“Really?” I tried to keep the word flat, but my voice quavered at the end.
The Fae couldn’t be that cruel.
“Yes indeed,” Neil answered. “For their own reasons, which I’m not privy to. Although I wouldn’t rule out spite in the court’s decision. Your mother really did annoy them. In any case, your curse-mark made you and Cendric forget each other as soon as you parted ways physically. Forever abandoned by your true love. The curse-mark also played some other little tricks, guiding you to the wrong people. You know how the Fae love to play games with attraction.”
His words hit me like a sledgehammer. After everything I’d been through as a kid. All of the misery. All those failed relationships. All because the Fae court held a grudge against me.
But could that even be true? This guy wasn’t an elf. He could lie all he wanted.
Neil hummed tunelessly, satisfied. “Ironic that I’m the one who cares enough to reunite you two star-crossed lovers. Well, not lovers yet—so hard when you keep meeting for the first time. And now, you’ll kill her before you’ve even had a chance to know her more. A wonderfully tragic ending for you twice over, my friend.”
I filed every word away to puzzle over later. “Great monologue. Really, it warms my heart. What about you, Cid?”
“Oh yes,” he ground out. “An excellent final performance. You should go into theater, Neil.”
“I was an actor for many years. Remember? That was how we met.” Neil tapped his finger on his chin. “Now, Cendric, should I leave you in the dark while you give into your base needs, or allow you to face your Allis and survey her face while your darkest instincts overcome your pathetic honor?”
Cendric replied with something suitably sharp and outraged, but I pushed his words aside, focusing on the trickle of sensation in the corner of my mind. It felt bright and alive. My magic, beckoning to me, even through the nyctophage.
Neil was wrong about the effect of this place on me. Somehow, he was very, very wrong.
But he didn’t need to know that.
“I think light is the best option. Your new mate’s blood will look well splattered around. You know how messy those neck feedings are.” He winked at Cendric. “Try not to enjoy her reaction too much. I made sure she was healed and sufficiently sustained over the past two days, so you’ll find her blood quite wholesome and... potent. Oh yes. Very potent.”
I huffed. “Will you shut up and go away already? If I’m gonna die from intense blood bite orgasm, I’d rather not have an audience.”
A surprised exhalation escaped Cendric, mixed with a laugh.
“Statements like that are precisely why I’m glad you aren’t going to stay dead.” Neil patted my head with a fondness that made me want to head-butt him. “You’re wasted on this one. But you’ll see that soon.”
“Get any closer, and I’ll puke on your loafers.”
He laughed. “Oh, one last little present.”
Sharp silver flashed, then he cut into my skin, close to the artery in my neck. Enough to draw a steady trickle of blood.
“Enjoy your fling, you two.”
He waved his hand, creating an opening in the nyctophage, and walked through it. The opening sealed behind him.
“Allis, get away from me!” A hissed escaped Cendric. His desire for my blood and fear of hurting me blasted through his mental walls, almost bowling me over.
I winced at the onslaught. “Easier said than done, Cid.”
He did his best to move away from me, but in the sharp, white light I could tell we had been bound together at the chest and at our knees, which were still bent on the ground. We were literally holding each other up. Giving Cendric full access to my freckled neck and shoulder, decorated with rivulets of red. Blood à la Allis, all ready for a meal.
No. there had to be another way to get out.
There was always a way.
“Allis, what are you planning?”
I frowned. “Is it that obvious?”
“Not to Neil, I think. But I could always read your expressions.” He sighed. “And wondering why that’s the case is becoming redundant, since it seems we’ve been forgetting each other.”
“I’m with you there. I think…” I let my magic flicker around the room, trying to detect Neil’s desires or fears. Anything related to his presence. I’d never been able to do that before, but it couldn’t hurt to try.
Nothing. As far as I could tell, he wasn’t spying on us. Now I had to see if I could teleport out of the shackles and ropes.
