Page 80 of Blood

“And...that extra time spent in the lab is what gave me away. Before I knew what was happening, we were surrounded, and I was fighting off twenty monsters, all with that damn rune stamped on their skin.”

Tears once again prickle the backs of my eyes. I’ll never begrudge Frankie’s amazing, scientific mind, but it almost cost him his life. I know he gets lost in his projects, but what if he hadn’t gotten away? What if one of the monsters had stabbed him or beheaded him or—

“Hey.” Frankie’s soft voice drags my attention back to the present. He offers me a soft smile, one that somehow demotes him from intimidating to approachable. It’s not often I see that particular smile gracing his handsome features, but it’s been becoming more and more common with me. “I can see the wheels in your mind turning. I’m okay.”

“You almost weren’t.”

“But I am okay.” Pain creases his face as he glances down at where our hands are joined. “I know I sometimes become hyper-focused on my experiments and projects—”

“I wouldn’t change that for anything in the world, Frankie,” I confess on a tired sigh. “I love that about you. But sometimes, I wish you would care a little bit more about your own health and safety.”

I heard from Vin that Frankie once remained in his lab for almost two weeks, working on an experiment. By the time the guys convinced him to join the land of the living, Frankie had lost fifteen pounds and was paler than a ghost.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Frankie gives my hand another squeeze. “I just thought I may have come up with a way to turn the tides in our favor.”

My curiosity piques. “What do you mean?”

“Well, while I was down there, I started thinking about god-blessed daggers and their rarity. It makes sense, because a god-blessed dagger is one of the only weapons that can kill almost every living creature on this earth.” The longer Frankie talks, the more animated he becomes. His face practically seems to glow with his excitement. “So, I studied the god-blessed daggers I had on hand, and I started thinking... What if we could make more god-blessed weapons? Hundreds of them? One for every member of our army?”

“That would definitely give us an advantage, but I’m not even sure there are that many daggers in existence,” I admit, my mind attempting to catch up to some inevitable conclusion Frankie already came to.

The smile lighting up his face is glorious, and I momentarily forget how to breathe as I stare down at it.

Focus, Violet!

“Violet...you’re a goddess,” Frankie says softly, still smiling adoringly up at me.

God, the things I want to do to this man. If he wasn’t in pain and healing, I would grab his cock and—

Damn.

Head. Out. Of. Gutter.

Sometimes, I swear I’m part goldfish. It’s hard for me to focus on more than one thing at a time.

“Yes...I suppose I am?” I blink at Frankie, unsure of where he’s going with this.

Fortunately, Frankie doesn’t treat me like an idiot for not understanding his thought process. That’s one thing I appreciate about my genius mate.

“What if you can use your own magic to create god-blessed daggers,” Frankie explains, his eyes igniting with excitement and glee. “And maybe not even just daggers...but arrows and swords and even bullets.”

Something akin to hope beats through my blood like a pulse. I find myself leaning forward, smiling enigmatically. Frankie’s excitement is fucking contagious.

“You think it’s possible?”

“I’m not sure,” Frankie confesses. “I still have to work out the logistics. And, of course, if it does work, we need to decide who will get such a weapon. It’s immensely powerful and one of the few things capable of killing you, Violet.” His eyes begin to glaze over, as they always do when he’s attempting to unravel a difficult problem. “Perhaps if I can continue my study of god-blessed daggers, I can identify what magic is used to create such a potent weapon, and then we can attempt to replicate it. Maybe I could even isolate the magic and—”

“Okay, you amazingly sexy genius.” I lean down to peck him on the lips. “While I love it when you talk science-y to me, I want you to heal, first and foremost. And that means getting some rest. You look exhausted. Did you even sleep while you were away?”

Frankie throws me an exasperated glare, but even he can’t hide the dark shadows beneath both of his eyes. “Violet, this is important.”

“You’re more important,” I counter immediately. “Sleep. Tomorrow, you can work on the truth potion and continue your study on god-blessed daggers. Tonight, you’re sleeping.”

Frankie looks as if he wants to protest, but then he sighs, his expression softening. Vulnerability momentarily peeks through his mask as he stares up at me.

“Will you stay with me tonight?” he asks. “I don’t mean for sex or anything like that.” A blush tints his cheeks, proof that he’s alive, despite what he believes. “I just want to hold you.”

I smile down at him. “You read my mind.”

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