Page 79 of Love Heals
He opened the door to the roof, the one he must have come through. It was cool inside of the staircase. Cool and dark.
Jared set me down again, letting me lean against the wall. "How?" I asked, looking at the stairs, the door that led out to the roof, and then back at him.
"Never mind that," Jared said, his eyes fixed on the stake in my chest. "How do I help you?"
"You don't." I glanced at the stake too, at the place in my chest where my heart used to beat. "You shouldn't... you shouldn't have come." Having him here made everything harder. I didn't want to leave him, not really. "I'm sorry. Drizzit..."
"Drizzit is going to be fine," Jared said firmly. "I know you didn't mean to do that. I pushed you too hard too fast."
"No." He couldn’t blame himself for this. None of this was his fault.
Jared's gaze stuck to my skin, which had turned from pale to red. "You need to drink from me."
"Even if I drink now..." Without my magic, it didn't matter how much blood I consumed. It wouldn't heal me. That was the reason Leandra had walked away. There was no way for me to survive this.
Before Jared had arrived on the scene, the thought hadn’t even bothered me that much. I’d felt like there was no place for me to go anymore, but now… I tried to reach out to Jared, willed my hand to move, but it was shaking so badly I might as well have been waving at him. Jared grabbed it and squeezed.
"We have to try," he insisted. The worry lines on his face were replaced by an expression of sheer determination. "I'm not letting you die."
"But—"
He laid a finger on my lips to shush me. "I've saved Luke, and I'll save you."
Saved Luke? What was he talking about?
Before I could come to a conclusion, Jared offered me his neck. My fangs extended automatically. That was just what the sight, the gesture, did to me.
"Bite me," Jared demanded.
I didn't find it in myself to protest. How could I ever refuse Jared’s blood? There was no reason for me to deny myself one final taste of the only man who’d ever truly made me feel good in all my time as a vampire. Maybe all of my time ever.
Leaning forward a little, I sank my teeth into Jared's neck. The familiar taste of his blood spread on my tongue, making me hungry for more. If there was one thing I regretted about dying, it was that this was the last time I'd ever be able to drink from Jared, lose myself in the taste of him, in the way his blood made all the pleasure centers in my brain sing, even as my body was shutting down operation.
Or was it?
Something about drinking Jared's blood now felt different from the times I'd done it before. It wasn't the taste, not exactly. It was as if something was tugging at my senses as I drank. Not the sense I used to gauge someone's attraction to me either, although that was firing on all cylinders whenever Jared was around. It was yet another sensation. Something that made me feel warm and happy and cared for.
It was Jared. The very essence of his presence, brushing up against mine.
The sensation made me shudder in delight.
I'd thought the sunrise would let me die happy, but this was way better than that. My skin tingled, but not in a bad way. It was almost as if it were healing, Jared's presence, his energy around me soothing the burns. I leaned into that feeling, even as I kept drinking.
Was this what dying happy felt like?
Maybe not.
Jared wasn't speaking, couldn't speak while I had my teeth in him, but it was as if I could hear his voice in my mind anyway.You are okay,it said to me.Everything will be fine.
With the state I was in, all my defenses lowered, I actually believed him. I was going to be okay and he and I would be together forever. That was the only future that made sense.
Jared moved his hand. I followed the motion with my eyes. Part of me wondered how it was possible for him to do that while he should be paralyzed, but I discarded the thought. My magic wasn't working as it was supposed to, anyway, and Jared was amazing. Jared could do anything.
Even heal me.
That was what I had to realize when he yanked the stake out of my chest and I felt my wound close itself.
I removed my mouth from Jared’s neck, my thoughts clearing as the fog of death lifted from my mind. I stared at Jared, formed words on my tongue that never made it past my lips. What did you say to someone who'd literally just restarted your heart?
