“Annnd that’s enough chit chat.” Meph jumped between her and Bel from out of nowhere. “Eva, you want to keep some pressure on that wound? Thanks, doll.” Without waiting for her to comply, he grabbed Bel by the arm and dragged him back to the kitchen.
Eva hastened to Ash’s side, pressing the dishcloth against the wound, and heard furious whispering coming from the other room. They were trying to keep their voices down, but she picked it up anyway.
“Don’t you think she has enough to deal with tonight without you trying to feed her blood to Ash?”
“Well, I don’t know! I thought she liked him. He’d heal faster with it, so I thought I’d at least ask.”
“All you’re going to do is freak her out and make hernotlike him. Poor bastard deserves a break after three thousand years of misery.”
“Fine.” Bel sighed. “He’s an idiot for not saying something.”
“You’re an idiot for shouting at him.”
“Fuck you.”
“Fuck you too. Go deal with the human. And put on a damn shirt so you don’t scare her. You look like a berserker with Ash’s blood all over you.”
“Shut up. Andyoudeal with the human. I have to figure out where the fuck we’re going to go now that Ash is unconscious.”
“We can’t go anywhere.”
“We don’t have a choice!”
“We can’t leave the wards, and we can’t use a gate until he wakes up.”
“Damn it, Meph!”
“How is this my fault?
“Because it’s always your fault, jackass.”
While Meph and Belial argued, Raum suddenly rushed into the living room carrying the now red-hot knife. He bent down beside Ash, brushing Eva’s arm aside and pulling off the dish towel, holding the knife out—
“Wait!”
Raum glanced at Eva, who was suddenly seized with horror. “Can’t. The blade will cool.”
“If I give him my blood, will he heal?”
His face softened. “He really won’t feel a thing, Eva.”
“But—”
A hideous sizzling sound filled the air, followed by the sound of melting flesh. Eva gagged and stumbled back, sickened by the sound and smell and the sympathy she felt for the unconscious demon on the couch.
In that moment, with him lying unconscious, his skin pale from blood loss, it was hard to hate him for what he was. He just looked like Ash to her. The guy she’d thought she was falling in love with.
A moment later, Raum stood and lowered the blade to his side. “He’ll be fine. His wounds will heal in a few hours, and he’ll wake up with a bit of a hangover from the blood loss, that’s all.”
Eva stared at Ash’s still form, unable to keep from staring at the hideous burn mark on his side. He had gotten injured protecting her from Mist. He’d attacked him to keep her safe.
Suddenly filled with resolve, she looked back at Raum. “I’ll give him some of my blood.”
Raum shook his head. “We don’t have needles or medical shit. We’d have to do it the old-fashioned way, and Ash would kill me if he found out.”
“We won’t tell him, then.”
“He’s really going to be fine—”
