Thirty Three
Blake was drifting in and out of consciousness. Tala looked at the sky anxiously.
“Dawn is just a few minutes away. We need to hurry. Can you heal him?”
“You want me to feed him my blood?”
“Just a little. That’s how it works, isn’t it? Your blood can heal wounds?”
“On humans, yes. But you know the side effect. He’ll have some, ah, strange dreams for a while.”
“Erotic ones, you mean? Well, you did say he’d only be attracted to brunettes from now on.”
His brows drew down, unamused.
“I’m not sure I want to be the object of his fantasies.”
“Trust me, he won’t be thrilled about it either. But having a couple of wet dreams about you is a small price to pay for getting his legs back.”
“Fine. But only – and I can’t stress this enough – because you asked me.”
He unsheathed his fangs and bit into his wrist. Blood oozed down his arm and he carefully held it to the hunter’s mouth. A couple of fat drops fell onto Blake’s lips and reflexively, he licked them away.
His eyes opened.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he snarled.
“Relax,” Tala said. “Lemar’s healing you.”
“Tell me he didn’t feed me his blood.”
“He’s doing what I asked him. You want to keep your legs, don’t you? Because your right one looks like it’s been mauled by a pack of wolves.”
“Fuck.” He closed his eyes wearily. “I suppose I should thank you, vampire.”
“Thank me later,” said Lemar coolly. “This is going to hurt.”
“Wha…?”
Lemar grasped the foot that had turned through one hundred and eighty degrees and twisted it to face forwards again. Blake screamed.
“Sorry. Things heal much faster when they’re aligned.”
“You fucking prick. Don’t you fucking touch my other leg, I’m warning you.”
“You want it to heal straight, don’t you?”
Blake gritted his teeth and nodded. Lemar put one hand over the bloodied leg wound while Tala grasped Blake’s shoulders.
“Deep breath,” she told him. Lemar pushed the ends of the broken bone together. With a groan, Blake fainted dead away. “Dammit. I needed him awake for the emergency helicopter.”
Lemar cocked his head.
“It’s coming. I can hear it.”
Tala glanced at Blake. Already, the hunter’s complexion had pinked up. Torn arteries began to heal. Bone marrow started to regrow. He’d still need to go to hospital though.
She checked the flare was still in her back pocket. It wasn’t ideal, but it couldn’t be helped.