Page 60 of Soulbound Shadows: Part 1

20

GABRIEL

We stumbled through the swirling portal and into the manor’s guest bedroom. There was a moment of ragged quiet where the only sound was Evangeline’s gasping breath, then we both collapsed onto the foot of the bed.

“I was prepared for that to be an unpleasant experience,” I said blankly. “But perhaps I wasn’t quite prepared enough.”

Evangeline huffed out an exhausted imitation of a laugh, dragging a sooty hand down her face. “Yeah, tell me about it.” She glanced down at the bed between us, and I heard her breath catch in her throat. “Shit,” she said softly but with feeling.

I followed her gaze and blinked in surprise. Dark blood was soaking into the bedspread between us.

“Ah,” I said dumbly. Evangeline was already up and moving, patting herself down. When she didn’t find any injuries on herself, she gave me an accusing look, as though it was audacious of me to have been hurt.

It wasn’t as though I’d been hiding it on purpose. The adrenaline had numbed me to the pain, but now it was fading, I could feel the deep throbbing of it along my side, all the way from my lower ribs to my mid-thigh. When I looked down, I could see that my pants was wet with blood.

“How bad is it?” Evangeline asked. Her tone was carefully brisk, as though practicality and momentum were her only refuge from emotion.

I touched a hand carefully to my leg, and my fingers came away wet and red. “I’m not sure,” I said. “Not lethal, certainly. It’s a bit late for that.”

“Oh, he thinks he’s funny,” Evangeline muttered. “All right, pants off.”

“You’re not going to buy me dinner first?” I joked weakly, toeing off my shoes and reaching for my fly.

“Eh,” she said, waving a hand. “This is at least our third date.”

I huffed out a quiet laugh, and she smiled at me, the worry in her face easing for just a moment. I winced as I tried to stand enough to get my trousers off. My leg burned. Evangeline was by my side in an instant, easing me back down onto the bed. I kicked the offending item of clothing off inelegantly, leaving me chilly and exposed in my socks and boxer-briefs. My thigh was covered in a network of little cuts, some still glittering with broken glass. Evangeline sucked in a breath, brow furrowing.

“I heal very quickly,” I told her. “I’ll be fine in a few days.”

Evangeline shot me a look. “I’m not sure we have a few days to spare,” she said. “Besides, I can fix you up quickly.”

She crouched on the floor by my feet, looking intently at my leg. I fought down a shiver at the sight. Her hands were gentle and intoxicatingly warm as she examined my injuries, her head bent so close to my bare skin that I could feel the brush of her breath with every exhale. I clenched my hand into a fist so tightly, my nails bit into the skin as I tried to think of wildly unerotic things. The smell of the sewer we’d just explored, for instance. It helped, but only a little.

“All right, this is going to feel a little weird,” Evangeline warned me.

“I’m sure I can handle it.” My voice came out a tad softer than I would have liked.

Evangeline murmured the words of a spell, moving her hand through the air just above my skin. As she did, I felt an odd fluttering sensation, strange but not unpleasant. When she pulled away, the shards of glass that had been stuck in my wounds floated gently above her palm, slick with blood. She glanced around, then flicked her fingers and sent the shards floating over to a decorative bowl on the dresser. They dropped onto the porcelain with faint clinks.

“You’re doing really well,” Evangeline said, and my body lit up like a firecracker.

“I—” I cleared my throat. “I’m not the one doing the work here.”

Evangeline smiled up at me. Her hair was falling into her face. Before I could stop myself, I reached out and brushed the stray curls back behind the shell of her ear. She looked up at me, wide-eyed, her ears turning pink. Was I imagining it, or had she leaned into the touch just slightly?

“Thanks,” she said, barely louder than a whisper. She glanced back down at my thigh, still seeping blood, and the moment broke, delicate as a soap bubble. “This might hurt. I’ve never done this on a vampire before, so I’m kinda gonna have to adapt as I go.”

“I trust you,” I said, and meant it completely.

Evangeline squeezed my knee gently, then began to work. Her magic settled around me, so warm and sweet it was dizzying. I’d thought feeling her lay shields and charms over me at the witch’s house had been overwhelming, but it was nothing compared to this. It felt as though every inch of me was being ever-so-gently touched by Evangeline’s soft, curious hands. I bit my lip hard enough that one of my fangs broke the thin skin, and the tang of my own blood in my mouth did nothing to distract me. Heat curled languorously up my spine . A tiny gasp escaped me, and Evangeline’s eyes flicked up to meet mine.

“You okay?” she asked. “Am I hurting you?”

“No, no,” I said. “It’s fine. Are you nearly done?”

She shook her head, and the curls I’d just smoothed back bounced free again. Huffing, she blew them out of her face. “The vampire thing is throwing me, I think,” she said. “The amount of power I’m using would’ve healed a human already, but with you it’s barely scratching the surface. I’m gonna give you some more, but you need to tell me if I’m hurting you, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, bracing myself.

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