the suck of his mouth.
Something warm curled through me. Not the high I’d gotten when he’d fed from me during sex, but something more profound. My heart turned over in my chest.
In that moment, I knew I was in deep. Way deeper than last time.
He didn’t take much before licking the small wounds closed. “Thank you. You were right—I did need fresh blood.”
“Mm.” I stroked his nape. Was it wrong to feel so happy when my brother was still Andre’s prisoner? But I sank into the good, contented feeling, enjoying it while I could.
Gabriel sighed, a low, satisfied sound. When he tried to move away, I tightened my grip, keeping his head on my shoulder. His eyelids drifted down to form thick black crescents against his cheeks. His body went lax, and his breathing slowed to almost nothing.
