Page 24 of Love & Violence

I try to wipe the blood coming from his mouth, but it’s useless because it can’t be stopped. My legs give out, and I sink to the floor in a pool of Draven’s blood.

“Mate, please fight. You can still have a life without me,” he rasps.

I look up at him, willing him to see the truth written across my features. “Never. When you die, I will go withyou.”

Draven bellows. “No! God. I can’t take the thought of you dying.”

“And I can’t take the thought of living without you.” I will take my last breath with him, and then we’ll be together for eternity.

The door slams open behind us, but I don’t have the energy to see who it is.

“Jesus Christ,” I hear my brother curse.

Dom kneels before me and lifts my shoulders enough to see my face.

“So, it’s true that you feel everything he does?”

I nod. “Yes. We will die soon. Please, don’t separate me from him in death as well.”

Domenico curses. “You’re not dying today. Not because of me.”

“I will not live without him, Dom.”

“You won’t have to.”

I try to smile at the change in my brother. “It’s already too late. My mate and I are already half dead.”

I hear Nickolai cursing and Isabel sobbing behind me, but I don’t have the energy to talk to them.

“Nic, help me get him down,” my brother commands.

I watch through blurred eyes as the two men lift my mate enough to unhook him, then lay him on the floor beside me. I crawl until I’m plastered to his side and look up at my brother.

“Thank you. You are a good brother, and I love you.”

I can’t hold my eyes open a moment longer.

“Goddammit. No!” Domenico yells. “Nic, we need to get them out in the backyard, and hopefully, they have enough energy to shift. It’s the only thing that will save them.”

Nickolai calls down the hallway, and several men come running. “Help me pick him up. We have to hurry.”

I feel Domenico lift me into his arms, and the group hurries out a back door and into the woods behind the house.

My brother starts barking out orders to bring bandages. People are rushing around, and my brother lays me by Draven. I can feel my spirit start to float inside of me, and I try to hold myself tighter against Draven.

“I love you. I wish we’d had more time together.”

Draven pulls me tighter against him. “I’m sorry I didn’t protect you as I should have.”

People scurry around us, but my attention is focused solely on my mate. My brother wraps bandages around Draven’s wounds in an effort to stop the bleeding.

“It’s too late,” Draven says.

“No. Fight, you bastard! If you truly love my sister, you’d fight harder.”

“Domenico,” Isabel said. “I’ve heard that giving a shifter close to death blood will give them enough energy to shift and start the healing process. The only problem is that his mate’s blood works the best, but she can’t take any more.”

I hear talking, and then Isabel gasps. “You’re going to give him blood?”

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