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We would have died because of your foolish actions,Varin snaps back.
I had a plan. Do you honestly think I would have tried something like that if I didn’t know what I was doing?
Varin’s emotions are a tempest against my own.I have traded one prison for another.
I let my head fall back against the rock and close my eyes. My anger is justified… but so is theirs. We were forced into this before we were ready by circumstance. There wasn’t time for us to understand each other or work out how to do this.
Feeling guilty for only thinking of myself, I say,I am sorry.Then add,You’re not alone anymore. I am with you now.
Varin’s presence stills, almost as if they vanished.
Once we find the wolves again, you and I will find a way to compromise.Still, the demon doesn’t react.
The pull of sleep settles like a heavy blanket and I lower myself to the ground, unable to resist.
Varin?I say.Why didn’t you turn into an animal like Cherno? And why am I still human? I thought bonding with you would have turned me into a vampire.
I tuck my arm under my head and curl away from the fire on my uninjured side. The heat is strong, but I am too weak to move further. My fingers brush something smooth and cool. The night-forged dagger is there. I don’t know if I was clutching it when Alaric pulled me from the water or if he brought it with me.
Their quiet response comes a moment later.Our bond is temporary. We will need to find another solution soon….And you did not want to be changed.
I am nearly asleep when I think I hear them whisper,I am sorry, too.
***
My eyes snap open at the pain along my side. Fingers prod at my tender flesh, sending bolts of electricity through my entire body.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were injured?” Alaric growls from above.
I fall to my back, reeling from the rude awakening. He tugs at my shirt to show me the red stain, exposing my midsection. The cut inflicted by the demon has stitched itself back together, leaving the skin a bright pink. Alaric swipes at the dried blood. I hiss through my teeth at his rough treatment against the still-tender injury.
I could not fully heal you before. I needed time to regain my energy. It’s good it was not too deep.Varin’s explanation comes faintly.Your bond with him helped.
My gaze drifts from the new pile of wood to the throat of the vampire holding his body inches over mine.
“There is something unnatural about you, little nightmare,” he says slowly. “I should kill you right here and return to Nightwich.” His breaths grow ragged, and when I meet his gaze, there is something feral and hungry flashing within his eyes.
“When was the last time you fed?”
He snarls. “That is none of your business.” As he speaks, he leans forward, almost like he isn’t aware of what he’s doing.
He never needed to feed often, but since Elizabeth cursed him, it seems as if he has gone months between rather than days.
I think back to that night in the library, to the curse spreading…
Could it be draining him?
As if to prove my theory, those black veins slither up the side of his neck, then across his cheek. Now that he is away from Nightwich, Elizabeth’s hold on him will weaken.
“Feed,” I say. I tilt my head to the side.
Alaric stares at me, utterly bewildered. “And what of your vampire master?”
“My blood is no one’s but my own to offer.”
He hesitates. “And if I tell you that I have killed others I have fed on, would you still offer it up so freely?”
The question is meant to frighten me, but even cursed, he couldn’t hide the flinch of guilt at the admission.
