by Lyons, Rene
His body was dangerously close to giving out. Though close to going down, Constantine’s need to get to Lex overrode everything else. He clawed at the ground, still trying to get to her as he crawled toward the car, dragging his sword with him. He would keep moving until either riddled with enough bullet holes to bleed out, or he burst into dust and went to Hell. Anything short of those two happenings weren’t going to stop him from getting Lex away from Angelina.
When Angelina came awake and gained her feet, he growled as he continued to drag himself over the dirt. An arrow flew over him and hit her as she tried to get to Lex. Daria’s triumphant cry resounded across the courtyard when her arrow sliced through Angelina’s throat. The traitorous bitch erupted into dust a moment later.
With Angelina destroyed, Isobel berated Daria for killing Angelina. Her secrets had died with her.
In a fit of fury, Daria ran toward the gatehouse. She picked off the last two guards, sending arrows into them with a precision that, if it were any other time, would have impressed Constantine. As it were, he was still dragging himself the last few feet to the car when Lex launched herself from the backseat. She ran to him and dropped down beside him, weeping as she smoothed his bloody hair away from his face.
The bruise on Lex’s left cheek infuriated him. “How badly are you hurt?”
“I’ve been better.” Her smile would have felled him had Constantine not already been lying down. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Her gaze passed over him. “For saving me.”
He grunted. “Thank Daria, not me.”
Lex wiped the blood from his already healed cheek. The rest of him however, was too damaged to mend as quick. He hissed as her energy came into him when she ran her hands over the bullet wounds.
Isobel reached them as Daria moved on to inspect the car. “She must have bribed the guards.”
Constantine agreed and went to push himself off the ground. Fuck it all, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. He lacked the strength to support his own weight. He didn’t fight against Isobel’s hold when she lent a hand. Hell, as far as Constantine was concerned, better to be on his feet with help than flat on his back.
“You certainly grew some since you were a boy.”
Isobel’s humor helped get his mind off the pain and take the edge off of his fury. “I’ve been working out,” Constantine remarked flippantly and looked at Daria as she poked around Angelina’s car.
“Bloody hell, I wish she hadn’t ended the bitch.”
Isobel lifted a brow when Daria let out a string of curses that drifted to them as she slammed her fist on the roof of the car. “I’m sure she feels the same way.”
Gaining a bit of strength, Constantine stepped away from Lex and Isobel’s hold. Lex went to help him when he swayed, but he righted himself before they could grab for him again. “Any idea who she was working with?”
Isobel glanced at Lex then back to him. She shook her head grimly. “Unfortunately no. If anything, I suspected Daria was the one I had to watch for. Never Angelina.”
“Thank you for your trust, Isobel,” Daria retorted sarcastically as she returned with cell phone. “Look what the bitch left behind.”
Isobel took the cell and flipped it open. She did a quick search through the contacts and recent calls. She snapped it closed with a growl. “Everything has been deleted.”
“Fuck it all,” Constantine ground out, though he’d expected as much.
Obviously, Angelina had been plotting to kidnap Lex for some time. It was unlikely they’d have been sloppy about it and left evidence of her plans lying around to be found.
“Let’s get you back inside, Dragon. We have to get some blood in you before you bleed out.”
Looking at Lex, he saw her pale at Daria’s callous announcement. Constantine sheathed his sword as the four of them trudged across the courtyard. With Lex’s hand firmly in his, her energy lent him the strength he needed to make it back to the keep on his own accord, something his warrior’s pride appreciated.
They’d nearly reached the keep when Constantine stiffened. The oddest sensation passed through him, as if death’s stale breath blew over him. The damn Druid magic veiling the castle prevented him from zeroing in on it. Instead, the feeling was slight and fleeting. Aggravated to have his senses restricted, he gave up trying to pinpoint it as blinding pain exploded in his head at the wasted effort.
“I want you back inside. Now.”
Lex glanced over her shoulder toward the gate. “More renegades?”
Constantine didn’t need his senses to know she was scared. “I can’t say. The magic prevents me from focusing in on them.” The night reached out to him, its icy fingers curling around him. He shivered, for the first time recoiling from the sensation of death. “We just need to get you into the keep.”
Isobel was quick to agree with him. “Dragon’s right. I can feel something out there as well.” Isobel cast a suspicious look around the courtyard. “The gods only know who else Angelina was working with. You do not leave the walls of the keep until Samhain. Do you understand, Lex?”
“Trust me, Isobel, after tonight, that’s the last thing you have to worry about.”
Constantine was impressed with the grace with which Lex seemed to be handling this. Where most people would be a mindless mess after coming so close to danger Lex appeared calm and collected—even though her hand trembled in his.
