The smirk Sophia cast over her shoulder would have had me tensing if I’d had any energy remaining. As it was, I could only watch with a sense of numbness as she disappeared into the forest only to reappear a few minutes later dragging someone by the hair behind her.
She threw Deborah to the ground at my feet.
Despite the hank of hair partially obscuring her features, I could see signs of the beating my companion had taken. Bruises marched up and down her bare arms. They ringed her neck and wrists which had been rubbed raw in some places. Likely from being bound. Fang marks dotted her skin everywhere I could see.
“You’ll have to forgive us,” Sophia laughed. “We were a little rough on her. I hope you don’t mind.”
My hands tightened into fists as I clamped down on my response. If Sophia knew how upset I was, she’d hurt Deborah more.
Sophia prowled closer to prod the slowly healing wound in my throat with a look of fascination. “Oh, I forgot. You couldn’t tell me even if you did.” She pulled her hand away with a smirk. “I’ll leave you two to say your goodbyes.”
Deborah wasn’t moving as Sophia made her way out of the meadow. My companion’s body was scarily still.
I closed my eyes and concentrated, listening for her heart. Its beat was slow and irregular.
She was dying.
And I was helpless.
No.
I struggled to force my way off the root impaling me. This wasn’t happening.
Things ripped in my chest. Important things. The tiny, feeder roots that had started to branch off the main one tugging on my organs.
The effort caused me to black out. Not even the tree’s magic was able to keep me present and aware.
I came to, feeling like a red-hot iron had been shoved into my chest.
Green leaves fanned my face. The ruined remnants of Inara’s wings as she hovered in front of my face, her expression frantic.
“You stupid vampire. Are you trying to kill yourself?” she cried.
She pressed her tiny hands against my forehead as if to force me to remain still.
“Deb—” I mouthed, struggling to keep my eyes open.
Inara cursed. “This might hurt a little.”
Before I could figure out what she meant, she dropped to my throat and shoved a hollowed out acorn against it.
The blood oozing out was barely enough to fill the bottom. Grumbling to herself, Inara scraped a few flecks of dried blood into the vessel before darting over to Deborah and depositing the entire thing into her mouth.
Not that way, I wanted to say. She’d choke.
Except the words refused to form. Tired and at the end of my rope, my eyes slid closed again. Peace beckoned.
How easy would it be to embrace it?
Something stung the inside of my nose, rousing me.
Inara’s furious face filled my vision. “Don’t you dare give in to this. Stay awake, you stupid fanger.”
I tried to smile at her but the muscles in my face felt weird. Everything had gone cold and numb. The extreme blood loss making my body unable to carry out its normal functions.
A human would have long since expired by now. As a vampire, I was forced to experience in agonizing detail my systems shutting down one by one.
From a distance, I heard Inara addressing someone else. “What is wrong with her? This shouldn’t be happening. The tree should be keeping her alive. That’s what it does.”
