Page 15 of Bite of Vengeance

“She’ll do it,” I ground out.

Kali would do whatever she could to save Warner. Though, I had doubts. Warner was a Clover, and just like Kali, he would rather die than let vampires win. His thoughts might change once he fully transitioned, but right now, he still hated everyone on this property except for Kali.

“Don’t let me down, Zan.” With those words, he walked away to sit at the head of the large table where a human woman was. He didn’t waste any time sinking his fangs into her and feeding.

I stood there, watching Kali, my nerves growing. She was still sitting at the pool edge with Warner, but she couldn’t seem to stay still. She shook her shoulders, and then she straightened her spine before hunching over. Focusing harder, I listened to her heartbeat spike before she let out a short groan. Warner wiped wet hair from his forehead, leaning closer to her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, worry coating his voice. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” she choked out between heavy breaths. “My back hurts so fucking bad.”

I was halfway across the room when she cried out in pain, her heart pounding out of control. Warner’s eyes swarmed with panic as she curled up into a ball before she tried swallowing a scream. He jumped to his feet when he spotted me coming, and I nearly shoved him back into the pool when he tried stepping in front of Kali.

“I’ll lock you back in the room if you try to stop me,” I threatened, in no mood to deal with his bullshit.

Warner must have believed me because he didn’t move as I crouched down, softly laying my hand on Kali’s shoulder.

“What’s happening to me, Zan?” she asked, her eyes wild from pain when she looked up at me.

“I don’t know,” I said, grabbing the hem of her shirt and lifting it so I could inspect her back. There were no open cuts I could see, but her tattoo made it more difficult. My brows furrowed as I looked closer, seeing some kind of tiny specks covering her skin.

“Fuck,” she cursed, her body nearly shaking. “It hurts.”

I gently swiped my fingers across her back, only to jerk back when pain singed my fingertips. Before I could process what just happened, Amaros’s voice rang out.

“Hawthorn,” he called out. “Isn’t that why she has the tattoo? Her body is rejecting the poison now that she’s transitioning. She’ll be fine once the hawthorn is gone.”

His reaction gave me a bit of relief. My father needed her alive which meant he didn’t think she’d die from this. But when Kali let out another shriek, a weight fell on my chest. She’d never shown pain like this, and I knew she was despising how vulnerable this was making her while in front of Amaros.

I lifted her into my arms, letting out a hiss as the hawthorn touched my skin. If it burned for me, I could only imagine how bad it was for her.

“Hey,” Warner snapped as I strode away. “Where are you taking her?”

“To help her.” I glanced at Amaros, but he was occupied with the human again, and didn’t acknowledge me at all.

Without another word, I kicked the door open, rushing down the hall to my room.

Chapter 8

Kali

Iwas barely aware that Zan took me to his bathroom until the shower turned on. The pain from my back radiated through every cell of my body. Pressure built in my chest to the point of explosion, and I realized I’d been holding my breath. Zan set me on the counter before grabbing my shirt and pulling it over my head.

“Zan. What?—”

“The hawthorn is sitting on your skin,” he interrupted me as he grabbed the hem of my leggings and carefully tugged those down. “You need to wash it off.”

My back throbbed, proving the hawthorn was still working its way out. Once I was naked, he lifted me from the counter, and I let out a shriek, anguish ripping through me. But then I remembered we’d left Warner with Amaros in the rotunda. Fear cut through me.

“Is Warner okay?—”

“He’s fine. Gia is taking him back to his room.”

Right now, that answer was enough to pacify me since thinking of anything other than the wildfire of pain on my back was next to impossible.

“Cold,” I said hoarsely. “I need cold water. It’s burning.”

Keeping one arm around my waist, he reached over and adjusted the water temperature before pulling me into the large stand-up shower. The water hit my back, and I writhed in pain, Zan’s hold the only thing keeping me under the showerhead.

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