The Orlans would hate Lance for the ultimate betrayal.
Hate him more.
Nix pressed his teeth into the buttery soft skin, not stopping until he sliced open the artery.Blood spilled into his mouth, but not fast enough.He sucked on the bite, then made it bigger, tearing it open until the blood poured fast enough that he could drink his fill.
His stomach burned like a beast was clawing its way out as organs repaired themselves.The more he drank, the faster it happened and the more it hurt.He wanted to stop, afraid he’d kill Lance, but couldn’t.He’d never been so hungry.
The blood slowed, Lance’s heartbeat just a whisper.And he knew he’d done it, killed his lover.His lips were blue, and his skin white.Nix reached out with a steady hand to cup his cheek.“I’m sorry.”
Lance was rolled onto his back, his arm flopped over the side of the bed as though he were truly dead.And Nix couldn’t breathe.He sat up, ignoring the pain that rippled through his damaged body.There was nothing holding him together except a thin bandage already stained with blood.He held Lance’s hand and watched as the Reid woman bit her own wrist deeply and let her crimson blood pour into Lance’s open mouth.
Nothing happened.
Shouldn’t he be gasping and drinking and choking?
Nix squeezed Lance’s hand.“Come on.”
“Give him time.It can take a while,” the doctor said.
It had felt instantaneous when it happened to him.One minute, the pain of dying and struggling to breathe and move, then the hunger and guzzling of blood as his mother gave him new life.
Lance gave a gurgle then coughed, then he started swallowing the blood like it was the beer he loved so much.But it was only when his fingers closed around Nix’s that Nix lay down.He didn’t let go, he lay on his side and watched as the color returned to Lance’s face.
It wasn’t over yet, but neither of them was going to die today.
ChapterThirty-Four
Everything was tooloud and too bright, and his skin was too tight.The sheets were made of sandpaper and he was hungry, but it seemed to come from a different place than he’d ever felt before.A deeper gnawing that chewed on his bones.Lance groaned, not sure if he was hungover or sick.
Or drugged.
The shootout in the warehouse came back, making him jerk, which made his leg twinge and his arm throb.
“Just rest,” Nix murmured.
He groaned.The words were soft but hurt his ears.He tried to burrow under the blankets even though they hurt his skin.
A hand touched his hair and then pulled away.He risked opening one eye, squinting against the brightness of the room.
“Nith?”He cut his tongue on his teeth.His mouth a different shape to what he was used to.
“Yeah.This bit is much easier if you sleep.”Nix sat on the edge of the bed.One arm across his stomach and looking like hell.He had dark circles under his eyes and a gauntness to his cheeks that added years that didn’t belong.
“What bit?”
“You were turned by the Reids two days ago.Your body had some healing to do as well as taking on the change.The Reids took two silver bullets out of you.All your senses need to adjust; you need to learn how to retract your fangs—you slept through the growing of them.”
Lance ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth.It felt different.There were grooves where his fangs would lie, and the base of his fangs felt swollen.“I didn’t get a last meal.”
“You were dying.Do you need anything?Water?Blood?”
His mouth was dry, but his stomach didn’t feel stable.The thought of blood was both repulsive and delicious.“I don’t know.”
“You’ve got about another five days of this before your body settles.Tomorrow you should be well enough to get up and walk around, day four is the worst because of the hunger…and other drives.”Nix managed a ghost of a smile.“Day five you’ll probably hate yourself and everyone who did this to you.By day seven you should feel as normal as you ever will.”
Lance closed his eyes.He snuck his hand out from under the blanket so he could hold Nix’s hand.“And you?”
“I’m fine.Almost fully healed, though still a bit raw.Turns out when the doctor says don’t look under the bandage, it’s good advice to take.”
