Shade’s tattoo glowed even brighter as Eidolon pushed his hand inside the opening he’d made. Stomach rolling, Serena turned away. Still, the wet sounds kept her imagination working overtime. Their hushed medical-speak sounded so bad, so discouraging, almost as if they’d already resigned themselves to the fact that Josh wasn’t going to come out of this.
He still hadn’t drank. “Swallow, Josh. Come on.” Gently, she stuck her finger in his mouth, unsure what she was doing, but needing to do something. He was a vampire, right? So he should have fangs… she found a sharp point, remembered how they’d felt in her dreams. Had she had the dreams because she’d subconsciously known what he was?
It was a question for later. Right now she needed to get him to drink, and she knew those fangs were the key. In her dreams they were huge, much larger than what they felt like now. Carefully, she rubbed the tip of her finger along the length of one, from the tip to the gum… and… was it lengthening?
Josh moaned and opened his mouth. Yes, his canines were definitely descending, growing into monstrous daggers. God, how could she be feeling so many things at once—hatred, confusion, fear—and, at the same time, be a little… turned on by this?
“That’s it,” she murmured, as she squeezed some blood onto his tongue. “Swallow. I need you to swallow, okay?”
The blood dribbled out of the corner of his mouth. Dammit. Sliding her finger down his tooth, she caressed the razor point… and applied pressure. She tensed, felt the prick of his fang and the welling of blood on her fingertip.
“Take it,” she whispered, letting a drop fall to his tongue.
He jerked like he’d received an electric shock, and then, to her relief, he closed his mouth, drawing her finger inside. She remained still, and when he began to suckle, the world drifted away in a swirl of pleasure.
One of the brothers swore softly and said her name, but no one interfered. Somehow, she kept the presence of mind to squeeze more blood out of the bag and into his mouth. In a matter of seconds, he was sucking greedily, and she swore the heavy shroud of despair that had settled in the room lifted.
She fed Josh until the first bag of blood was gone, and then Shade showed her how to hook up another bag to the tube. She lost track of how much he drank, lost track of time. All she knew was that at some point, she fell over, and when she opened her eyes, dark spots swam in her vision. Eidolon was peering down at her, his expression a mask of concern.
“Josh,” she whispered. “Is he—will he—”
“He’s going to be fine. I’ve put him to sleep to finish healing. Now it’s your turn. He didn’t take much blood from you, but there’s your other issue.…”
She struggled to sit up, realized someone had put her on the bed. “I’m fine.” She shoved him away.
“I’m a doctor. I know you’re not fine.” His voice was firm but soothing, and she let him push her back on the bed. “I also know a lot has happened in the last few days, and I know you’ve been hurt. Wraith will never forgive himself for what he’s done.”
“Good,” she muttered.
“You saved his life. And you knew you were sacrificing your own life to do it. We owe you. I’m going to do what I can for you, okay?”
She shook her head. “I was bitten by a Mara that’s now dead. My disease is terminal.”
“Yes.” So blunt, so like the doctors she’d remembered from years ago.
She studied Eidolon’s scrubs, the strange medical -symbol—a bat-winged dagger encircled by two serpents—he wore on a chain around his neck. “You do have some sort of new age medical center, right? You said you’ll do what you can…”
“I can make you comfortable, and I can give you a little more time, but… I’m sorry, Serena. You’re going to die.”
Wraith was really freaking tired of waking up feeling like he’d gone a round with King Kong. He’d have thought the charm would have ended that—
Serena!
He sat up so fast his head nearly fell off. It took him a second to figure out where he was—in one of the rooms in the Aegis safe house. He swung his bare legs over the side of the cot, only to have hands push him back down.
Shade was right there in his face. “Whoa. Just relax. You’re going to fall on your ass if you don’t take it easy.”
“Serena,” he croaked.
“Sleeping.”
“How… long?”
“You’ve been out a few hours. E and I have been taking turns staying with you. Tayla’s here. And Gem. Luc. Kynan. Reaver. Our other brother, but he’s in chains. He’s also a total dick. You’ll like him.”
Wraith shook his head, but that did little to clear it. “Why? What’s going on?” Wait, did he say, other brother?
Eidolon came in wearing his trademark gloomy expression, which meant bad news. Wraith vaguely remembered him in scrubs earlier, but now he was in tan cargoes and a plain black tee, which was as casual as he ever got. “We have a situation.”
“Serena?”
“Not with her.”
“Then I don’t care.” Wraith jackknifed upright again. “She’s sick. If you can’t help her, I need to find someone who can.”
“It’s not going to matter if we don’t handle the Byzamoth problem.”