Page 136 of White Raven
“Take me,”she exhaled, and he could feel her fingers twine through his hair. A throbbing vein pulsed against his lips, and he opened his mouth against it, gasping for air, and biting into salvation. He drank from her savagely, unable to stop himself. Every second seemed like an eternity. Every swallow breathed life back in.
“Kane! Kane, stop! You’re gonna kill her, mate!”
He knew that voice. Athan opened his eyes, and realized Tony was kneeling behind her—behind…
Sarah?
It was real.Veryreal. The monster was still feeding, but theman…
Sarah…
“Kane! Please! She’s gonna—”
It wasn’t Athan who growled, baring his teeth, and snapping at Tony in warning…there was nothing he could do. It was gonna happen again. He was going to take her life, yet again…a haunting replay of the night he first saw her.
Fight it Athan…come back to me.
He wanted to…Fuck, he wanted nothing more than to make this stop.
I’m so sorry…I’m so…why, Sarah? Why did you do this?
Her arms squeezed tighter, and every drop he took from her made him feel more alive. Warm. Safe…home.
All the flowers…are mine.
Her voice was hoarse, even in his mind…weakening.Dying.
On the morrow, he will leave me…as my hopes have flown before…
He drank in her scent…her warmth…her life. Her arms slackened, and a flutter of wings distracted him. He’d nearly taken it all when his mouth broke from her skin, and Poe appeared on her shoulder…
“Nevermore,”Poe screeched.
Athan heaved air in and out of his burning lungs. Sarah drooped in his arms, half conscious, and smiling to herself. Her wrist and neck were bloody and torn. Tony winced back in utter shock. She stared at him through heavy-lidded hazel eyes, Poe watching him just as intently…and hesawthem.Trulysaw them.
“Sarah…” he breathed, his bloody lip quivering.
She reached up, stroking his face with a trembling hand, and it finally dawned on him that she was real. She’d come for him. She’dalwayscome for him.
“If you don’t fucking hold me right now, I swear to God—”
He cut her off with a blood-drenched kiss to her mouth, and it was anything but gentle. She was here. They were alive.
They were together.
And whatever—whoever—had tried to rip them apart…was going to fucking pay.
Half an hour. She had half an hour to board a flight and get to Portland. It was barely enough time to find Leigh, make sure she was safe, and then get to her family before it was too late. If John sent an order to hit, they might have already carried it out—or are in the process of wiping the wolves from existence this very second. Who could say where his mind was? Where it hadeverbeen? He might have decided to extend that hit beyond her family…and instead leave the legacy of werewolves and hybrids like herself, just as much a part of history as his famous poetry.
Ryan slipped the battery into her regular phone, and frantically called Leigh. By the grace of whatever God was listening, she answered on the second ring.
“Ryan?”
“Leigh…where are you? You’ve gotta hide.”
“What? Hide? Why?”
“Look, you’re not safe. It’s my fault, and I’m really sorry. I need you to get in touch with a woman named Rhaena Northwood. She—”
