A loud sizzle and blast of smoke destroyed the wood and left a coin-sized hole behind.
Whisper glowered at the smouldering spot, all while Rook gave me a wary smile. “You’re nothing if not consistent.”
Passing her the onyx-hilted dagger from the desk, I shrugged. “Your turn.”
She gulped but didn’t refuse.
Shifting a little, thanks to Whisper trying to crawl into her lap, she fisted the dagger and held it over her wrist. Gritting her teeth, she dragged it in a mirroring cut.
Instantly, her blood beaded.
Slightly metallic, almost luminous with silver.
Whisper curled his upper lip, exposing the tips of his fangs. Sniffing her bleeding wrist, he gagged even harder than he had with mine.
“Lick it.” I crossed my arms, pressing my still bleeding wound against my bare chest. “Go on.”
Grumbling loudly, he got to all fours, licked Rook’s blood, and shot backward. Spitting and growling, he smashed into one of the lattice screens, wiping his mouth on his leg.
“Guess that answers that.” I hoped I hadn’t made him worse by using him as our guinea pig, but...it seemed as though the only person I could heal was Rook.
And the only person she could heal was me.
But together...
Without a word, Rook angled her wrist, shaking it a little so blood plopped to the floor.
The wood instantly froze—frost spiderwebbing outward. Pressing her finger to the centre of the web, the crystals cracked, taking the floorboards with it...leaving a matching hole to mine.
We looked at each other.
Whisper glared at us like we’d betrayed him.
And the urgency to fix him—now that I’d tested on him—made me stalk to the dining table where covered dishes waited for us to eat. Grabbing one of the china teacups next to the long-cold daisy-painted teapot, I angled my wrist over it. Striding back to Rook, I dropped to my haunches beside her. I didn’t move until a shallow red puddle had formed at the bottom before passing it to her.
Wordlessly, she copied me until she matched the same amount I’d given.
Peering into it, she swirled it gently, blending gold-tinted with silver-shine, turning it into an antiqued crimson.
“So...you can heal me and I can heal you, yet separately our blood is...”
“Poison?” I took the teacup from her, placed it carefully on the ground, then grabbed her wrist and pressed mine over hers.
Blood to blood.
Fire to frost.
We both shuddered as the bond yanked hard.
Heat flared, cold surged, and the itch and prickle of healing skin hinted that whatever we’d become—whatever they’d made us—it seemed we were invincible...as long as we had each other.
Savage lust slammed into me. Dark and hot and desperate.
I wanted her again.
She gulped and shook her head, dispelling the sexual tension between us. “You’re going to be the death of me, I swear.”
“Pretty sure that’s my line.” Collecting the cup before I became too weak to ignore her, I looked to where Whisper had slunk across the room.
