“Make sure the bone is straight. His body will do the rest. Here”—he handed me another syringe of blood he’d attached—“give him another one. Nice and slow.”
I nervously took the large syringe and repeated the process while Shepherd closed up his chest. I watched as his skin sealed together, and that was when I noticed the blood on the table, on the floor, and on Shepherd’s apron. Surgeons probably gave patients something to clot blood during surgery, so I looked up at Shepherd in a panic.
He shook his head. There was little he could do to replenish what was lost since we didn’t keep bags of blood lying around.
Christian clutched his chest, his head swaying left and right.
Shepherd lifted his eyelids. “Hey, buddy. Take it easy for a minute. You’re on drugs.”
Christian reached out and gripped the rotary tool, crushing it in his hand.
“Move back,” Viktor warned us. “He is not himself. He will hurt someone.”
Shepherd backed up and dragged the cart that had all the other tools with him.
When Christian reached up for the tube coming from his nose, I clutched his hand. “Leave it. That’s my blood.”
His fangs punched out, and he looked around with glazed eyes.
“Leave us alone for a minute,” I said, watching them head to the door. “And Shepherd? Thank you. I owe you a favor. You too, Viktor.” I shoved the bright lamp arm away and walked to the side of the table so Christian could see me.
His eyes were hooded as he kept trying to look down. He finally pulled the long tube out of his nose.
“Does anything still hurt?” I asked.
He gripped his chest and made the most awful grunting sound.
Worried he might be healing too slowly internally, I bit into my wrist and placed it over his mouth. As soon as the drops flowed past his lips, he clutched my arm and fed. Christian growled like a hungry beast dining on his first meal after a long period of starvation. I glanced down at the tattoo of the raven on his upper arm, shoulder, and chest. The tips of the feathers were red, dipped in blood.
“I’m sorry I left you,” I said, racked with guilt. “The Mage pretended to be the target. I didn’t realize he was leading me away until it was too late.”
Christian jolted upright, a wild look in his eyes. His head swayed as he looked drunkenly at me. His gaze fixed on my neck, his Vampire nature at the helm. Teeth stained red, eyes black, and not a trace of the real Christian Poe within sight.
I pulled my hair back. “Take what you need.”
Christian swung his legs over the edge and pulled me between them. Without any of the usual tenderness, he sank his teeth into my neck, and I realized what it might feel like to be his prey.
Maybe I was. Maybe he was so out of his mind that he would drain me.
When his grip tightened, I groaned from the pressure where his arm snaked around my back.
Christian instantly let go and leaned back. Recognition flickered in his eyes before he looked down at his hands. After a moment, he attempted to stand. “Do I still have the tail?”
I caught him when he passed out. He was too heavy, and we both went crashing to the floor, knocking over a tray in the process.
Shepherd rushed in. “You okay?”
Stroking Christian’s cheek, I said, “We’re fine. But I never want to do that again.”
“You and me both, honey. You and me both.”
CHAPTER19
Christian passed out from a mixture of exhaustion, drugs, and my blood. Due to the massive blood loss, we had to give his body time. Everyone except Claude finally returned home, and Blue handed me the bags from Christian’s car that we’d bought at the convenience store.
Even though it was late, I knocked loudly on my father’s door.
That door swung open so fast that I stepped back.
