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By the time Gabby changed out of her gala dress and into something more comfortable, Felix had reached the room. She steeled herself and walked to the bedroom door, stopping dead at the sight of him.
He’d lost the tuxedo jacket somewhere. The white shirt underneath was splattered with blood. Gabby scented both his and others’. Human. His dark hair had become a tangled mess. A line of dried blood ran from his right temple to the middle of his cheek as if someone had cut it open with a knife.
“What happened?” It was difficult to keep her composure.Don’t run to him. Don’t run to him.She repeated the phrase to stop herself from checking every inch of him to make sure he was fine.
It was the stupid mating bond. She, Gabriella Crawford, the logical and detached vampire, only had a passing curiosity.
Felix was alive. He was an Ancient. More than a thousand years old. Any wound he had would heal.
“The Hunters blew up one of the Towers.” Felix headed straight toward her. “Nasir and I tracked a group of them leaving the city.” His lips curved, fangs glinting. “They didn’t make it.”
Gabby stepped out of the way to let him pass. The scent of his blood was overwhelming and called to her like a siren. She swallowed, her stomach cramping. She’d fed earlier tonight and shouldn’t need to feed again. Even if she did, she wouldn’t feed from him.
Never from him.
Felix walked past her as if the emotions roiling inside of her didn’t tug at him as well. In the bathroom, he shrugged out of his shirt. Gabby should’ve known better than to follow him and watch. Her mouth went dry at the sight of the muscles rippling over his back as he rolled his shoulder.
Black veins spread out like spider webs from two holes with dark, bloody edges on his right shoulder. Worry tugged at her and she almost took a step toward him.
“I’m fine.” Felix threw her a grin that normally made her heart speed up for other reasons.
“I didn’t ask.”
Her response lacked any bite as Felix gripped the edge of the sink and grunted. His back curved, the skin going taut over the ridges of muscle. Gabby mentally kicked herself for thinking of the other times when he was strained like this. The area around the two darkened holes moved inward as something small and metallic poked out and dropped to the floor.
Even covered in blood, there was no mistaking it.
Silver bullets.
It was one of the first things Nikolas had shown her. It seemed fitting the first thing she learned upon awakening was the ways humans had invented to destroy vampires.
Her brother would be proud. Though she was uncertain how Armando would feel about the various human vampire Hunter families allying together to form the Organization of Benevolent Mercy, whose express goal was to eliminate vampires, with the Hunters as its military arm. Her brother had never trusted other vampire Hunters in their territory, preferring to place his trust in the family rather than outsiders.
Felix’s harsh breathing, loud in the quiet room, returned her to the present. Blackened, poisoned blood trickled out of the bullet holes before the wounds closed. Their kind’s fast healing was working against Felix. He needed the wounds to stay open longer to expel the silver in his blood.
Despite her hatred of him, Gabby failed to restrain the part of her, the human part that cared about others. The need to ease his pain came from more than the mating bond. She would do the same for anyone else. He was not special.
“How can I help?” she asked.
“Some blood would be nice.”
Gabby went to the small refrigerator in the main room and grabbed two bottles. When she returned, Felix had sliced his wrist, dark blood dripping down into the sink. She snapped her eyes away and stopped breathing. He smelled too good, too tempting, even if the blood was poisoned.
“Thanks.”
He sounded distant as he worked on pushing the poison out of his bloodstream. He drained the first bottle in a few quick gulps. To keep her mind focused on something other than the half-naked Felix, Gabby picked up his ruined shirt and threw it in the trash.
“Why is it taking so long?”
Felix gave her a humorless smile. “The Hunters have added other compounds into the bullets to make the silver more potent. It spreads faster and is more difficult to extract. Can you bring me more blood?”
When Gabby returned, Felix was about to slice open his wrist again. A sheen of sweat covered him. She opened the connection between them to take away some of his pain. It was the least she could do.
Dropping her walls opened the flood gates to Felix’s pain. His face contorted with a mixture of anguish, rage, and reluctant appreciation when he realized what she had done.
“Stop.” A command from an Ancient to his subordinate. He was harshly beautiful even as he tried to impose his will on hers.
“No. I can help.” Gabby stuck out her chin and stared him down. She was not a newborn vamp anymore. He had no business telling her what to do.
