Her eyes widened, and a mangled screamripped through her as a bundle of fur leaped out of the darkness towards Emery. He stumbled back, lashing out with his shadows, but it wasn’t enough to stop the clamp of teeth that locked onto his arm.
Searing, flaming pain ran through Emery’s arm, and he roared. The wolf bit down harder, and black spots appeared in Emery’s vision. He shook his arm and went to pull the beast off, but his movements were sluggish. Quiet.
The song of his shadows was… gone.
Alarm pulsed through Emery. Had the werewolf somehow injected him with prohiberis? The magic-blocking substance was a rare commodity in the Republic of Balance, known for its ability to incapacitate and halt all magic, even that of vampires. Shifters could still shift, their animals being a part of them, but vampires…
No.
The wolf tugged on Emery’s arm, and he felt something break. He cried out.
Jelisette screamed.
Emery’s eyes shut against his volition, and he fell to the ground.
More screams. Growling. The weight lifted from his arm, but the pain… it remained.
The last thing he heard before darkness claimed him was the snapping of a neck.
Then, there was nothing.
Sharp,deadly needles were being shoved into Emery’s arm. Each was a fire, burning him alive from the inside out. He groaned.
“Hold still, Emery.” Jelisette’s voice was sharp and left no room for discussion.
As per her request, he didn’t move, but he opened his eyes. That was a damned mistake. The movement sent pain lancing through him, and he groaned as he took in the familiar surroundings of his cave. He was on the middle of his mattress, and Jelisette crouched in front of him, wearing an oversized sweater and leggings.
“What happened?” he croaked. His shirt was gone, and blood covered his upper body.
“The wolf damn near tore your arm off,” she mumbled, holding a threaded needle between her teeth. “Fucking pack animals. They’re horrid. I shadowed the girl to the nearest hospital, then came back and brought you here.”
Then, there were no more words as she took the needle and expertly wove it through his skin. She tugged and pulled, the skin drawing closed.
Emery couldn’t help it. His fists clutched the sheet beneath him, and heroared. Every movement of the needle through his skin was like fire running through his flesh.
“Sorry.” Her brows knit, and concern radiated from her black eyes. “This is the only way. I washed the wound with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any traces of prohiberis, but you aren’t healing naturally.”
Well, fuck. That wasn’t good.
In all his years and all his encounters with venomous characters throughout the Republic of Balance, he’d never been injured like this. What if Jelisette hadn’t been there? The wolf would’ve killed him. Although perhaps he wouldn’t have minded.
But now? He didn’t want to die. Not when he had finally found this vampire who had sparked a sense of life in him.
So Emery laid back, gritting his teeth and counting the crystals hanging from his cavern’s roof as Jelisette sewed up his arm. She worked silently and swiftly, his grunts of pain the only sound for several long minutes.
When she finally sat back on her haunches, putting the bloody needle beside her, she pursed her lips. “It’s probably going to scar.” She frowned. “I’m sorry, I?—”
“Don’t.” He reached out and took her hand. “Don’t apologize. You saved my life.”
He had been a fucking idiot, not checking the perimeter when they were searching for Thorn. Emery knew better. It wasn’t like this had been his first hunt. He’d just been distracted by Jelisette’s presence.
Next time, he’d do better. And there had to be a next time because he couldn’t fathom letting her go. Not now.
Jelisette’s black eyes searched his, and it was like she was staring intohis soul. Emery had never felt like this before, never been so exposed and yet so… comfortable. He never wanted to put an end to this connection between them.
“It was a life worth saving,” she said after a few minutes.
Emery smiled, and despite the pain running through him, he pushed himself up onto his elbows. “You were amazing,” he said. “Watching you kill was… incredible.”