“I-I think that’s Keegan’s.”
Cassius cracked open an eye, staring at his friend. “Thanks,” he rasped.
Keegan nodded, the color returning to his face. The bite marks on his wrist were already clotting. “I’m going to see about that creature.” He flashed a relieved look at Cassius before nodding to Thalia. Then he left, leaving them alone.
“Are you all right?” Thalia whispered.
Cassius swallowed, his words low. “It feels like my chest was cleaved open.”
Despite the circumstances, Thalia’s lips quirked. “It basically was.”
Cassius relaxed against the table, his breathing slowing. Thalia’s chest squeezed. She made to move away, but his hand snaked out, gripping her injured one. “Stay.”
She swallowed, ignoring the pain in her hand. But Cassius must have sensed the injury, because he cracked open both eyes, his brows furrowing. “You said you weren’t hurt.”
Thalia shook her head, finding a small wooden stool under the table and pulling it out, still holding on to Cassius’s hand. “I’m not.”
Cassius made a face, but his lids were growing heavier by the minute. He brought her wrist to his mouth and Thalia had a sudden pang of fear that he’d bite her, but he simply pressed his lips to her cut heart line.
“Thank you,” he murmured, before sleep claimed him hard and fast.
Thalia stared down at their entwined hands now resting on Cassius’s chest. Her eyes watered, and she blinked the tears away as she rested her chin on her other arm. She watched the rise and fall of his chest, ensuring he still breathed. Until the fear and adrenaline finally wore off and sleep claimed her too.
Something rustled above Thalia’s head, and she jerked, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. It took her a moment to adjust to the dim light cast by the fire in the room.
She relaxed when she realized it was Cassius shifting on the table.
As if her eyes snapping open had made a noise, Cassius opened his own. He blinked, his blue gaze bright but not glowing.
He swallowed, his brow furrowing slightly. “You stayed.” Thalia nodded, not able to break away. Then his brow furrowed more. “You’re hurt.”
Her face twisted in confusion, and she nearly startled as Cassius’s hand gripped her face.
She winced as he ran his thumb lightly over her cheekbone. She hadn’t realized the branches had cut her face when she fled the creature.
Cassius suddenly sat up, and Thalia started. “Should you be doing that?” she asked as he swung his legs over the side of the table.
“I’m fine,” he said, standing.
“Hours ago your chest was hanging open.” Thalia twisted in her seat, watching as Cassius rummaged around the cubbies.
“Keegan’s blood did the work. If I wasn’t fine, I’d rest.” He turned to look over his shoulder, then jerked his chin at the table.
Thalia made a face, but she managed to hop onto the surface, a groan of protest escaping her lips. She hadn’t realized how sore she was. Her body ached, and her skin was bruised from fleeing the creature.
Cassius kept his back to her as he mixed herbs and other tinctures in a mortar, grinding them together before he added liquid to make a paste. He grabbed some rags and a bowl of water, then turned back.
Thalia swallowed as he set the things down next to her, stepping between her dangling legs.
He gripped her chin lightly, turning it back and forth in the light, his eyes playing over her features. Then he dipped the rag in the water, squeezing out the excess, the drops plinking down before he gently dabbed the cut along her cheek.
She winced again, and his touch softened even more, as did his features as he went back to his ministrations.
Thalia’s throat bobbed, and she said lowly, “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Cassius nodded, attending to a cut near her hairline that she hadn’t noticed. “When a Vampyr drinks another’s blood, it allows them to heal at a much faster rate than a human. But only if you drink from the source. There’s a reason we don’t share blood over an injury unless it’s grave.”
“Is it because of what happens when Vampyrs drink blood from another?”
