Chapter 23
I didn’t have to open my eyes to know I’d gotten us to the right place. The smell of garbage and musty air gave away our location.
I opened my eyes and saw Alex was kneeling on the ground beside me, still holding my hand, his other hand on Laylen’s wound. It was the smoothest travel I’d ever pulled off and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Okay, I’m going to go inside and get someone who’ll help—hopefully someone who doesn’t know Laylen was responsible for Vladislav’s death. ” Alex took my hand and placed it on top of his hand that was covering the hole in Laylen’s chest. “Put pressure on it, okay.”
I nodded, and he moved his hand away. Very quickly I replaced it with mine. The blood seeped warmly against my fingers, and Laylen’s skin felt colder than it usually did.
“Hurry,” I called out to Alex as he started for the bright red door. “Wait,” I suddenly called out. “Can you go in looking like that?”
Alex stopped and gave a glance down at his shirtless chest. “Gemma, I don’t think it’s really going to matter whether I’m dressed appropriately or not.”
“Yeah, but it’s going to matter if that’s showing.” I pointed at the Keepers mark tattooing the side of his ribcage.
“Crap,”” he said. Then without saying another word, he took off in the opposite direction.
“Alex,” I hissed. “Where are you going?” He didn’t answer as he vanished around the corner.
I sat there, with my hand pressed to Laylen’s bleeding chest, listening to dogs howl in the distance.
The sky was beginning to shift from a bright blue to a pale pink as the sun ascended behind the shallow hills of the desert. Night was almost here, the air was getting colder, and I was freaking out. What if someone showed up—someone bad and I couldn’t protect Laylen? There were so many risks, and I was concerned that if Alex asked the wrong vampire—one that knew what Laylen had done to Vladislav—we would be in some serious trouble.
And maybe that’s why I did what I did. But honestly, I wasn’t sure what the exact reason was. But it really didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I gave Laylen a soft shake to see if I could get him to open his eyes.
“Laylen,” I whispered, keeping my hand pressed to his chest as I leaned over him. “Laylen, can you hear me.”
His eyes stayed closed.
“Laylen, if you can hear me, I need to know something.”
still nothing.
“I need to know if there’s another way to save you, without having to get a vampire involved.” I took a shaky breath, tears stinging at my eyes. “Alex said there wasn’t, but I don’t believe him. Please wake up…please.”
My heart was splitting in two. I watched to see if Laylen’s chest was rising and falling, but it was too dark to tell.
“Laylen,” I said, a little too loud, and Laylen’s eyes shot open. I gasped as he sucked in a breath of air.
“Oh my God.” Tears streamed down my cheeks.
“You’re awake.”
He nodded slowly, letting out a few coughs.
“Are you okay?” I asked, wiping my tears away.
He shook his head weakly. “I can’t feel it anymore.”
“Can’t feel what?” I asked softly.
“The pain.”
“From the wound?”
He shook his head. “From being alone.” I almost burst into sobs, but I held it back. I needed to be the strong one. “It’ll be okay. Alex is going to get help.”
“I don’t think….” His eyes fell shut again.
“Laylen,” I panicked. “Don’t close your eyes.” He shook his head and said nothing.
“Laylen,” I said. “Is there another way to cure you?” I knew I might have been searching for something that didn’t exist, but when I asked Alex the same question I swear he had been lying when he told me no. And in many of the vampire-themed books I read, human blood worked as a cure.
“Laylen.” I kept my voice calm, but demanding.
“Open your eyes. You have to open your eyes.” Slowly, his eyelids lifted open. His bright blue eyes were glazed over, and I wondered if he was even there.
“Can you hear me?” I asked.
He nodded lethargically.
His blood soaked my fingers—time was running out. “Can you tell me if there’s another way to save you?” I asked. “Besides vampires’ blood?” He blinked a few times, his eyes coming into focus.
“No, there’s not.”
“Are you sure.”
He hesitated.
“Laylen,” I said in a gentle voice. “Does human blood work too?”
He didn’t answer right away, but when he did, his voice was frail. “I can’t…I can’t do it.”
“If it will save you...” I took a deep breath. “Please just do it, okay. Don’t leave me here alone.” Whoa.
Where did that come from?
We stared at each other, and this moment passed between us—this moment of understanding. We both knew that our time was running out—that his time was running out. Alex still hadn’t returned, and he still had to track down a vampire who wouldn’t know what Laylen had done to Vladislav.
He let out a cough, before nodding. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
“Okay,” I repeated nervously. “Where do you want to…um...”
“On your wrist,” he answered for me. “It’s easier that way, at least from what I’ve been told.” Keeping my hand on his wound, I gave him my other hand. He took hold of it, his skin ice-cold, and through the looseness in his grip I could tell he was weak. Then, with a look of horror, he opened his mouth, letting out a whimper as his fangs descended.
I held his gaze so he wouldn’t think I was afraid of him.
But I was afraid. Not so much afraid of getting bit—
well, maybe just a little. But I was more afraid of losing him.
As his sharp vampire fangs sunk into my wrist, a rush of adrenaline and a million other things whipped through me, just like when Vladislav had bit me. But there were also different feelings there—things I’d never felt before.
I tried not to blink.
I tried not to look away.
I stayed with him.