Tyler roared and lunged for the cross. Before he could reach it, I jumped up and knocked him out of the way. “Tyler, stop!”
He stumbled backward, but recovered himself in an instant, coming at me. “What do you think you’re doing, Jess?” he raged. “This is insanity! I can’t watch this vamp kill my best friend without doing anything to stop it. Wake up and take a look around. They have the full advantage here, and putting silver into a werewolf this weak means death. Danny’s as good as gone, and this was probably their plan all along. Don’t you see? You’re playing right into it!”
“Tyler,” I ground out. “I don’t have time to argue with you now, but I’ve chosen to trust Naomi on this. Time is wasting and we need your help. Like I told you before, not everyone is out to kill everyone else. I want Danny to live, and if you do too, grab his goddamn legs so that thing stays in!”
“And what if he dies?” Tyler demanded, his eyes swirling amber. “What then?”
“Then I will KILL HER MYSELF,” I bellowed with as much power as I could infuse into the words.
Tyler dove to the ground and snatched up Danny’s bucking legs. I wasn’t sure if I had manipulated him with power or if he’d gotten it on his own, and I didn’t really want to know. Tyler kept his head down. I knelt back down and grabbed Danny’s shoulder and torso on one side. Naomi had the other.
“I am not murdering your friend,” Naomi whispered as we all did our best to keep him still. Danny groaned and snarled in our grasps. “My memory is slowly returning. Your friend was selfless to come to my aid when he was not forced to do so. I will return the favor, as is common among our kind. This was his only chance. It was the cross or his certain death. There is no other way to exorcise the venom.”
Tyler did not respond. Danny continued to buck and yell. I glanced down the length of his body. His wounds were starting to fester in earnest. Yellow muck began to bubble out.
“What the hell is that stuff?” Tyler growled.
“That is the poison,” Naomi answered. “Stay away from it. The venom is born of the Underworld and still very potent. The silver is reacting to it and forcing it to flee his system.”
“Why didn’t we see it come out of your body then?” I questioned, running my eyes over Naomi’s almost fully healed body. There’d been no hint of yellow anywhere.
Naomi wouldn’t meet my eyes for a moment. When she did, she looked slightly abashed. “I believe your blood neutralized the venom on its own.”
“What? How can you be sure? Does that mean that my blood is immune to the little bastards?” I asked.
“I do not know for sure if you are immune.” She shook her head. “But I do know that vampires are very sensitive to blood types of all kinds. We can detect even the most subtle textures and tastes of any blood. Without a shadow of a doubt, your blood has cleansed me. As I drank, it was like nothing I’d ever tasted before, even in my unconscious state. It was dangerous and wild, sweet and powerful. I believe your blood seared the poison inside me, eradicating it the instant it mingled with the venom.”
I grimaced. Just talking about drinking blood gave me the willies. Plus, she just reminded me I’d broken every code and rule the wolves had about sharing anything with a different Sect—especially giving my blood. My father would be furious with me when he found out. There would be repercussions, there was no doubt. “If that means I’m immune, can I give my blood to Danny? Will it work the same way?”
“It won’t be necessary,” Naomi said. “He is almost clean. Look for yourself.”
The yellow had finished festering out. Now only bright red blood leaked from wounds, which thankfully were starting to close on their own. Danny had stopped thrashing once the poison had finished ejecting, but he was still out cold.
There was a noise in the woods to my left. Ray was coming through the trees. It seemed he’d found his way back from wherever he’d hidden himself when the devils had attacked. I’m not sure how much he’d seen of them in the dark, but thankfully it had been enough to keep him away. “Ray, the threat might not be fully gone,” I called. “But for now I think it’s okay to stay. Just make sure you don’t step out past the trees to my right. Unless, of course, you want to be eaten alive by supernatural devil bats.”