The world went black.Mine.
Rynna’s fangs slid down, gleaming.
Skarn swallowed the blood with a wide smile, and her hands twitched, fingers elongating into points.
Mine!The swords in her grip clattered to the ground, forgotten. Her eyes went completely dark, darker than the void itself, swirling like storm clouds.
“He is mine!” Her voice was no longer human.
Skarn’s mouth fell as Rynna’s rage filled the room, the bravado slipping from his face and replaced by something close to fear. His grip on the knife tightened, and in his growing panic, the blade slipped, cutting deep across Fenn’s throat as he flinched.
Before he could react further, Rynna moved, closing the distance in a blur. Her claws sank deep into his shoulder, the heat of his blood slick against her palm as she wrenched and hurled him aside. His body whipped through the air and hit the stone wall with a crack that echoed through the chamber.
The only thing that kept her from flying after him was the hot and metallic scent of blood spilling onto the floor.
Fenn’s blood.
It cut through her rage, tethering her back to the moment, pulling her from the brink of destruction. Her eyes jerked to Fenn, horror coursing through her as she saw the dark crimson flowing from his neck, pooling on the floor beneath the chair.
“No!” Fear crashed over her like a wave, extinguishing the dark hunger that had gripped her.What have I done?
She fell onto Fenn, her fingers frantically ripping out the needle from his arm, casting the blackened tube aside. Blood flowed freely from his neck, spilling around her hands as she pressed them to the wound, trying to stem the tide of his life slipping through her fingers.
“Fenn!” A sob tore from her throat as she pressed harder.
“Is there anything you can do?” Kaelith was beside her now, his voice tight.
“I… I…” Rynna choked. “Between the poison and the blood…his main artery is completely severed. I’m not a goddamn healer!”
“There’s nothing? Nothing, maybe from another life…something you’ve learned?”
Her mind raced, grasping at fragments of forgotten skills and buried memories, but nothing surfaced.
“I’m sorry, Rynna.” Taren was on her other side. “Healing isn’t my skill set either. If Elara were here…”
But Elara wasn’t here, and even if she were, Fenn’s wounds were too much. The blood was draining too fast—seconds, that’s all he had left.
“I’ll deal with Skarn,” Taren said, already moving toward the door. “There’s nothing more I can do here. I want to catch him before he gets too far.”
Kaelith’s hand landed gently on Rynna’s shoulder. “I’ll stay.”
She didn’t hear them. Her mind screamed against the reality unfolding in front of her. There would be no second chances. There were no threads to pull. He was supposed to die. Here. Now. The Rules...
Fuck the Rules.Rynna ground her teeth, the memory of the first time she’d come dangerously close to defying them for him—when the Veilroot had taken Fenn in Fallowmere, and she had drawn the poison from his blood and into herself. The poison had been disgusting, sapping her strength, but the vampiric infection within her had scoffed, devouring it after only a brief internal struggle.
And…he’d healed.
Her breath hitched.
Would it work again? The question pounded through her. Could she cleanse his blood and heal him at the same time?
Her decision made, she ripped off the bindings that held him to the chair and gently cradled Fenn in her arms.
“Stay with me,” she whispered, her voice a fragile thread of hope. “Stay with me.”
Her hands trembled as she raised his wrist to her mouth, hesitating for the briefest moment, as she grazed her fingers over his skin. Then, slowly, deliberately, she extended her fangs, just enough to pierce the surface of his flesh with a gentle bite.
“Rynna?” Kaelith asked, crouching next to her.
