Page 67 of Dark Reign

Or … I could take the hard road.

The one that would require me to break the law, would require me to put myself in the hotseat yet again.

For her.

I was only mildly surprised by how easily I made the decision. Removing both cufflinks, I rolled the sleeves of my shirt to the elbow, and then loosened my tie.

Today, I’d faced my father, had been consumed by his disappointment. There was no mistaking how lightly I ought to tread. Having his thoughts toward me be anything but proud and approving were once my biggest fear.

However, as I stared at Corina, taking notice of how the color had drained from her face, how shallow her breaths had become, how her grasp on my hand loosened, my priorities began to shift.

Suddenly, my thoughts became aligned and I was prepared to do the unthinkable.

Still on my knees beside her, I brought Cori closer, feeling the blood-dampened hair at the nape of her neck where my hand now rested. She groaned lightly when I moved her half an inch—just enough to cause her head to slightly tilt to the side. It was enough to expose her neck to me, where blood barely pumped through the veins and arteries. Elle was right; shewasslipping away.

I bared that thought in mind as I leaned closer, letting my lips rest on her slender throat.

My teeth sank into her skin with ease, but there was something so pleasurable about the slight resistance before my fangs punctured through. Something bordering on sensual.

“Your Highness!” Elle protested as we barreled down the street. It was an attempt to stop me because she knew the cost of this action I’d taken, but I ignored her completely.

Mostly, because this was the only way to save Corina, but it was also due in part to something far more primitive within me.

I simply enjoyed the taste of her.

It’d been so long since consuming blood straight from the source. It was so easy to lose control and I was at war with myself now. The side of my nature that craved it screamed for me to keep going until there was nothing left, until Corina’s lifeless body slumped in the seat and I had my fill.

But then there was another side, one that seemed to prefer her alive.

I did my best to letthathalf of myself rule as more of the warm liquid slid down my throat. She had already lost so much.

My priorities realigned, and I focused on what I set out to do. I swallowed one last time, as I gained total control of the primal instincts that drove me. Next, my fangs filled with venom and I purposely didn’t think as I allowed them to empty into Corina’s veins, pulsating as the flow of blood reversed. Eventually, I was no longer the receiver, but the giver.

Giver of life, yes, but … so much more.

It was a common misconception among her kind that an Ianite’s blood could heal an ill or injured human. That was never so. There was, in fact, only one way to cure their diseases, or repair a body on the verge of death.

And that was to turn them.

Our venom—poisonous when ingested by one of our own—was a miracle cure for those in a state similar to Corina’s. It would work its way through her system and change her forever, in ways she could only imagine.

From studies I’ve read, becoming an Ianite brings out the true essence of a human. Whoever they really are, deep down on the inside, whatever their passions, those characteristics are heightened tenfold. In the coming weeks, Corina would become more herself than she’s ever been. However, it was much too soon to tell if that would be a change she welcomed and embraced, or resented.

I’d seen how devastated she was today when receiving her mark. It was like something inside her died a little. I could only imagine how she’d react to finding out she’d been made one of us against her will, without having any say in the matter. In a perfect world, she’d understand I only acted to save her life, but … as I spilled poison into her body and initiated this irreversible process, I wondered if she wouldn’t have preferred death.

Don’t think like that. You’re doing what’s best for her.

As her once lifeless figure began to squirm, I believed the statement I chanted internally to be true. Iwasdoing what was best for her. The evidence was in the fact that she’d regained control of her limbs. Only, what was best for her came with a hearty sentence for me. One I hoped I’d be able to talk and reason my way out of somehow. It was true that I knew people in high places, but couldn’t guarantee any of them would go to bat for me when all was said and done. My father’s favor would only grant me so many passes.

I opened my eyes a moment when Corina’s back arched upward, causing her chest to press into mine, lessening the space between us. Next, a soft hand grazed the side of my neck as I drained the last drops of venom inside her, feeling that same hand settle at the back of my neck. The sacks in my gums finally emptied and I slowly withdrew my fangs. The taste of her against my tongue made me slow to retreat, but when I didn’t back away, it wasn’t of my own doing.

It was hers.

She held me there, my lips locked to her skin as she groaned and writhed in a daze, still only semi-conscious from the loss of blood. My heart leapt again and I breathed deeply, inhaling her at such close range.

What was she … doing?

My attraction toward her caused me to revel in whatever was happening, although I wondered if she’d gotten confused. Maybe she was still in a dreamlike state, and mistook me for someone else, but I stopped thinking so much when she turned.

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