As soon as he broke through the gate and landed on the surface, he teleported straight to Julian’s side. He was a crumpled figure at the base of what looked like a concrete ditch. Valac barely recognized him. He had lost so much blood. It pooled around him, looking black in the moonlight. His face was swollen and bloody. He stooped down and lifted the small human into his arms, cradling him close, then disappeared with him.
They appeared in the skating rink. The disco ball twinkled overhead, and the lights over the training area glowed softly, red and yellow and green. The Sentinels were scattered around the room, some of them training and some of them sitting. Shadrachand Talon were leaning against the half wall, watching their human partners spar.
Everyone startled at the sudden appearance of Valac and Julian.
“What the hell happened?” Alex asked, leaping to his feet.
“I don’t know. I’ve only just arrived. I found him like this.” Wretched emotion shook Valac’s voice. He barely recognized himself. “Please, can you help him?”
“Yes, follow me,” Alex said, leading Valac into one of the back rooms.
This room looked completely different from the main room. There were no colored lights or big, mirrored walls. The tile floor looked dingy, but the walls were freshly painted. Six cots lined the room, with three on each wall. Alex went to a metal storage cabinet at the back of the room, twisted the knob, and opened it to reveal white boxes, glass jars, and other assorted containers.
“This is our medical room,” Alex explained. “Lay him down on one of the beds there.”
“What are you doing, little bird?” Talon asked, hovering in the doorway.
Alex threw him a confused look. “Helping Julian. What does it look like?”
“Valac can help Julian. He doesn’t need any of that.”
Alex turned around, gripping a thick packet of sterile gauze. His deep blue eyes moved from Talon to Valac and back. “But…”
“I think we can worry about his consent a little later, don’t you?” Talon said, albeit kindly.
Valac growled, looking between them. “What the hell are you two talking about? Someone do something! His heart is slowing.” It seemed so loud, and every fraction of a second longer that it took for his heart to beat sent him spiraling deeper into panic.
“Give him some of your blood,” Talon said calmly. “It will heal him.”
Valac stared at him for a long moment, cradling Julian’s hand in his. Right. All of the Sentinels drank demon blood to make them stronger and hardier. He’d never dreamed that he would be able to give Julian his blood. It hadn’t come up in any of their conversations, and he didn’t know how Julian would react when he woke.
But Alex was hesitating, looking between Talon and Valac. “We don’t know how Julian feels about drinking demon blood.”
“Wouldn’t you rather he live long enough to be pissed about it?” Talon replied.
Valac barely needed to think about it. “Yes.” The answer was immediate. He’d do anything to save Julian. He would welcome the human’s anger, as long as he was alive to give it.
Valac didn't need a knife. He tore open his wrist with his teeth and pressed the gushing wound to Julian’s lips. For a long moment, nothing happened. And then Julian pursed his lips, his throat working, and drank. Black blood spilled down his chin, but Valac didn’t care about the mess. Julian was drinking, which meant that he would heal, and that was all that mattered to him.
It didn’t take much blood, and when it was over, Valac leaned over him, cradling his freshly healed face in his hands and breathing in the visceral scent of his human, like cherries and sunlight. The swelling on Julian’s face faded, and the scrapes healed. On the other side of the bed, Alex peeled Julian’s sticky shirt from his skin to check the wound underneath. All that remained were the blood stains. The wound itself was already gone.
“What now?” Valac asked, unable to tear his eyes away from Julian’s handsome face. He was sickly pale, his lips as white as the rest of him. He looked dead, and Valac flattened his palm against his chest to reassure himself of his steady pulse. Theshadow tendrils on his skin undulated, converging around his wrist and hand as though to get closer to the human, too. Every part of him wanted Julian.
“He’ll need to rest,” Alex said. “Demon blood is a wondrous thing. It can heal the wounds, but it doesn’t replenish the blood that’s lost. He’ll be weak until his body recovers. But he’ll live—thanks to you.”
“And you,” Valac said to Talon, raising his gaze. “Thank you.”
“You care about this human,” Talon said. There was something like resignation laced in his tone. “I know a little something about that.”
Alex beamed at him. Talon gestured for him to come closer. “We’ll leave you with him,” Talon said. “Let us know if you need anything.”
Valac thought about the message he was meant to deliver. Astaroth’s decree could wait until Julian woke. Seeing his human open his eyes again was more important right now.
He leaned in, tracing Julian’s face with his gaze and fingers alike. The gentle slope of his cheeks, the curve of his jaw, the divot of his upper lip. A small scar bisected his right eyebrow, and his hair was a pale blond, like strands of silken sunlight. He couldn’t resist touching it, riveted by the softness, even while damp and streaked with dirt and blood.
“Wake soon, my jewel,” he whispered. “Let me see you smile again.”
Chapter 15
