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AwarenessdawnedbeforeBlaircould pry open her eyes. Her body, stiff and chilled, lay prone on a cool surface. The air around her was cold, but the lack of circulation or a breeze indicated she was inside some type of structure.
Drawing in an unsteady breath, she stiffened when a cutting ache finally registered. Visceral agony awoke as memories came flooding back. The newspaper. Torrin. The bullet.
Kaien.
With a jolt, her eyes flew open in search of the Raeth who’d rescued her. Where was he? Why was she sprawled on a cold floor? Eyes spearing through the low light that partially illuminated the room, she whipped her head around in desperation.
There!
Beside her, Kaien lay utterly motionless, completely still. Soft dregs of light allowed her to see that his full lips were parted and his palms were coated in a thick layer of her own blood. The Raeth, however, was ghostly pale.
“Kaien!”
What she’d intended as a scream was nothing more than a croak. As she attempted to sit up, a burning sensation splintered through her, erupting from muscles that protested her move. Her flesh refused to work. Stifling a cry, Blair folded her body to the side and inched closer to her sire’s brother.
Still breathing. The subtle rise and fall of his chest were the only initial indications of life, but her vampire ears picked up his heartbeat: thready and sluggish beneath his chest.
Dragging herself closer to him even amid the debilitating pain, Blair’s palm cupped his shadowed cheek. Too cold.
What could have made him fall unconscious? Blair’s forehead crinkled as she examined the sleek lines of his body, searching in vain for any wound or injury.
“Kaien?”
Gently, she shook him, worried for the man who’d clearly tended her injury. He’d saved her life when she’d fought with him tooth and nail like a rabid animal. Now that her mind was no longer crazed from blood loss, shock, and pain, Blair deeply regretted her actions.
In her vulnerability, she’d lashed out.
While Blair had known Kaien for eight centuries, she couldn’t recall the last time she’d been healed by him. Now, the man lay sprawled before her, completely at her mercy. Eyes tracing a path over his still body, she became fascinated with the smooth column of his throat.
Suddenly, deep hunger gnawed at her.
Her fangs lengthened unbidden in her mouth, her tongue running along the razor-sharp incisors as she eyed the unprotected flesh. Blair’s breath quickened, the predator under her skin begging her to take advantage while he was defenseless.
Defenseless.
Fear welled in her gut. Overwhelming as it was, her hunger was pushed aside with the realization that she couldn’t harm Kaien or take from him unbidden. Seeing him unconscious and vulnerable made her protective instincts flare, quelling any urge to drink from him when he’d saved her life—and teleported her away from danger.
Blair’s eyes snapped up to survey their immediate surroundings, conscious of the fact that they were both injured and their safety might be threatened at any moment. She had no clue where they were.
Rustic wood walls hemmed them in, and sparse, utilitarian furnishings decorated the space. Navy blue curtains hung in front of wide windows framed in the same color as the wood walls. Everything about the cabin spoke to a necessity-driven lifestyle; no needless décor or frivolous supplies lined the walls. The refreshing scent of pine and crisp mountain wind infiltrated her senses before she relaxed.
Clearly, the location was one Kaien knew well, or he wouldn’t have been able to teleport both of them here.
Blair braced her arms against the smooth wooden surface to push herself into a sitting position. She bit back a curse when the mangled flesh of her stomach groaned in protest.
Her vision swam as dots appeared in her periphery, but she exhaled slowly. Beside them lay an open hearth with a webbed grate lingering off to one side and fire tending tools hanging on the metal rack. Soot soiled the walls of the well-used fireplace, and the charcoal flooring was dry and cracked.
A single, pillow-less sofa upholstered in worn leather was in arm’s reach, and a plaid blanket lay neatly folded on one end. Gingerly, she reached up to grab the downy material, hefting the bulk down to sprawl across them both. While she didn’t believe that either of them was in danger from the elements, blood loss could slow their healing.
Blair gently spread the blanket over Kaien’s still form, surprising herself with the tenderness of her own actions. Perhaps when he’d saved her life, she’d suffered a crack in the cast of malevolent ire she adopted whenever he was concerned.
Weak.
The sound of her scoff reverberated through the space. Seconds later, Kaien rumbled deeply in his chest before his eyebrows pinched together, his brown eyes fluttering open.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty. Where in the hell are we?”
The Raeth clasped his thumb and forefinger against his temples and groaned in pain. He barely parted his lips to speak as if the motion was too much for his jaw.
