Page 147 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
I didn’t hear her reply, and despite my desire to see her face, I couldn’t will my eyes to open. I felt her fingers when they started to comb through my hair, though. I felt the bond that no longer existed between us wedge into the deepest parts of my soul.
I sighed a contented sound. Because this . . . I could die a happy male like this.
Chapter
Thirty
TEDDY
While Elias restedbecause that was all he was doing—resting. He wasn’t unconscious but simply resting—I used a sharp rock to cut through the sweater I’d held against his stomach.
It was drenched in blood, as was the snow beneath him. Once I managed to cut the sweater, I pushed one side against the wound on his stomach and the other against the one on his back. I took his pain-filled groan as a good sign. The blue of his lips spoke a different story.
My hands and fingers were covered in blood, but knowing how much he loved it when I played with his hair, I combed my fingers through the long, dirty strands while he slept with his head on my lap. My shoulders shook at the small burst of wind that blew around us. I tried to huddle against myself, but I had nothing to ward off the cold with only a thin tank top.
Already, my feet and hands were numb. The snow had soaked through my pants, and every shiver that wrackedthrough me jostled Elias’s head, drawing out another hushed protest.
I wasn’t sure how it’d come to this.
Almost ten months ago, Elias had broken the Guardians’ most important rule and torn through the veil to get to me. That decision and the countless others we’d made brought us here. To Elias bleeding in the woods I didn’t recognize.
We were left alone in the forest for over an hour. They had to know we couldn’t escape. Not like this.
Even without my mind-speak, I still tried to reach for Alastor, using the familiar threads of his magic to search for him. Whether it was because of my lack of magic or that we were in a different realm, I couldn’t reach him.
I sighed, trying my best to hold back another shiver.
When Elias lifted his hand, I peered down at him to find him looking at me. A slight smile played on his lips even while his eyes had dulled to a pale violet.
His fingers touched my cheek, and I cupped his hand for a few seconds before I clasped them against my hands. I rubbed his cold hand and blew a heated breath onto it.
“I heard you trying to call Alastor,” he whispered, slowly licking his lips. “I think together we can reach him.”
I didn’t question how he’d heard me or how we’d try to contact Alastor together. I trusted Elias and trusted that maybe fate wasn’t done with us yet.
He lowered my hand to his lips, where he placed a gentle kiss before nipping at me playfully.
My eyes widened, and I scanned our surroundings for Pietro. Not seeing him, I mouthed the words, “Bite me.”
His brows drew together, and just as he started to tell me no, I bit into my hand. Although he moved slowly, he sat upand tried to gently tug my hand out of my mouth. I didn’t relent until I tasted blood.
“Drink,”I mouthed. “Elias,” I said with a growl when he refused.
His gray pallor grew worse, and once he lowered his head back on my lap, I placed my hand in his mouth. His tongue swirled around the small puncture I’d made while he kept his eyes on me.
“Bite me,”I mouthed again, hoping my eyes reflected the panic and hope I felt.
His canines punctured my wrist, and a warmth filtered through my veins. I used my other hand to run my fingers through his hair, encouraging him to keep drinking from me.
I wasn’t sure if it’d work, if my blood could heal or help him, but I remembered Nalari believing it could help Brenton after he’d been shot with an iron bullet.
His attention never left my face, and I felt my body slacken in relief when his dull eyes brightened. Slowly, they transformed into a black that was as beautiful as it was lethal.
He angled his head to the side, and his canines lengthened.
“Pietro.” He angled his chin toward a sea of trees on our left.
When he shifted forward, I saw that both his wounds were still bleeding. He bent toward his ankle where he removed a small dagger. Before he rested his head on my lap again, he mouthed, “Alastor.”
