Page 23 of Bitten By Desire

“Drink,” I whispered to him, and he latched on even as he remained unconscious, sucking at the offering with fervor as she whimpered.

I focused harder on the silver and yanked at it, drawing it out of his body as fast as I could without backing it up beneath his skin. When the last of it finally crawled back into the tubing, I yanked the IV from him, shoved the doctor away, and threw open the silver straps that had burned his chest and waist, and right through the pants on his thighs.

Then I waited, panicked.

The rest of the people in the lab had quietly evacuated the room as I’d worked, but I didn’t care. Despite the headache blooming from the use of magic, I knew I could stop anyone that dared come in here to try and prevent me from saving the man I loved.

His eyes fluttered, long lashes dancing across the skin of his cheeks as he opened them. Pale blue eyes focused on me. The blood hadn’t been enough. He needed more.

“Take whoever you need,” I said, stepping back and showing him the half a dozen or so frozen workers, including the major.

She was closest. And she was a psychic, which improved his own power. So, without hesitation, he pulled her down to the table and sank fangs into her throat. I gagged in response but didn’t turn away. I hated this woman with every fiber of my being. Almost as much as I hated Silas, Julian’s sire.

After a few minutes, Julian tossed her limp body to the floor and wiped at his bloody face with the back of his hand. His eyes blazed indigo and my shoulders fell with relief.

He was only a monster when he needed to be. And he was my monster. I flung myself into his arms, and he held me tight as I reveled in the warmth of his newly fed body and the thump of his slow but real heartbeat.

“We have to get Binx and get out of here,” I said. “We should take the major back for questioning if she’s still alive.”

“We will find him,” he said, rising to his feet.

But when we tried the door, it wouldn’t budge. Even with my telekinesis and Julian’s strength.

“Lockdown protocol,” Julian breathed, stepping back to assess the room. The burns and dark marks on his body had all but faded, and he appeared as perfect as ever.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“They’ll send in another mind bender or gas us soon. I expect the latter since if they had a telekinetic here, we’d already have seen them.”

“Gas? As in poison?” I yelped. “But you don’t have to breathe, right?”

“You do,” he said. “And they’d be ready for me with silver, stakes, fire, GodKiller, or some combination of the above. Unless they plan to keep us locked here until I starve and run out of food.” He glanced at the frozen people still with us. “And assume I will resort to killing you for them.”

I swallowed. “We need to get out of here.” I rushed to the wall and started searching for alternative ways out.

“There won’t be any,” Julian said, striding toward me. “We need to ask someone with authority for assistance I’m afraid.”

We both looked down at the major who lay in a puddle of her own blood, blonde hair infused with sticky red. I swallowed then squinted to find a faint black aura.

“She’s alive but not well,” I said. “Put her on the table and strap her down.”

While Julian worked on that, I gathered as many vials of potions as I could into my belt then joined him back by the major.

“Wake up,” I ordered.

Her eyes snapped open, but I was already telling her to only speak when answering me truthfully. No psychic abilities.

“How did you avoid listening to my command on the rooftop?” I asked.

“I didn’t.”

I pressed my lips together for a moment, calming myself. “Then how did you end up back at MorningStar?”

“They came after me, realized what had happened, and rehabilitated me.”

“Why are you so bent on using me and killing Julian?” I asked, almost hysterically.

“If I don’t secure you both, they will torture, maybe kill me.”

---