Page 68 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

I can hear you, I told him, sending my thoughts to him as effortlessly as breathing. You’re right. She doesn’t have long. What do we do?

Give her your blood, he told me. Like, a lot of it.

I nodded back at him and, with a small act of will, I caused my fangs to drop. I bit my wrist again, wincing at the sharp sting. Blood so dark that it was nearly black welled up from the wound immediately. I held it to Annie’s mouth, dripping the blood between her lips.

Nothing happened.

She’s not swallowing it. I thought at him desperately. Tobias, why isn’t she swallowing?

She will, Tobias assured me.

Then, I felt a surge of power well up between us. I knew it came from Tobias, but it seemed to draw from me, too. It was like every single nerve ending was buzzing and alive. Then the power gathered itself, traveling between us and into the point of connection where Tobias held Annie’s hand.

There was a single intention infused into the power: that Annie swallow the blood. With our minds joined like this, I didn’t know exactly who had formed it. It was suddenly hard to know where Tobias ended and I began. Perhaps we had both formed the intention at the same time. I felt a sense of wonder as I realized that this is what casting a spell was. It wasn’t really the spooky arcane words Tobias spoke that made reality obey him, it was his intention and power that really made things happen.

The magic, though silent, took effect immediately.

Annie swallowed. I left my wrist where it was. Then she swallowed again. And then, a third time, drinking in more of my blood.

That’s enough, I think.

I nodded, pulling my wrist back. My wound was already closing itself up anyway.

And then I gave a small start as I realized that I could suddenly sense my blood working its way through her. Connected with Tobias in this manner, with our energies pouring into each other and into Annie, I could also feel the power of my blood working its own magic on her ruined body. Wherever it touched, it sparked life.

One after another, her organs and tissues began to awaken and return to their normal function. I wasn’t a doctor, so I couldn’t have told you exactly how I knew that, except that I could sense the deep wrongness within her fixing itself, restoring to health and vitality.

Her heartbeat strengthened. It went from fluttering and weak to steady and strong in a matter of moments. She drew in a shuddering breath and then coughed a few times. Like a reflex, she swallowed. Then she coughed again. After that, she began breathing deeply and evenly.

The chalky pallor left her skin. The sunken hollows remained, but they looked less ghastly with each passing moment. In fact, with each breath she took, my vampiric instincts told me the same thing Tobias’s magic did: she was going to live.

But we’re not done yet. Tobias told me, sounding grim. Her soul has already left her body. We need to go and find it and convince her to come back.

We?

Tobias looked up at me from the other side of the bed and gave me a small smile. Yes, we. We’re deeply connected right now. When I use my power to step out of my body, I’m pretty sure it’ll take you with me.

You’re pretty sure?

I’ve never done this before with anyone except Poppy, he admitted. I’ve never trusted anyone else enough to connect with them in this way. Only you. He paused, then added, do you trust me?

Of course I trusted him. That was a silly question. I nodded.

Tobias let out a small sigh of relief. I could feel some of the tension leave him through the connection we shared.

Then he simply got up and walked out of his body.

I found that I could see it easily. Effortlessly. Tobias in spirit form was translucent but shining with a pale golden light that reminded me of the same white-gold color that the halos of saints are always painted with in renaissance artwork.

More than that, I felt the goodness and the power of him, those things I’d always known were there, but yet muted by flesh. Now, it was impossible not to see him for what he was.

My mate was absolutely breathtaking.

I let out a soft cry of surprise as waves of pure emotion hit me, unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. It was like every part of me had been rubbed raw, so even the tiniest feeling was almost too much.

Tobias drifted closer to me, and I felt a flash of tenderness and amusement from his mind, along with a fierce sensation of protectiveness.

Look down, Bryan.

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