“Cid, you need to keep very, very still.”
“Really? I thought you were looking forward to death by orgasm.” His voice dripped with sarcasm and irritation.
Irritation meant he was fighting it. That was a good thing.
I shoved my head against him lightly. “Ass. Is that even a thing?”
“With regular vampires, yes. Their saliva is designed to be addictive and stimulating for a reason. But the only time I’ve bitten people is in battle, and no one is thinking of such things then.”
“Can you turn people?”
“No. Only kill them. My saliva is free of the vampire toxin.”
“Huh. Can you— never mind. Stop distracting me, I need to concentrate!”
I shut my eyes, visualizing the space around the bindings. Drawing inside myself and taking account of every atom of my body, every bone and muscle, then extending my magic to every part of the unnaturally bright nyctophage.
“It really isn’t fair how hard this is.”
“Why?” His voice was soft and rich in my ear.
Damn, a part of me wanted him to bite me. Just a nibble.
“It shouldn’t be. Stupid curse-mark.”
“Allis, if you can get free,” he breathed out heavily, “it would make it easier to resist. You are too close to me. I can’t … hold back much longer.”
“Working on it.”
I turned inward again, chanting to help myself focus. Everything inside the bindings. Everything outside the bindings.
Everything inside. Everything outside.
“Everything in. Everything out.” I screwed my eyes more tightly shut. “Everything in…”
With a burst of magic, I disappeared into nothing.
I reappeared a moment later in the weird, white not-space. Still in the room. Relief filled me as I felt for all my essential parts. And clothes. I ripped the edge of my tank top until I had a long strip of cloth, pressed it to the cut on my neck, and wrapped the extra ends around several times.
I turned toward the vampire. “Cendric, I did it!”
“Good.”
His face faded from pale to white, and he sagged to the ground, eyes rolling back into his head.
I ran to his side and fell to my knees, pressing my fingers to his pulse. There, but barely.
And my own escape had cost me what little magic I could harness.
Not good.
I tugged at his bonds. “Come on, Cid, let’s get you free.”
“No!” His voice was harsh, and his incisors were growing larger, turning into fangs. “Allis, the scent of your blood is—You need to get far away from me. Teleport away from this place.”
“Not leaving, you idiot.” I didn’t have the strength anyway. But I should couple that with something nicer. “Far-too-noble idiot.”
A snort escaped him. “With compliments like that, how are you still single?”
“I guess I was always waiting for you.”
The words hung in the air. Were they true? I had no idea.
But I wasn’t going to lose the noble idiot now.
Chapter 10
The blood wouldn’t stop flowing from my neck, no matter how hard I pressed on the red-drenched cloth. Had Neil done something special to the blade he used? Or did blood just not clot that fast? Crap, I wasn’t a doctor, or anything close to that.
“No leaving me now, Cid.” I slapped his face. He blinked and snarled at me. I gave my best snarl back. “I can make weird
noises too! But right now, I have a wound that isn’t closing and a dying vampire I’d really like to save. Give me options!”
He groaned. “There are no options.”
“No options isn’t an option. Vampires don’t always kill their victims, right?”
“No. Vampire saliva can seal wounds.” He swallowed hard. “It’s a way to continue feeding from the same person.”
“Like Tupperware lids.” I nodded. “So, can your saliva do that?”
“I’ve never tried. I’ve only ever used my fangs in combat to kill people. My fangs are a weapon. I refuse to see people as food.”
“Never?”
He sighed. “…after my initial confirmation, I did drink from people. Sometimes. But I’m not proud of that time. I’m not going to drink from you.”
“Yeah, but if you die, they win!” I grabbed Cendric under his arms and pulled him into a sitting position facing me, my muscles burning with the effort.
A hiss escaped him. “Allis, we can’t be this close. The hunger—”
“Needs to be dealt with ASAP.”
“Fine. Then conjure me a filet mignon. Raw is fine.”
