Chapter 26

 

The door opened and Troy towered in it. His eyes moved over me and then he looked at his brother sprawled on the bed. Coming in, he closed the door and went over to the bed quietly. “I had hoped it looked worse than it was, but now that you’re all cleaned up I can see how bad it is.”

Staying where I was, I quickly blurted out. “He’s going to take some of my essence.” There. Now I had to go through with it.

Troy straightened and looked over at me and then back down to his older brother lying there with glowing red eyes. He nodded his head once as if he knew the reason he was here. Leaning over Quinton, he spoke in a soft voice. “I won’t let you hurt her.”

Quinton took a deep breath and then jolted as pain flooded through him. “Get me on my feet.”

I rushed over and stopped with one knee on the bed so I could see around the large King taking up too much space. “You don’t have to move, I can just…”

“I’ll stand.” His voice was loud, leaving me no room to ignore his wishes.

“Fine.” I bounced back up and paced a few feet away. About a hundred questions flooded through my brain in the short time it took Troy to get him on his feet. Would it hurt was the first thing, which made me feel like a wuss for even thinking it. What would I feel while he did it? Clearly if people donated willingly it couldn’t be a horrid experience, right?

Troy held Quinton for a few seconds to make sure he was steady enough and then he backed away slowly. He looked over at me and I don’t know what the look was he was sending my way, but it let me know that I’d better follow through on this.

Before I could run out of the room, I went over and stood in front of Quinton, looking up at his battered face. It was just the reason I needed to move a little closer to him. He was my friend and I wanted to help him.

I stood there trying not to visibly shake. Quinton didn’t move, he just continued to stand there and sway, his red eyes moving over my face. It was a good thing I was one of those aggressive females, because clearly I was going to have to make the first move. Stepping into his body, I placed my hands against his chest lightly enough that I wouldn’t hurt any of his injuries. He placed a shaking hand on my shoulder.

Remembering where Troy had told me they bit, I brushed the hair back from my face and tilted my head to the side, hoping he did this quickly before I had time to really think about it.

Quinton pulled me gently by the back of my neck until I was cradled into him. His hand was shaking and breathing was uneven, I didn’t know if it was from his injuries or the anticipation. Glancing over at Troy, he stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes as red as his brothers.

When Quinton leaned down, his face brushing over my neck I almost squeaked out a sound of fear, which was something this girl didn’t do.

“Thank you, Damariss,” he whispered against my skin.

When he bit into my neck, there was a little sting, but nothing like I was preparing for. I could barely feel his teeth in me. The only thing I felt was an odd tingling sensation that spread from the bite and strangely enough a sort of peace came over me. Seriously, I thought as Quinton pulled me tighter into his embrace, what’s the big deal with this?

Without warning, he straightened away from me and released my shoulders. “You taste like my sister,” he said under his breath before he walked over to Troy, panting like he was still trying to catch his breath. “Nothing ever happens to her!” He growled and then stumbled toward the door.

“Wow, he has the whole big brother thing down pat,” I chuckled.

Rafael came flying through the door. “I just passed Quint, he was crying…” He

looked at me. “Oh my god! Is she alright?” His eyes flicked to my neck.

Raising a hand, I touched it to feel it wet.

“She gave consent,” Troy said before Rafael could say anymore.

“Are you just going to stand there and let her bleed out?”

Troy jerked me around in his arms and lifted my hair. A pained look crossed his face. The room began to spin, so I clutched his shirt to keep from dropping to the floor.

“Troy. Are you going to help her?”

I looked up to see his face blur before me, but I could still make out his red eyes.

“I don’t know if…”

“For Christ sakes! Besotted! The whole lot of you.” Rafael swung me up into his arms and I had to grab his neck to remain steady. “I don’t know where your little blade is huntress, but I am only going to close the wound. Of that you have my word.”

I felt myself nod and moved my floating head to the side so he could. He lowered his head and I could feel his breath on my skin.

“Stop!” Troy growled from somewhere near my head. Strong hands pulled me out of Rafael’s arms and I found myself looking up into red eyes I knew.

Leaning into his warmth, I tilted my head and almost sighed to feel his lips brush over my skin. With each stroke of his tongue across the bite mark a shiver went through me.