Pain zapped through me as my body connected with the metal, and I jerked and shook as I fell to the ground.
“Locke, what the hell are you doing?” croaked a feminine voice, and Raine came over to crouch beside me. She went to place her hands on my chest, but I snarled at her.
“Get away from me!”
She stayed where she was, but I could see the uncertainty shining in her eyes as she stared at the long fangs protruding from my mouth.
“You need to calm down,” she said softly. “We’ll find a way to get out of this.”
I chuckled darkly. “You think I’m worried about the fae?”
She eased back a little, and I suspected it was likely due to the wild look in my eyes.
“You need to stay away,” I said more calmly than I had before. “I can’t control the bloodlust.”
Her face paled, but a determined look overcame her. “You won’t hurt me. You’ve had the chance to do that countless times over, and if you were going to, you would have by now.”
“You don’t understand,” I said with a shake of my head. “I haven’t experienced bloodlust like this since I was first turned.”
She noted the strain on my face, but her expression still didn’t reflect the terror I knew she should be feeling. “You drank from Darian back in the forest,” she began, but I didn’t like where she was heading.
I remembered when she’d found me drinking from Darian’s neck. I’d been about to release him as I’d taken just enough from my friend to keep myself going, but when her scent of coconut had filled my senses, my fangs had buried deeper into my siren brother. I’d dragged more of his blood into my mouth, knowing he could handle it, to stop myself from lunging for her instead. Darian hadn’t complained about how much I’d taken from him, but I knew he’d felt the after-effects, and guilt had eaten at me the next day.
“I’m not going to drink from you,” I growled. “If I start, I won’t be able to stop. This wouldn’t be like it was with Darian. I would kill you.”
Raine still didn’t turn from me. Instead, she pressed closer again and lifted her hand to brush her red hair over one shoulder, baring her neck to me.
“So quick to beg for death,” I sneered. “What happened to the human who wanted to do anything to save her sister?”
She bristled at my comment, her eyes narrowing on my face. “Iwillfind my sister, but we won’t be able to escape with you behaving like this. If Darian could trust you, then I do too. Take what you fucking need.”
I glared at her, hatred burning in me because she was openly taunting me so brashly. Why? Why was she so different from everyone else? I was showing her my most ugly, unredeemable self, yet she was rewarding me with her trust. Had I been an ignorant male, I would have chalked it up to stupidity, but I now knew Raine too well to think that. She was giving me a chance. A chance to survive. And hopefully a chance for her to survive too.
“I refuse to let the fae kill us,” she said, her eyes burning with fire. “If they think we killed Prince Azaren, then we’ll be the next ones with our souls ripped from our bodies. I fucking need you to have your wits about you so we can focus on how we’ll get out of this together.”
She was right. There was no way my head would be clear enough to even come up with any semblance of an escape plan while I was stuck in this bloodlust state. Garan had managed to get through to me with his images, but Raine didn’t have that power. I had to do this. For her. For my brothers. And for my fucking self.
In the span of a heartbeat, I was kneeling before her. She flinched at the sudden movement, but she didn’t back away. “I–I trust you, Locke,” she said, letting an unusual vulnerability enter her tone.
“You shouldn’t,” I replied, and then I was grabbing her, my fangs clamping down on the exposed flesh of her neck as I gripped onto her thigh with one hand and grasped her shoulder with the other, pulling her closer to me. A small gasp escaped her, but as I drew her blood into my mouth, my venom entered her bloodstream and her body relaxed, becoming easily pliable in my fingers. Her gasp turned into a moan, and I sucked harder, overcome by my thirst as Raine’s blood slipped down my throat, the warm liquid like sweet nectar and the taste more intoxicating and addictive than anything I’d had before.
I forgot who I was holding. My mind became overrun with bloodlust, and it was just me, the victim in my arms, and the craving for blood that had consumed my mind. I gripped the body I held tighter, my claws starting to dig in as I hollowed my cheeks and dragged my victim’s blood into my veins, desperate to take everything they could give me. Pain bloomed in my chest, but I ignored it. I wanted to drown in my victim’s blood and consume her until there was nothing left. Power washed through me as her blood flooded my system, and still I drank.
The pain became more intense, but I fought through, determined not to let it stop me from taking what was mine.Myvictim.Myblood. More power flowed through me, and the pain in my chest increased until it felt as though my chest was on fire. I pushed through the searing agony, snarling as I feasted on the female in my arms.
“Locke,” a quiet, drowsy word fell from my victim’s lips, and then she was silent again.
Locke.The word meant nothing to me.
The pain in my chest increased until it felt as if someone was cleaving at my heart, stabbing at my flesh, and ripping apart my rib cage. I released my victim, yanking my head back with a frustrated hiss. The female’s head slumped forward, her chin falling toward her chest and her red waves gleaming in the dim light.Red waves. Searing pain.A long moment passed as I stared at that silky hair, as I felt the power running through my veins, and as I breathed in the scents of coconut and steel.Raine. My beautiful Raine.
Fuck. FUCK!The pain in my chest was like an inferno dancing around my heart, no longer a strange nuisance that was keeping me from finishing my meal but a warning that was blaring through my whole body, reminding me that I was murdering the very female I was bonded to and meant to protect. The female who had become as much a part of our group as Kade, Darian, and Asher. And the only female I’d ever imagined spending my cursed eternity with.
My claws retracted, removing from Raine’s skin, and I swiftly carried her to the metal cot by the wall. Gently lowering her, I brushed the hair away from her ghostly face and let out a string of curses.
I wasn’t willing to let her die. No. She would fucking live, and I’d make sure of it.
Using one of my claws, I slashed a line across my left wrist and pressed it to her lips. “You need to drink, beautiful. If you don’t, you’ll die. And I know you don’t want that.”