“I don’t have enough magic for that. Curse-mark, remember? Teleporting was a stretch. Also, still bleeding here!” I leaned against him, suddenly lightheaded. “Can you at least spit on the wound? Or spit into a cloth?”
A short laugh escaped him. “It doesn’t work that way, my dear.”
“Nope, you don’t get to ‘my dear’ me when you’re getting all gloomy and suicidal. That’s not how it works.” I moved one of my hands to trace the piercings across his face, lingering over his jawline, sliding through his loose hair. “There is too much for us to figure out together for you to die on me.”
Cendric pressed into my touch. Waves of desire for me mingled with desire for my blood poured from his mind. Then he stared back at me. “But if I kill you, that won’t help matters either. I will have lost everything before I even remembered it.”
“I trust you,” I whispered. “More than anyone.”
Hell, did that scare me to admit. Especially since it made no sense.
“Are you sure?” A ghost of a smile quirked his lips, but his gray eyes were flinty. “I can’t promise what irresistible effect I’ll have on you.”
Yeah, there was that. Worry flickered through me. But I’d called it quits with Kiran, and he was really good at a lot of things. Being a full genie meant he was able to read exactly what I wanted. I’d had to drag my butt back to church to get enough guilt and conviction so I wouldn’t go back to him.
Might be time to do that again, metaphorically speaking. Hey there? Controller of destiny? God? I’ve completely thrown myself on your mercy here. Again. Please don’t let it end like this. Make there be some way out.
I sighed again. There was nothing else I could do.
Cendric couldn’t die.
“Okay, let’s do this.” I unwrapped the bandage with one hand and flung it aside. I tilted my head back, my nerves skittering with uncertainty and the really stupid excitement I get when I’m about to do something new, especially when it’s not a good idea. “Go ahead. Wait, do I need to untie you now?”
“Not at all.” Suddenly, his arms were around me, holding me against him so tightly I could barely breathe. “My bindings were trivial.”
I blinked. “So the only thing holding you back this whole time—”
“Was me.” He inhaled. “Hold still.”
A nod barely escaped me before his lips were on my neck, brushing gentle kisses across the wound that made me relax. There was something so familiar, so welcome about this. Not the upcoming blood drinking, but the care and respect. The affection in every soft touch.
Then his kiss deepened, and his mouth opened against the cut in my skin. My body seized against the contact, and I gripped him hard. The sensation was not even close to sex. More like exactly what it was: someone siphoning blood from my body with a very special tongue, and somehow keeping the area numb. Equal parts creepy and tense.
And a little boring. After his kisses, I had been anticipating something more. But in its way, this was safe. Just weird. Like a really odd blood donation.
After a moment, he pulled back. “That should be enough. I can’t take any more of it.”
“Take any more of what?” I paused. “Shouldn’t I get orange juice and cookies after a blood donation? Or pizza? No, fries!” I blinked, collapsing against his chest. “What can’t you take more of?”
“You. The taste of your blood.” He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “I haven’t drunk human blood in many years. It tastes...foul.”
I straightened and glared at him. “Did you just insult my blood?”
“Yes.”
“Jerk. See if I donate to you again.”
He chuckled. “I hope you’ll never have to.”
I frowned. Something didn’t add up. “You were desiring my blood the entire time
beforehand. I felt it.”
“So I was misled by my own impulses.”
“Liar.” I jabbed him in the chest. At the same time, I poked at his mind. The same desire flowed through it, just fainter. Far fainter. “You did enjoy my blood!”
He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me away enough to glare. “No. I did not.”
“You totally did. Can’t fool a genie on your desires.”
“I told you to stop reading me!”
I pushed away his arms and crossed my own. “And I said nope. I stand by that nope. Also, just to answer your fear, you desiring my blood does not make me suddenly terrified of you because you have enough discipline to resist it. And for your information, the whole event didn’t do anything for me. Felt like any other blood donation. Only with a vampire using some kind of tongue-suction, and I didn’t have a book to read or a movie to watch.”
