“Most knife wounds are exa- exa- exacerbated by pulling the blade out at another angle, causing more damage…” my lips were moving, but I wasn’t sure I made any sound.
My leg was onfire. It felt like fire anyway, my muscles were spasming and each involuntary movement sent the agony skyrocketing up my leg again. I was panting and crying, trying to do it quietly so he wouldn’t hear me. The wound was bleeding sluggishly, and I knew Psycho Pharmacist did it that way deliberately. He wouldn’t want me to bleed out before all the good stuff. I awkwardly managed to saw through the ropes on one leg, then the other, angling over to the left side of my bed. “Bobby pin,” I whispered. I couldn’t fight him off with two swollen hands. I set down the knife to reach up to the sloppy bun I'd twisted my hair into that afternoon.
Steve…
I was growling, low in my chest again, loping along the terrain, looking for any signs of Aura’s stalker. Who was this? It wasn’t Kevin, the only other resident she’d met on the mountain. The man was too stoned most of the time to even change the channel on his massive tv. It was constantly on QVC every time I passed by his cabin. I was prowling along the back of the house when my head went up. She was screaming, high, and agonized. And then it hit me in a wave of beautiful, sweet insanity. Her blood.
Aura…
“What are you doing?” roared Hargreaves, a big roast beef sandwich in hand as he stomped into the room. “How dare you, you miserable sow!”
I leaned back against the bedpost I was still cuffed to, raising the big knife and pointing at him. “I will cut you in half! Don’t you-”
There was a crash of broken glass and then Steve was towering over Hargreaves. He gripped the stunned pharmacist’s throat and lifted him as easily as lifting that sandwich, up, over his head so the balding head of my would-be murderer was brushing the vaulted ceiling of my bedroom.
“You hurt her?”
His voice sounded more like the rumble I’d heard from him earlier, less human, more like a snarl. Hargreaves was trying to scream, desperately reaching to the sheath on his belt and yanking out another knife, which he plunged into Steve's broad shoulder. Looking down, Steve chuckled, pulling the knife out and stabbing it into Hargreaves’ leg, right where he’d wounded me.
Jerking the flailing man to him, Steve’s head went back, and I watched as his jaw appeared to elongate to fit the bristle of very long, sharp teeth in his mouth. His eyes rolled back and he bit my would-be killer in the juncture between neck and shoulder, carelessly yanking a chunk of meat and gristle loose as he drank. I could see his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed the blood pouring from the wound.
Then his eyes turned to me, seeing my pale face and opened mouth, balancing on one leg and holding a pillowcase to the other. His eyes were fathomless. Vantablack. He threw Hargreaves casually into the hall with a wet-sounding thud and headed for me. His eyes were blue again when he reached me, the color of the afternoon sky he’d never seen.
“Did he stab you anywhere else?” Steve was running those giant, capable-looking hands over me; arms and legs, running along my sides and neck, cupping my cheek. “Aura? Look at me, baby.”
I was staring at the blood in his beard, little droplets in the neatly groomed hair. “Huh? Uh, no. My … the … my leg.” He looked at my hugely swollen right hand and I waved the left one casually, still trapped in the cuff. “Oh, that. I dislocated my hand to get it out of the cuff, so….”
I was wavering and he caught me before I fell. His thumb and forefinger went to the steel cuff and he pinched it, crushing the lock and letting it spring open. Lifting me easily, he just held me in his arms for a moment, and I felt his kiss on my forehead.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner,” Steve said with genuine regret instead of his usually surly tone.
“Oh, well…” I said, I was getting kind of dizzy and there were spots in my vision, I blinked, trying to clear them. “That’s okay, I was the one who did the stupid revocation ritual, so…. Wait! How did you get in? I did the thing?”
Steve chuckled, putting me carefully on the non-bloody side of the bed. “I’ll explain later.” His expression clouded when he took a closer look at my face. “I think you’ve lost more blood than you know.”
Come to think of it, I was feeling really sleepy, and cold. And when I opened my eyes again, Steve was holding my injured leg and his mouth was on my wound.
“Hey … what’re you…?” Then I felt his tongue, blazing hot, licking along the brutal slice in my calf. But the burn quickly faded, along with the painful throbbing, and that gruesome trickle of blood running down my leg was gone.
“You’re not … uh … snacking, right?” I slurred. His blonde head rose to look at me, and I wasn’t even surprised to see his eyes gone dark again, but this time, I gladly fell into them, absorbed completely with nothing left to contrast against his gaze.
I felt so good. I really, really didn’t want to move because everything felt so nice. There was a fire crackling nearby, the burning wood fragrant. I was in a different bed, with smooth sheets and pillows that smelled like Steve. Cautiously moving my leg, I didn’t feel any pain. Looking down at my right hand, the swelling was already down, and wiggling my fingers experimentally proved they were in perfect condition. My brow wrinkled.
I was such a slow healer, I should be in crap shape right now. How long had I been asleep? A decade? I had vague flashes of memory; being carried in Steve’s arms … a warm cloth gently wiped over my face and body … my head lifted to drink something. Medicine? It tasted odd. Metallic.
“St-” I croaked, then laboriously cleared my throat to start again, but he was sitting next to me on the bed before I could try.
“How are you feeling baby?” His tone was so kind.
“Um, I’m okay,” I rubbed my eyes, “thank you for saving my life.”
Steve picked up my right hand, smoothing his rough fingers over the skin. “I should have been there sooner. I never should have left.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, “I didn’t know who to trust. I haven’t for a long time.”
“I know.” He kissed me slowly and I groaned a little. His lush mouth was warm on mine, his tongue sweeping lightly over my lower lip.
“Hey-” I drew back, “how did you get in? I did the ritual?”
