Page 115 of Blade's Battle
As if anyone could take her place. “I don’t want to make Damien look bad given how I’m a better kisser.”
“Really?” Tess asked. “And how does one prove that exactly?”
“Never mind,” Damien said before Blade could reply.
Blade laughed. “Leverage is nice.”
“Should have kicked your ass out of this pack years ago,” Damien said, seconds before sporting a grin.
Pryce elbowed his way past everyone and made his way to the bed. “I need to know what you did, Anna. I’ve been giving you antivirals just in case—”
“Oh, God, no! Get it out, get it out!” she said tearing at the IV line.
Pryce clamped his hand down on the port to keep her from ripping it out. “Not until you tell me what I’m dealing with. From all the symptoms, I’m guessing you’ve contracted a virus—”
“Itisa virus. I’m using a viral vector on myself to target naked DNA with recombinant DNA to protect Blade when we blood-bond. The virus is harmless. Now remove the IV!”
“It stays in,” Blade said, putting his hand on the port and letting Pryce move away. “You can’t endanger yourself to protect me. I won’t allow it.”
“But you’ll allow yourself to get injured instead? Why shouldIallow that?”
“Remove the IV,” Damien ordered.
“What?” both Blade and Pryce said.
“It’s her choice.”
It was the hardest thing Blade had done in a long time, but he eased away from the port. Pryce’s glare said he didn’t agree with this either, but he removed the port and bandaged her arm.
Anna slumped back into the bed, noticeably more drained than moments before.
“Visiting hours are over. Everyone out,” Pryce said, his concern quite clear. “Including you, Blade.”
“Not until I have some answers.” He was angry that she’d put herself in danger, and there was no hiding that from her or the others.
“I want him to stay, Pryce, please.”
Except for Pryce, and Frank—who shadowed him everywhere these days on Damien’s orders—everyone left.
“You lied,” Blade said, unable to eliminate the disappointment from his voice. “You said you couldn’t find a way to protect my bridge during the blood-bond, but it was something we’d take care of afterward.”
“I tried, Blade, but my theory failed. One after the next. First repairing the CLF3 gene and then protecting your bridge. I didn’t want to chance waiting until after we blood-bonded when it could be too late. I had another theory, one that involved my genes and I felt I had to take the chance.”
“Just because your first theory failed doesn’t mean you should experiment on yourself. Or lie to me.”
“If I hadn’t, you would never have agreed to blood-bond. I can’t let you go feral.”
“We both have to want to blood-bond, Anna. It can’t be a decision based on desperation.”
“Ineverlied about wanting you, Blade. Even if you weren’t going feral, I’d still want to blood-bond you.”
She averted her eyes, and he worried he was pushing her too hard, but this wasn’t a minor issue he could sweep under the rug and forget. “Maybe, but not so soon. You were—you still are—mourning Kurt.”
She sucked in air. “Kurt has nothing to do with this.”
“Doesn’t he? I think he has everything to do with this. You’re so afraid of losing me, as you lost him, that you’re willing to risk yourself. That’s not what I want from you, from a blood-bond with you. Did you agree to a blood-bond before or after you started these treatments on yourself?”
Her lips were trembling. “After. I wasn’t going to let you go feral. I would have blood-bonded you one way or the other. What was the alternative, Blade? My attempts to repair your CLF3 gene failed and you can’t hold your wolf off forever.”
