Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“You deserve to die,” I whisper as I stare down at him. Do I do this? Do I become monstrous, too?
I close my eyes, my head spinning. This choice, it all boils down to this one choice. Who am I? A healer or a destroyer? A soul or a barren, empty shell? A sob tears through me as I lean over him. I know who I am, or at least, I know who I want to be. Though I shudder with the weight of my choice, I press my wrist to his mouth. Cold lips, no breath.
“Valen?” I ask, my voice barely squeaking past the knot in my throat.
He doesn’t stir.
“Valen, you have to drink.”
Nothing.
“Shit!” I look around for something to cut my wrist, but I’ve already searched this bathroom. There’s nothing here.
With my other hand, I lift his upper lip and find the tip of his fang. With a surge of courage or stupidity, I jam my wrist against it. The sting is instant, his fang sharper than any scalpel I’ve ever held.
My blood oozes into his mouth, a thin stream of it escaping along his cheek.
“Drink.” I press my skin against him. “Come on. Come on!”
He doesn’t move.
“Are you dead?” I ask, and for some reason that makes no sense, my heart stutters. “Valen?”
I pull my wrist back.
He moves so quickly I scream. His hands are around my forearm, and he bites me hard on the wrist.
“Valen!” I yell, but his eyes are still closed, his mouth pulling at my vein.
Color is already returning to his skin, the pallor fading as he drinks.
I try to pull away, but he holds me tight, his mouth going hot against my tender flesh.
“Let go!” I wrench myself backward.
His eyes open, and he releases me. I fall on my ass, the wet floor making a loud smacking sound as I do.
“Kedves verem,” he purrs.
“Stay back!” I hold out my uninjured arm.
“No.” He cuts his fingertip and presses his blood to my wrist. It heals, the skin knitting together as I watch.
He’s already up and grabbing a fluffy black towel. Then, with unexpected gentleness, he lifts me and wraps me in it.
“You were dead.” I gawk at him. “Was I dead? Am I a vampire now?” My mind races ahead. How do they make vampires? Is it like the old movies? Am I already halfway there? All the way there?
“I wasn’t dead, but you certainly know how to wake me up.” He cuts me a smirk. “And no, you aren’t a vampire. You didn’t die.”
“But—”
“I’ll never let you die.” His face goes stony for a moment.
“Gorsky—”
“Most assuredly dead.” He bares his fangs, a feral look on his face.
“Okay.” I step back and grip the top edge of the towel. “Noted.”
“I wish I could kill him again.” He holds my gaze, wrath dripping from every word. “Slowly this time. I’ve kept a human alive for months before. I could do the same with him. I could strip the flesh—”
“No, thank you.” I wince.
He refocuses on me. “Where do you hurt?”
“I—” I do a quick mental once over. “I don’t. I should, but I don’t.”
He lets out a sigh, relief in his eyes.
I know it’s only because he wants to get Gregor’s information from me, but for a sliver of a moment, I think he might actually care whether I live or die. Not just for intel on the humans or the truth of whatever happened to Theo—but because he wants me to live. Me, a human. But that can’t be right. He’s a mass murderer. One whose life I just saved.
He gave me so much blood. He risked himself. I don’t even pretend to understand what just happened.
“Are you hurt?” I ask, my voice slightly dazed.
“No.” He glances at his bloody wrists. The wounds have already healed over.
“You saved my life.” I meet his gaze again.
He looks away.
“Why?” A tremor hits me, rattling my teeth from the strength of it.
I’m in his bed before I even know what happened. He always moves fast, but this is a new level of what-the-fuck. He tucks the dark blue blanket around me carefully. “Are you all right?”
“Shock, I think.” My voice trembles. Images flow into my mind, all of them Gorsky, all of them what he did to me. A sob comes from nowhere, ringing in my throat. Tears burn hot in my eyes as I struggle to breathe.
“In slowly,” Valen sits beside me. With a soft touch, he pulls my chin to the side until our eyes meet. “In slowly.” He inhales. I follow him, just breathing as I replay Gorsky’s violence, each blow a hammer hit to my skull. The pain isn’t physical, not anymore. It’s a horror show in my mind, the thoughts welling up like blood from a wound. His manic eyes, the anger that seems to double his strength. “Out slowly,” Valen says, his hand straying to my forehead, stroking my hair back. “Again.”