Page 40 of From Frost to Flame

“Much better,” Silas purred. He brought his other hand to Lex’s mouth but didn’t let Lex bite down. Instead, he angled his middle and index finger, sliced them open on a fang, then shoved them roughly to the back of his throat.

Lex gagged and coughed on the surprise intrusion. He pushed on Silas's chest to get away, but it was useless. Silas just laughed and held his cheeks firmly in his other hand, keeping him stuck in place.

“Not funny,” Lex slurred over his fingers.

“No, but it is cute.” He started pumping them in and out of his mouth, coating his tongue in blood. “I cut some small veins. You won’t get a lot of blood, but it’ll have to do for now.”

Lex wanted to make sure no one was watching the obscene feeding, but as if reading his mind, Silas held his face even tighter.

“You need to worry about me and when I’m done with your mouth. Nothing else.”

The words were playful, but Lex’s heart flipped as he pictured having other parts of Silas down his throat. He shoved that thought away and did his best to focus on getting the feeding over with. His fangs kept grazing Silas's fingers with each stroke, and his world grew hazier by the second.

He wasn’t sure when he tipped fully into lust. All he knew was eventually, he clutched Silas's wrist and pulled his fingers further into his mouth. His tongue licked at him hungrily. Subtle waves of pleasure washed over him, and soft moans fell from his lips. He squirmed, uncomfortable, as his erection grew in his damp clothes. All his concerns about the others hearing him faded away. All he could think about was how he wanted a more fruitful vein and how badly he yearned for Silas to peel off his clothes.

“Aren’t you well behaved once you have blood in you?”

Lex opened his eyes to see Silas watching him intently. He was no longer holding his face or sliding his fingers between his lips. Instead, he leaned back against the tree and watched Lex intently. The blood in his system woke his clarity and shame.

Mortification washed over Lex as he dropped Silas's hand. “I wasn’t thinking straight and, um, I’m not really sure what that was exactly.”

“Don’t worry, it was sweet. I was enjoying the view.”

“Glad you enjoyed it,” he muttered.

Silas wiped Lex’s lips with a thumb and smiled down at him. “You are so adorable when you’re all grumpy and embarrassed.”

Before he could process the compliment, Silas was helping him to his feet.

“Lex is doing a bit better,” he announced, giving him a reassuring smile. “I don’t want him bothered yet, but we can get going.”

Silas's protectiveness made his face heat. His family and Castor joined them as they embarked through the thorns.

If Lex had any doubts that they were in a mirrorscape, they were gone now. Instead of fountains and pools, there were more murky ponds with lilies and seaweed. The longer they explored, the more warrior statues he spotted entangled in the bushes. Thin cracks ran through their bodies and moss grew on their limbs in splotches.

The left side of Julian’s face looked a mess. His skin was scorched, a bandage was taped to his cheek, and his left eye was swollen shut.

“Does it hurt?” Lex timidly asked Julian as they walked.

“It stings, but I’ll be fine. My healing is slowed since I’m starting to run low on blood, but thanks to Castor, it hurts a little less. I’m more worried about you. We’ve never seen you so panicked.”

“Human life stuff. I’m okay now, thanks to Silas.” Julian and Mora shared a look. Lex was about to defend himself when a snap rang out from under his boot and stole his attention. He looked down and gasped in surprise. “It’s a bone.”

“There’s more of them,” Silas said, nodding ahead. A clearing of crushed rosebushes laid in front of them as if flattened by a massive stampede. There were minotaur, fae, and siren skeletons scattered all over the ground.

“Well, this isn’t a good sign,” Julian said, tightening his hold on Mora as they caught up.

“We’re in a graveyard. The bones are picked clean,” Lex said, peering at an arm bone. Split shields and split arrows littered the space. “The question is, what could do this kind of damage? Killing any of these nonhumans would take extreme force.”

Silas kneeled and tapped the edge of an arm bone “They’re all missing right hands.”

“That’s odd.” Castor picked up a siren arm with no hand for a closer look. “You think someone chopped off their hands?”

“No,” Lex said, kneeling next to Silas. “See how jagged the edges are? That’s not a chop, it's a bite.”

“But if that’s the case, how has a beast capable of annihilating nonhumans stayed hidden?” Mora asked, lifting a dusty metal helmet off a skull and turning it over in her hands. “We haven’t heard anything aside from the hum of mosquitos in this place.”

“Maybe it’s a horde of something?” Castor offered. “Like a bunch of locusts or rats.”

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