Garroway’s face twisted with concern. “Why?”
“Because I’m not a . . .”Monster.
“Monster,” he echoed, his features sinking. “Like I am.”
“I didn’t say that!”
“You don’t have to, lass. You thought it.”
A knot formed between my brows. “What?”Did he just read my mind?
Garroway slumped against the wall. He stayed standing but looked suddenly beleaguered and exhausted. “I didn’t spend two weeks finding and capturing Dimmon Plank, lass. That part only took three days.”
My head tilted. I settled myself against the wall opposite him, with Dimmon’s prone, unconscious form between us. “What are you saying? What else did you do in Nuhav?”
“The dreams returned. The nightmares. Seeing out from the eyes of night creatures. Except then it started to extend to . . . reality. Channeling that sight through actual living, breathing animals. The animals always foundyou.”
“The rat,” I breathed.
He nodded glumly. “And more besides, lass.” His hand scrubbed over his bald head. “I became attuned to something new inside me. Skartovius might not have told you but my mental connection with him weakened further. Eventually, I couldn’t hear him at all. And I suspect the same goes for him.”
The concern on Skar’s face that kept getting worse over the days. As I suspected, it was about Garroway’s absence. But not just his physical absence. He was no longer able to connect with himat all!
“. . . It’s like my bond with my master has been severed, lass. And it scares me.”
“You think my blood is the cause ofallthis? The ‘beast-charming,’ as Iron Sister Keffa called it? The severing of your connection with Skar?”
His nodding continued, even as he pushed off the wall and stepped toward me. “It’s not just that, Sephania. It gets worse.”
“How?” I found myself backing up against the wall. My eyes were locked on Garroway’s face, both of us ignoring the pile of burnt man at our feet.
“Because I didn’t just lose my connection with my thrall. Igaineda bond . . . with you.”
My jaw dropped. “That’s impossible. I’m not a thrall or a fullblood vampire.”
He lifted his hand and touched my chin. I didn’t shy away—if anything, the fire inside me burgeoned and shifted from bloodthirst and rage to bloodlustand need.
His crimson gaze searched my face. “I think I get it now, lass.” His warm, whispered breath was gentle over my cheeks. “Why everyone wants the Loreblood, overlords and overladies alike. Even what your master Lukain felt.” His fingers softly caressed my chin, moving to slide against my neck before wrapping behind my nape. His forehead pressed against mine. “Among other things, the Loreblood seems to sever a vampire’s connection with his thrall . . . andbuildsa connection with the wielder of the blood.”
“Truehearts fucking save me,” I gasped, breathless.
My heart thundered, except not with the need to kill this time. Garroway was impossibly close to me, his chest pressing against mine. My nipples had shamelessly pebbled and now dragged against him through our tunics as he leaned forward. The hardness throbbing between us was back in full force, and now I understood his initial excitement at seeing me and not Skartovius.
In losing his love for Skartovius, Garroway has fallen for me.
He pressed a gentle kiss against my lips, slanting his head. The sensation thrummed through me, heat pooling between my legs. I couldn’t fight it this time.
When his lips parted, his tongue darted out and flicked against mine. I closed my eyes and lost myself in his soft embrace, even as his hand curled against the back of my neck and tangled in my hair.
“Garroway . . .” I eked out.
“I want you, Sephania. I need you.”
His words seared my flesh worse than Dimmon’s. The pile of rubbish at our feet was forgotten, replaced by intense heat anddesire—a sensual and crude display had us forgetting our torture duties and excited me like nothing I’d ever experienced.
Then I recalled Garro’s words in the Temple of the True, when this first began. I pulled back slightly, putting my hands around his tapered middle and gently pushing him back. “I want you all on your own, in complete control of your mind.”
I used his exact words against him.