He studied me skeptically. “You’ve donated blood before?”
“The occasional Fae blood drive.” I shrugged. “Now I feel gypped and you hurt my feelings. Are you at least better?”
“Yes,” he said reluctantly. “Your blood might taste like rusty metal pipes—”
“Liar.”
“Intruder.” He grimaced. “But it is remarkably rejuvenating.”
“Well, that’s great. Glad there’s some reason for me to exist.” I peeled myself away from him and flopped on my back in the white nothingness. Which, despite being whiter than a cloud, was about as comfortable as pile of bricks. “You seem to have a normal tongue. How did you manage that whole suction thing?”
“Magic.”
“Ah, the usual catch-all.” I rolled my eyes.
Cendric slid closer to me on the ground, neatly composed his limbs, and propped himself up on one arm to study me. “You truly aren’t concerned about me harming you?”
“Well, I was. A lot. But dude, you were willing to die to protect me. So I’m not concerned now, not any more than I would be from any other Fae or Unspoken.”
“I’m dangerous.”
“Yes, so is everyone in one way or another. You need to relax.”
“Are your feelings actually injured from my denial?”
“You mean, you telling me that my own genie senses are wrong just so you can save face?” I shrugged. “I mean, it happens.”
“It shouldn’t.” He reached out and traced a line in the freckles on my arm, sending shivers through me. “I’m sorry for my pride.”
My mind froze. No words in the face of that sincerity, soothing wounds I rarely let myself admit to. So my mouth kept going to compensate. “…you keep saying things like that and you’ll ruin your vampire, ex-raven tough-guy reputation.”
“Hmm.” His fingers made their way to my shoulder and across my collarbone. “That isn’t my highest priority right now. I’d rather ensure that you are well.”
I turned over to face him. “Well, you could always make an inspection of my mouth with that special tongue.”
“Hmmm.” His eyes glinted. “I could i
ndeed.”
“Great first kiss option—” Then I paused. “No, it isn’t a first kiss, is it? We might have kissed before. But we don’t remember.”
The words banked the fire between us. His expression turned sober. “True.”
“Well, crap.”
I rolled onto my back again, wishing the nyctophage had an actual ceiling I could stare at instead of endless blank white.
In the silence of the room, with my wound sealed up and Cendric’s hunger sated, all of Neil’s words from earlier filled my mind. Especially those about my friends being terrified. Of me being a pit bull that would be blamed for things no matter how good I tried to be. I mean, I knew I wasn’t perfect. No one was perfect. We all screw up.
But that didn’t mean I liked a villainous psychopath eying me as his next recruit for devilry and mayhem.
Cendric’s fingers stroked my right forearm, where one half of the curse-mark coiled in all its black and silver menace. “A terrible scar, this mark.”
“No, it’s worse than a scar. A scar means you survived something. This means I’m being caged in case I do horrible things. Things that someone like Neil Halverson is eager for me to do.” My heart tightened. “What kind of monster must I be beneath this mark for a vampire that nasty to be giddy over turning me? For my friends to all turn on me, to not believe me about the bear shifter and all that. By the way, if you want to change your mind about me, go right ahead.”
“Never.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “Allis, I’m here. I understand being a monster. According to Neil, we’ve been meeting quite a few times over the last few years, as incredible as that sounds.”
“You believe him about that?”
“Yes. I do.” His voice was strong and sure, giving me strength as well.
“Me too.”
“And I’m not leaving now.”
“Well, you can’t.” I sniffed. “But when we get out, we’ll separate, somehow it will happen, and then this stupid curse-mark will make us forget. Because no one we know tries to fix that either!”
Anger flashed in his eyes. “I know. Believe me, I’ve been mulling that over since Neil said it.”
If Wishes Were Curses Page 10
