“Get behind me,” I shout at Eden.
She stares at me in shock. “You’re human!”
“I don’t care!”
One of the vampires lunges. I try to dodge, but I’m too slow, too mortal, and its claws rake across my side.
I scream out in blinding, searing pain, while blood blooms across my shirt. So much red. So much blood. The claws went deep, tearing through fabric and flesh.
My legs give out when my head begins to feel dizzy.
The vampire that struck me suddenly recoils, a prominent hiss escaping his lips, as he shakes his hand as if my blood burns him. But I don’t understand why. The only thing I do know as I collapse to the floor is that I feel myself fading.
My energy is draining.
This is it.
This is how I die.
Suddenly, strong arms catch me before I hit the floor.Crave.He’s here, covered in blood, his fangs fully descended, his eyes that ancient silver.
“I’ve got you,” he murmurs, lowering me gently behind an overturned table.
I try to speak, but the pain is overwhelming. My side is on fire, and I feel the warmth of my blood soaking through my clothes, pooling beneath me.
“Eden—” I manage.
“Eden’s fine. You’re not.” He presses his hand to my side, trying to stop the bleeding. His hand comes away covered in bright crimson.
So much blood.
Too much.
The scent of it fills the air.Not normal.Something’s different about it. I see it in the way every supernatural being in the room pauses for half a heartbeat, confusion crossing their faces.
Burning iron.
That’s what it smells like.
I can smell my own blood, and it’s…wrong.
With panting breaths, my vision dims at the edges. The sounds of battle are fading, becoming distant and echo-like.
“Crave?” My voice sounds far away, even to me. “I can’t… I can’t feel my legs.”
His expression shifts to something I’ve never seen before—panic.
“Listen to me,” he says urgently, pulling me closer against his chest. “This is going to hurt. But youhaveto trust me.”
“What—”
He doesn’t let me finish. His fangs sink into his own wrist, deep and vicious, and dark blood wells up. Not red like mine, darker, and it pulses with power. I feel it even through my fading consciousness.
He presses his bleeding wrist to my mouth. “Drink.”
Panic surges through me.
No.
