Page 80 of Bleeding for the Prince
His magic was calm again, and as far as he could tell, there wasn’t anything that would be dangerous in the atmosphere, if he didn’t include the fucking great dragon. The sky had a little purple hue, and the weather was temperate, a lot like a spring evening in the fae realm.
A portal opened. He wasn’t expecting anyone to follow. Chris appeared. “You need to come back. Something’s happened to Gwil.”
“What is it?”
“We’re not sure, but I think the link created from the potion might have drained him.”
“I was going to send a signal so someone would come for him,” he said, pointing at the dragon.
“I’ll do that. You go see to your poorly vampire.”
Poorly vampire seemed to suggest Gwil had a sniffle and might need tucking up in bed with a hot toddy and a Netflix series to binge, but as he arrived back in the cavern, it was obvious Gwil was not a bit under the weather. Gwil was propped up against the rock face, his pale skin a sickly pallor rather than the porcelain white of his usual colour.
“Chris said that something was wrong.” Hyax was at Gwil’s side in a flash, cradling his jaw. He was clammy to the touch, his eyes dull. “Gwil, what’s happened?”
“Dunno. Don’t feel well. Really tired, never been this tired.”
Goya was propping Gwil up; without the support, Gwil would have toppled sideways. He turned to Simon, hoping he would have some answers. “This wasn’t meant to happen. Why has Gwil been affected?”
“Chris’s hypothesis, and I agree with him, is that the potion must have created a link and you subconsciously used Gwil’s energy to help feed the portal.”
Chris returned and crouched down next to Hyax. “How’s he doing?”
“No improvement. I don’t think this is something he’s going to recover from just sitting on the floor of a cave.” Chris reached forwards and placed his hand on Gwil’s shoulder. He wrinkled his nose. “You should get him home. I can take DCI Goya back, give you some space.”
“I can make my own way,” Goya said. He stood and brushed the dirt off his trousers. “As far as I’m concerned, my involvement here is finished .”
He didn’t wait for a reply and strode away. Hyax was happy to see him go.
“I’m glad he’s gone. I don’t think you’d want Goya to hear the solution I’d recommend,” Simon said.
“I thought I would take him home, give him some blood, and let him recover.”
Simon and Chris exchanged looks. “He needs blood, Hyax,” Simon said. “But I think the issue isn’t that he needs blood in general, but that he needsyourblood. It will restore his energy and sever the link. Close the loop.”
“You don’t have to do that, Hyax,” Gwil croaked. “I reckon a blood of good vintage and some sleep and I’ll be fine.”
“No, you won’t, Gwil,” Simon said. He turned to Hyax. “I wouldn’t suggest moving him via a portal until he’s fed. I know you’re using the same fix I use for Robin, which allows him to travel through them, but I think in his current state, it could be dangerous.”
Hyax shrugged off his jacket and unbuttoned a few of the buttons of his shirt. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
“Are you sure there’s no other option?” Gwil asked. “I don’t want to put Hyax in this position.”
Hyax wasn’t going to let Gwil suffer. “Don’t be fucking stupid. You’re in this mess because you agreed to help, and I didn’t realise there could be side effects. I should have been more diligent towards your safety. I missed something.”
“I don’t think you should be so hard on yourself,” Chris said. “Yes, you can and should alleviate Gwil’s suffering, but you can’t be held responsible for what’s happened.”
Hyax knew he should have known better. Spells like the ones he’d used with Gwil had to have a balance somewhere, and he’d thought the act of being fed from was the payoff and hadn’t even thought about how it might affect Gwil.
“Can you give us some privacy?”
Chris and Simon stood. “We’ll head back to Crofton Hall,” Simon said. “Call me when you’re home or if you need any help.”
He didn’t pay them further attention as he pulled Gwil into his arms.
“I wanted this to be something you’d enjoy,” Gwil said, sounding defeated. “Now you’re never going to want to let me feed from you again.”
Hyax stroked his cheek. “Nonsense. This is part of you, and you sacrificed yourself to save your city; you feeding from me now could never have a negative connotation.”
