Page 87 of The HalloQueen

“Yusuf,” My voice was wobbling, but I needed someone and I was alone except for my lover’s ex-husband. “Yusuf, I need help.” I carefully put Thomas’ head down on the floor, feeling my body begin to tremble.

“What is going on, Annabel?” He had appeared by my side without being seen, “Fuck, what is going on?”

“Everything hurts,” I sobbed, “Everything-” I scream ripped from my body and my eyes slammed shut.

“Shit - your bond is breaking, Annabel, we’re going to lose him. We need to kill him before he turns and enters a frenzy.”

“This is - Yusuf! It feels like I’m dying,” I whimpered, feeling as though my heart was being ripped in two, half turning to ashes while the other was engulfed in flames, “Yusuf, help me.”

Yusuf got up from the floor and banged on the wall of the shield, “You must stop! Annabel needs you!”

“They can’t hear you. They said they couldn’t stop,” I gasped, my limbs beginning to shake and my pulse pounded, “Is he dying Yus? Is he - he can’t-”

“I’m so sorry Annabel.” He soothed mournfully, “the pain will pass once he’s gone. You’re just feeling the break. I promise the pain will stop.”

“If he’s gone then he’s Undead and he doesn’t want that!” I unsteadily began to unwrap the comfrey poultices, seeing that they were indeed draining the venom out of his bloodstream, “why isn’t the comfrey working!”

“I don’t know, chérie. I’m so sorry. If I end him now, the pain will stop, do you want the pain to stop now?”

I scrambled to my purse to see if I had any more fresh poultice inside of it but hissed as a piece of butcherblock slid through the skin of my palm. Hissing I drew it to my mouth to suck on it, trying to soothe the pain, and froze.

“We are not killing him, Yusuf. Use me. I’m a green witch!”

“Yes…”

“How do we handfeast? How do I… tell me! Now!”

“Bels, if you handfeast with Thomas he may pass on anyway- there’s no guarantee that it will fix anything and then you’ll just have to feel the bond break all over again and potentially have to end him when he’s awake and dangerous in the first feeding frenzy.”

“My blood is resistant to venom. My moms said that the blood in his veins is different. If my blood is in him, maybe it can push the rest of the venom out of him, please, I need to try.”

“Annabel, it’s like marriage you can’t just-”

“We are bonded without the fucking handfeast anyway! Tell me how to solidify it so I can save him you stupid bird!”

He nodded, resigned, and came sat with me, picking up and handing me the knife, “He is still as stone, I don’t know if it will work as well without him drinking it into his mouth, I’ve never seen it done like this”

Another flash of burning pain hit me and I wailed, “I don’t care! Tell me what to do.”

“Cut your wrist and cut his. Usually, it’s biting but -”

“I don’t care what I’d usually do, tell me what to do now.” The pain was almost debilitating as it ate away at my soul.

“Cut the wrists, declare your intentions, drink each other’s blood, then press your wrists together for me to tie them as one to bind them.”

I slid the knife unsteadily across my wrist, enough to allow a bead of blood to appear but not enough to cause permanent damage, and I tried to cut Thomas’ but the knife wouldn’t penetrate his skin in his state.

“Yus, I need you to cut him, please. I can’t get it, I need your help.”

He chuckled, “never thought I’d lose them both and then marry one off…” he spoke more softly, low enough that I couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, and he easily slid the knife across Thomas’ wrist with his vampire strength. “Now, Bels, declare your feelings and intentions and then draw a mouthful of his blood into you.”

Trembling, I held onto his forearm, “Thomas, I need you to come back. It’s not November yet and you owe me a CGI baby and a happily ever after.”

“Intentions, Bels, not jokes, this is permanent.”

I wept, “I don’t do serious!”

“Well do it now!” He snapped at me.

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