Ember’s eyes are wide as she stares at my chest and examines where I’m impaled with the stake.
“Can’t you just rip it out?”
“There are runes engraved in the wood. I don’t think a vampire can remove it,” I say, blinking at her, hoping with everything I have, this witch will take pity on me, and that I’m right about the runes.
She brings her wand over my abdomen and stops, turning to face her familiar.
“I can’t just let him die,” she says, and I nod in agreement.
The raccoon doesn’t agree, making me glare at the small beast and he bares his teeth at me.
“What if I let him die and he’s right? It’s too many coincidences, plus what if the vampire council thinks I did this too?”
“You’re a clever witch. You should take it out.”
She tries to flick her wrist, using magic to remove the stake, and it doesn’t work.
“I suppose the runes on the wood prevent magic as well,” I surmise, and a pained sort of whine leaves her.
“You mean, I have to physically pull it out?” she says, her complexion paling, showcasing a broad constellation of freckles on her face.
“Afraid so, sunshine.”
“There’s no one else?”
Not in this world or the next.
“No one else. See those pesky little black lines taking over my torso? I’d guess I have only a matter of minutes.” I don’t know anyone who’s survived a slayer stake, the runes would be why. Who knows how much time I have?
“This is so gross.” She sharply turns to her familiar and then glances back at me. “If I save you, I want out of the deal.”
Ah. Too fucking smart for her own good.
“No.”
She inhales sharply, like it almost pains her to negotiate and not help me on the spot. Her hands are shaking as they hover over my body.
“Then…then I can’t help you,” she says, though it doesn’t hold as much bravado as she thinks.
The deal doesn’t completely matter; it was a way to get her close, to protect her and maybe hope that she somehow found some sort of affection toward me.
It appears that I’ll just have to be more conniving to get what I want.
“You’ll let me die then? Just when things were getting interesting? I meant it Ember, I will protect you from the Slayer, from vampires. I’ll even give you the tools you need to protect yourself,” I tell her.
She makes a small huffing noise, glancing down at the ring I gave her and then back over at her familiar, and then she sighs with defeat.
“You better not make me regret this,” she says quickly, her familiar making screeches of protest as her warm hand flattens on my chest.
A life altering set of shivers rip through my body as her skin touches mine. The pain momentarily gone as I take in her gentle touch.
Her other hand holds the stake close to my wound, and with a loud grunt, she tugs it out. I groan as it leaves my body. Thewound is disgusting and takes far longer than normal to knit back together, the black lines slithering away from my veins.
Ember’s skin looks green as she stares at the area, before she promptly passes out.
I catch her, holding her close to me, loving the way her hair smells like roses and sunshine.
A car door slams in the distance, and I sigh. Standing with Ember in my arms, the raccoon immediately comes up to me, biting my ankle.