Isobel gave him a once over, her gaze lingering over the bullet wounds. The loss of blood had weakened Constantine to the point that he was barely able to remain on his feet.
“You need blood, Constantine.”
Though a vampire healed fast, this was asking a bit much of the supernatural forces that lent them their immortality. “I’ll be fine,” he assured Isobel.
She eyed him suspiciously. He knew Isobel was aware of how severe his wounds were, as was Daria. They wisely remained silent as they continued on toward the keep. Only Lex, who lacked the supernatural senses, failed to realize how far from fine Constantine was.
He was dying.
Again.
* * *
Once they were safely inside the hall, Daria lingered in the open doorway. “I’ll clean up the mess.” She motioned out to the courtyard, indicating the four dead human guards.
Isobel nodded. “When the twins return, have them search the area for traces of renegades.” She turned to him and Lex. “If those bastards were anywhere near here, they will detect it. I’ll search through Angelina’s chamber and see if there isn’t anything to find in there.”
Daria went back out into the courtyard, the night swallowing her as she stalked to the gatehouse. That left the three of them there as Constantine slowly bled out onto the floor.
The weight of Lex’s stare bore into him as she surveyed the magnitude of his wounds. Before he realized what she was doing, her hands were on him and she was filling him with a small piece of her life. It would do to sustain him until he could get blood into his starved body.
“Come on.” Lex grabbed hold of his arm and tried to tug him toward the stairs. He didn’t budge. “Don’t be stubborn, Constantine. Come upstairs with me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
He had to slap a hand to the wall to steady himself. “I can’t take your blood from you twice in one night. I could end up killing you.”
“You’re going to fight with me on this? Are you crazy?”
“I won’t take the chance with your life,” he gritted out.
“You have no choice.” She cocked a brow at him defiantly. “Remember, the same stubborn streak that runs in Allie, runs in me as well. I’m not going to lose you, Constantine, not even if I have to force every last drop of my blood down your throat.”
Constantine surrendered his fight. The selfish prick that he was, he wasn’t ready to let go of this life yet—as it were. He didn’t want to give up his time with Lex. He’d miss her smile too much. He’d miss—hell—he’d just m
iss her. Everything about her. From the light in her eyes right down to the scent of honeysuckle that clung to her sun-kissed flesh. All of it. All of her. And though he knew the memory of her would help him get through the tortures awaiting him in Hell, he didn’t want memories. He wanted Lex. Which was why he allowed her to pull him up the stairs. Isobel released an audible sigh of relief as she helped Lex heft his heavy ass up the stairs and down to their chamber.
By the time they got him on the bed, Constantine was shaking as what little blood left in him bled out.
When Isobel left them, Lex climbed on the bed next to him. “I love you, Constantine.”
Her whispered words rolled over him as his eyes slid closed and she leaned over him. He followed the throb of her pulse and sank his fangs deep into her neck. She gasped and gripped onto him as he pulled on her vein.
With Lex’s blood came a flood of emotions and power. Whether the emotions were hers or his, Constantine didn’t know. All he knew was that love, raw and beautiful, washed through him, chasing away his past. It drove away the ugly images of Greaves, Ulric, and his parents.
That’s when he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, there would be no more talk of donors. There would be no more holding back from her. Constantine would no longer resist the love she so freely offered him.
And he would return that love to her tenfold—even if it killed him.
Literally.
* * *
Sometime during the long day, Constantine was pulled from sleep when the pain of the bullet wounds became too much to ignore. He’d been shot up badly enough that not even Lex’s blood had healed him completely. His body was having a hell of a time stitching itself back together and as long as the pain continued, he’d get no more sleep.
Lex lay beside him, curled into him as if this were the best place she could be. He knew otherwise, but who was he to gainsay her when he liked her right where she was? Her breathing was slow and shallow, her tanned flesh drained of color. It pained him that he was the cause of her sickly pallor.
After he’d taken her blood she’d collapsed on him, too weak to do anything more than lay there like a rag doll.
Bloody hell, he’d come damn close to draining her dry.
Constantine still couldn’t believe how selflessly she’d given up a vein for him. Like it was nothing. Well, no. That wasn’t exactly true.
When he’d sunk his fangs into the side of her neck, she’d wrapped her arms around him and clung to him, begging brokenly for him to take all he needed. With her body pressed to his, her scent filling his senses, and her blood slipping down his throat, the life had come back to him in a sudden rush of warmth.
The act was extremely intimate, tender, and it left Constantine shaken from more than the throb of Lex’s energy. Her love had moved through him. He’d wanted to hold onto that moment for the rest of eternity.
With her blood came her energy, and as it continued to thrive within him, Constantine’s body didn’t want to be at rest. He shifted and tightened his hold on Lex as she slept peacefully beside him. Her body was cold for the first time since he’d known her. He’d taken enough of her blood to steal her heat.
