“Save him. Don’t let him die. Blake’s the best friend I’ve ever had. Please don’t let him die,” Aaron pleaded.
“I can’t. He won’t be the same, and it is forbidden.” His hand on my shoulder forced my eyes away from where Blake lay nearly dead.
“Marlon, please. I don’t understand what is between the two of you, but I know he has a connection to you that goes beyond just being a couple. You’re a vampire, fucking save him,” he yelled and tugged at his hair.
Myeyes went to Blake, my mate, and a feeling I could not resist washed over me. Before I realized I’d moved, I shifted him in my arms. “I’m sorry, my love, I never wanted this for you.” I sunk my teeth into his neck and drew out the last of his blood before slicing my wrist with my teeth and forcing it into his mouth. At first there was no reaction at all, and the only sound in the room was the sound of Aaron shaking as he knelt next to us.
“Is he—”
His eyes fluttered, and his lips moved, pulling more blood in as his wounds began to heal. In a burst of motion, he sprang up before turning and landing in a crouched position. His eyes landed on Aaron, and I put myself between them before speaking. “Blake?”
Seventeen
Blake
My senses were alive as I took in everything around me. My skin felt like I’d touched a live electric wire, and the tingling pain of it made me ultra-aware of every sensation. Including the sound of a beating heart and the smell of blood.
“Blake?” a familiar voice said, but it wasn’t nearly as loud as the beat of hisheart.
“You cannot feed from him.”
“Thirsty,” I said. My lips twitched with the want to feed as my mind raced with ways to get to the heartbeat, but the pull to the man standing in front of me was nearly as strong.
“You’re going to come with me, and we’ll feed, but you are not to harm Aaron or any other human. Do you understand?” My eyes met his, and flashes of him burst through my memory. He was my mate and my love, Marlon.
“Marlon, please,” I begged. The need for blood was too strong for me to ignore. He held his hand out to me, and when my hand touched his, the—heartbeat? human? He was trying to hide from me, faded from my consciousness and there was only him.
“Come with me, love,” he said and led me out the door. The night air was warm and sweet, with many scents drifting on the breeze. Some drew me to them more than others. “This way.” He led me to the edge of a field before we ran.
“I don’t remember what happened,” I said to Marlon.
“When we’re far from town, I’ll explain everything.” We picked up speed and ran toward the foothills in the west. The land was all familiar but more like a fond dream of a place I’d visited in the past. We ran for a while longer, and another scent hit me, pulling me to a stop. Again, my senses were on alert, and my mouth watered in anticipation.
“Feed.” As soon as my mate uttered the word, I was changed. I was driven by one need, and it overwhelmed all my senses. I was unbelievably hungry and craved—something. Blood. Blood was everything I needed. My mind raced and crawled at the same time. I could sense so many things around me, but I could catalogue each one and I knew what was and what wasn’t worth the trouble. The darkness was no longer deep and black. Now it was bright, and I could see every detail of every rock and tree we passed. I also knew where every nearby beating heart was.
I bolted away from him when I heard a strong heartbeat just up the hill, and I didn’t need to look behind me to know exactly where he was. Then, a movement to my right diverted my attention. A large bear lumbering across the mountain, unbothered or unaware we were near. It looked our way and paid us no mind until I was on its back and sinking my teeth into its neck. Twisting around, it gripped my arm in its teeth and threw me against a rock. Immediately I sprung off the rock and in one move broke its neck while sinking my teeth into it to feed.
A hand on my back took my attention away from my kill and put me on the defense. I crouched, ready to attack. But there was only Marlon, my mate. I launched myself at him, and the two of us rolled around on the ground before I landed on top of him and leaned down to kiss him. The taste and smell of blood mixed with his scent quickly drove me into a frenzy of lust and need. I looked down on him and held his hands above his head while I pressed my tongue into his mouth.
He pushed me back, and I fought it for a moment before I met his eyes. “Blake, you need to feed.”
Before my mind could catch up, my teeth were sinking into the bear again as I drew out more of the warm blood. Finally, feeling bloated and somewhat satisfied, I stood and walked over to where Marlon sat on a rock.
“Love, we need to talk,” he said, and took my hand.
Again, I felt strange and confused. I knew something had changed. “Is everything okay?” I asked because while my thought process was moving fast, my ability to speak hadn’t caught up.
“You’re doing really well—considering.” Marlon waited for me to speak, but I didn’t know what to say, so I waited for him to say more. “Tonight, someone killed you, and I brought you back.”
“What?” I replayed his words over and over in my head but didn’t understand.
“You died at the hands of the man who had imprisoned me in the grave you saved me from. Do you remember?”
He waited and watched as I tried to make sense of his words. “You were buried alive.”
“Yes, many years ago, and you saved me. The same man who did that also hurt you. Only he’s no longer human, and he fed from you. You were near death, and Icould not bear to lose you. Your friend begged me to save you. Do you remember your friend?”
“Aaron?”
