Sawyer kept talking even as Draco found it harder and harder to focus. He’d given up a lot of blood and even though the wound had already closed, he was weaker than he wanted to be.
“That’s it. Come on. You can do it.”
Henry gasped and Draco opened his eyes again to see that Andvari had latched onto Henry’s wrist and was pulling desperately at the wound.
“Fuck, he’s going to take too much,” Draco said sharply. He pushed himself up, but Sawyer had already intervened.
“Andi, let him go.”
Andvari opened his mouth at Sawyer’s whispered command and Henry lifted his bloody wrist away. Sawyer offered his own in return. “Here. Go on. You need more and I’m the only one left to give it.”
Andvari made a desperate noise and bit down. Sawyer hissed, but rubbed his free hand gently over Andvari’s head.
Draco forced himself to move, just in case, but he knew Andvari would never hurt Sawyer. He’d never take too much. He looked down at the once gaping hole and saw the patching of new skin. Vampire’s healing abilities were extraordinary, at least if they had a supply of blood nearby. Draco doubted he would have survived the injury if he hadn’t had the powerful blood of a dragon and a griffin on tap.
“That’s it,” Sawyer whispered. “Okay, enough now.”
Andvari opened his mouth and released Sawyer’s wrist. He looked weak, and extremely pale, but he wasn’t dead. Sawyer turned to Draco and he finally saw the fear in Sawyer’s eyes.
“Can you help me get them inside?”
Draco nodded and forced himself to his feet.
“Cecil!” Sawyer called for the butler, which Draco had never heard him do before, and Cecil opened the door immediately, obviously waiting for orders. “Help us get them inside, please. I can’t… I can’t pick them up on my own.”
Draco knelt beside Andvari and helped him to a sitting position. Sawyer got under his other arm and together they guided him to his feet. Henry was able to stand, but he was swaying as he made his way over to Eduard, who was barely conscious. Cecil helped them get Eduard up and moving toward the house.
They stumbled through the front door, and Draco stared at the stairs with a grimace. Andvari was heavy, but Sawyer would want them all together and their bed in the master was the only place big enough. Draco knew he’d collapse for a while once he made it. He pulled on his reserves and lifted Andvari into his arms.
“Draco!”
“Move, Sawyer. I need to get him upstairs. Help with Eduard.”
Sawyer grunted his disapproval but listened. Cecil was barely managing under Eduard’s weight so Sawyer took his place and they guided him to the stairs. Draco managed to get Andvari onto the bed without incident, then he face-planted beside him with a groan.
Sawyer guided Eduard to the bed as well, but he’d at least recovered enough to maintain his gracefulness. Eduard laid down with a quiet sigh, his eyes drifting closed the moment his head landed on a pillow. Henry crawled in beside him, sandwiching himself between Eduard and Draco.
Draco looked at Sawyer who stood beside the bed with tears in his eyes. “I’ve got to get Cecil to bandage my arm. I’ll be right back, okay?”
Draco nodded and let his eyes slip closed. He hated leaving Sawyer unprotected, but knew he’d never leave the house now. Hell, he might never leave it again.
Sawyer
Sawyer finally understood why Draco hadn’t been able to leave his side after the mysterious attack on campus. He had barely moved from the spot by the bed, had only sat when Cecil dragged over a chair and forced him into it.
He drank when Cecil told him to, as well. Some protein vitamin shake thing that tasted like ass but Cecil swore it would help rebuild his strength. His guys were all out cold, had been for hours. Eduard and Draco had almost drained themselves dry. Henry had given more than a human probably should.
Sawyer had almost called Henry’s dad for help, but he couldn’t bear the thought of anyone else in the house. Cecil and Pearl were it. No one else was getting anywhere near them. He’d prayed to the goddess for the first time, too and had asked the Mother for guidance. She hadn’t answered, but then he hadn’t expected her to. But Henry had started breathing a little easier after that, so Sawyer knew she’d listened to his prayer.
Cecil bustled back and forth from the kitchen to the bedroom, insisting that they would all need huge amounts of food when they woke. Sawyer trusted his word, because he had no idea. He didn’t know so much.
Pearl whimpered at his feet, then bumped her nose against his hand. She moved a few steps to the door, then circled back to him.
“Okay, I’m coming.”
She needed to go outside and even though he knew Cecil would let her out, she clearly didn’t want to leave him. She never did when he wasn’t feeling well, even if it was just a bad mood. When his foster parents had died, Sawyer hadn’t moved for days. That was before he had Pearl, and one of the reasons Draco had thought he should get a dog. He’d scoffed at the time, not willing to risk loving and losing anyone else.
His breath caught and he opened the back door quickly. She scooted out, then looked back at him and waited. “Okay, I’m coming.”
