Page 97 of Destined for Shadows
“I am your husband. You will not shoot me.” Lucas moved to grab his wife, but the sensor gave him a venomous look that stopped him in his tracks.
“Back off,” Melena ordered him.
“Please let her do this,” Bartol gazed up the nephilim. “I’ll tell the angels to punish me instead.”
Conflicting emotions crossed Lucas’ face as he stood there, weighing whether saving his wife’s friend was worth Melena being punished. Cori hated that they were even having this conversation. She didn’t deserve this kind of loyalty.
The sensor shook her head. “No, this is on me. She’s a good friend, and I’d save her even if she wasn’t mated to Bartol—consequences be damned.”
“It’s okay, Mel.” Cori inched her hand toward Melena, not quite reaching her. “I don’t want you or anyone else to get in trouble.”
Bartol caressed her forehead. “We aren’t going to let you die. Either she gives you her blood, or I do.”
Lucas cursed under his breath. “If anyone could get away with doing this, it would be Melena. She is also the most likely to succeed in saving Cori, rather than killing her. Let her do it.”
The sensor didn’t waste another moment. She pulled a knife from her pocket and cut her wrist. Pressing the wound to Cori’s mouth a moment later, she ordered, “Drink.”
Blood filled Cori’s mouth. It wasn’t as metallic as she’d expected, and actually had a somewhat sweet taste to it. Did immortals come in different flavors than humans? She was in such a haze that the oddest thoughts came to mind.
Cori continued to drink, feeling the wounds on her body begin to heal. It hurt, but everything was regenerating quickly enough that it wasn’t as bad as the slow process of Micah’s magic. Only when her cheek and wrist began to mend did she struggle against the agony of bones knitting back together. Bartol held her still while Melena kept her wrist pressed to Cori’s mouth.
“She’s taking too much,” Lucas warned. “You didn’t give Emily or Yerik’s wife half this much.”
“Cori needs more with her injuries. I can’t stop now,” Melena insisted.
Micah moved closer. “We don’t know what it will do to her. This is the first non-sensor to consume your blood.”
“Look, she’s healing.” Melena gestured down Cori’s body. “She just needs a little more.”
In fact, there was something else happening. Cori felt a thrum start in her chest, and it started to expand to the rest of her. The dawn sky became brighter and more vivid, and oddly, she was starting to see auras around everyone standing near her. Their voices became louder, and new scents she’d only vaguely picked up before became more distinct. It was as if her body was coming alive for the first time.
She pushed Melena’s wrist away and sat up. “Enough.”
“But you’ve still got…” Melena began, gesturing at Cori’s feet.
The skin remained mottled and half-healed down there.
“It’ll be fine,” Cori said, unworried.
“You can’t know that,” the sensor insisted, offering her wrist again.
Something in her stomach clenched. Cori bowled over as intense pain ran through her, different from what she’d experienced with the burns. This was more like every fiber of her being was shifting and altering into something else. She squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to ride through the discomfort.
“What’s happening?” Bartol asked.
Cori cried out, and he pulled her into his lap.
“I don’t…” Melena began. “I think she’s changing.”
Bartol rocked her slowly in his arms. “To what? How?”
“She’s almost like a nerou,” Tormod replied, coming closer. “It’s very faint, but I can sense her now.”
“She couldn’t have become immortal with one dose. This isn’t like with vampires—and she didn’t die,” Melena argued.
As the pain began to ease, Cori opened her eyes again. She found everyone—including those who’d kept their distance before—were now huddling close together. They all looked at her like she was an alien.
Tormod shook his head. “Feel the vibe on her. She’s not immortal, but she is something more. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s part sensor.”