His movements woke her and she lifted her head. Her eyes half closed and her teeth chattered. “Are you okay?”
Okay? Hell yes. Better than he’d ever been before, even though his body resembled Swiss cheese. “I’m fine, elf. Go back to sleep.”
She didn’t lie back down. Instead, Lex sat up with a dramatic sigh. Constantine was starting to think she was as contrary as Allie. She merely hid it behind a genteel facade. Why was she the one person who refused to take ”fine” as an answer from him? Everyone else always did. It ended a conversation right quick, which was how Constantine liked it.
“No you’re not.”
“Yes I am, now go back to sleep.”
Her eyes kept closing. And she kept forcing them open. They closed again. Lex continued this fight for about a minute or so before she draped herself over his bare chest. Her cold seeped into his bones. He wrapped his arms around her in an effort to give her back her own warmth. All Constantine succeeded in doing was crushing her. He knew this because she choked on a breath and told him he was breaking her ribs. Disgruntled at having to loosen his hold, Constantine relaxed his arms but didn’t let her go. He liked her right where she was. It was where she belonged.
They stayed like that for a long while, so long in fact, given Lex’s gentle breathing, Constantine thought she’d fallen back to sleep. Which was why her question startled him.
“I asked if you were okay. I’d appreciate an honest answer.”
He smiled. Genuinely smiled. No one could ever accuse Lex of being timid. “I’m alright. Truly.”
She grunted. The sound mimicked one he’d made at least a million times. Lex had definitely spent too much time in his company. She leaned up and stared deeply into his eyes. She looked like hell. He felt like hell. What a pair they made.
“I don’t believe you, but at least I didn’t get your standard ‘I’m fine’ again.” Lex smiled widely.
“What?” he asked, frowning.
She put her hands on his brow, smoothing out the scowl with her fingers. “I wish you’d laugh more instead of always frowning like this.”
Yes well, he’d had very little to laugh at in his time. He shrugged. “Aside from Raphael’s stupidity, I haven’t found many things humorous.”
Her hair fell forward when she kissed him, tickling him. Her lips were dry and cool. He wondered if that’s what his felt like when he kissed her.
A painful jolt of electricity shot through him. Her power was rejuvenating, growing stronger. As each moment passed, moving them closer to Samhain, the power of the Daystar grew. And she was fast learning how to harness it—if not completely control it. But then again, Constantine imagined controlling it was something she’d never quite master. It raged within her, damn near scorching him if she didn’t pull it back whenever they touched.
And it scared him. Fuck it all, it terrified him because her power made him feel helpless. He couldn’t save her from it. He couldn’t do a damn thing to protect her from it.
Lex pulled her lips from his and dragged in a deep breath. She was so weak it was obvious even breathing took effort.
Seeing her now, Constantine no longer saw the innocent woman who’d stepped from the church with an eager gleam in her eyes and an aura of innocence burning around her. Now her eyes held the shrewd spark of a woman who knew the touch of a man. In those depths he also saw the all-too familiar gleam of a person who had stared into the night and had the night stare back.
She’d touched the darkness and it had robbed her of her innocence.
“You’re so damn beautiful.”
She smiled lazily. “So are you.”
He grunted. “Men can’t be beautiful.”
“Oh no?” Her eyes lingered shut when she blinked them. She was damn near falling asleep on top of him. “I don’t remember hearing that rule.”
“I’m not beautiful.”
“I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. You’d be amazed at what I see when I look at you.”
For a moment Constantine’s chest tightened at her words and the way she stared at him. There was awe reflected in her eyes, and just for a moment, he did see. She saw past his scars, past his pain and his rage, to the man hidden away somewhere deep within him.
“I saw you.” That came out as a whisper so soft if he hadn’t had extraordinary hearing he might not have even heard it.
“I would hope so, since you’re looking at me.”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I mean. When you first drank from me, I think your telepathy broke through the magic and kicked in.” Her fingers passed over his brow. “I saw you when you were a boy. I saw your blue eyes.”
All of Lex’s warmth drained from Constantine’s body. “What do you mean you saw me?”
“I saw the night you were cut.” Her hand shook as she t
railed her fingers down the length of his scar. A shiver of dread worked its way up Constantine’s spine. “I couldn’t see who was hurting you. I only saw you being hurt.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. He didn’t want her crying. Not for him. He didn’t deserve her tears. “That was a long time ago.”
And so it was, yet there were nights when Constantine was back in that torture chamber suffering the pain and indignities Ulric forced upon him. Good God, how Constantine wished he’d had the strength to take the bastard out after that first night when Ulric had put his hands on him.
Tears slipped down her pale cheeks. “Not to you.”
