Page 60 of Prey

“Mon…chaton?”

My heart shattered and I sobbed as he fell to my side. A broken up breath had his hand rising and pulling the hilt. As the blade slid free blood poured from his chest.

“Oh…shit. Ahhh! Fuck.” His head lifted, only to fall back and I could barely focus myself. I was going to be sick from the intense burning. It enflamed my soul, leaving a piercing shriek coming from the depths of some faraway place within me.

“Tessa?” A hand pulled against my arm, bringing me closer toward him, but I couldn’t bear the smallest touch. The agony was moving, growing, threatening to consume me. “Mon chaton. Oh…please.”

We both cried out as he tried to lift me into his arms. Even he didn’t have the strength, which told me the damage I’d truly done. We were both going to die, and there was nothing either of us could do about it.

“Two minutes,” he breathed out. “If I’m not dead by then, I…won’t die.”

I gagged as the flames rose higher, incinerating my throat. He may have had two minutes, but not me. I knew my life was disappearing with ever second.

“Uhh, shit. Shit!” His leg jerked as he kicked out. The sway of the mattress had my eyes rolling back. Even my breath leaving me became unbearable. I was melting on the inside. Everything was turning into a pool of blood that was beginning to rise up to coat my tongue.

A hand grabbed my shoulder and Marko managed to pull me up to cradle over his chest. It was enough to have a small amount of crimson running out onto his chest. Speaking was impossible. Moving was nonexistent. I was trapped within the shell that held me. All I wanted was it to be over with. If he was already growing stronger, I hadn’t killed him. Only myself.

“You’re not going to die,” he breathed out, reading my mind. “I won’t let you.” His arm rose, but fell back on the mattress as he took in two ragged breaths. Another groan left him and I felt my body convulse for the smallest second. I managed to cry out as multiple spasms coursed like electricity, shocking me back to awareness. My arms thrashed and I clawed at my skin, trying to make the burn stop. It was happening. I was getting ready to die and there was nothing I could do about it.

“Keep still, mon chaton, you’re only going to make it worse. Let your body heal you.”

A scream was my only response as I twisted, rolling off of him and onto my stomach. My knees immediately curled in.

“Jesus.” The bed dipped as he cried out, rising to his knees. “I’m proud of you. But you missed my heart. Now, up.”

I locked more into myself, not wanting to move. Breathing was almost impossible but I took deep breaths, getting nothing more than enough oxygen to stay conscious. Panic made the gasps faster and I flew to my knees as my survival instincts kicked in. Marko’s fingers embedded in my face while he edged in close, holding me still.

“You may hate me when this is said and done, but I don’t care. The feelings I have for you now, the love to spare your life, may not exist after the bond is complete. You have to know that before I start. Your love may fade, too. But I leave neither of us a choice. Your human life is now over. Tonight, Tessa dies for real. She can never come back here.” His eyes were turning black again and I knew he was slipping away. His words weren’t his own.

Claws extended and I tried to shake my head. After being attacked in the underground city and seeing everything I had, I didn’t want his way of life. Didn’t want him. I knew the love I felt wasn’t real and if securing the bond would make that become my reality, I didn’t want to be trapped in an endless life down in hell with him. I’d rather die. At least there I’d be at peace.

“Too bad,” he said, reading my thoughts. “You’re mine. I won’t let you go. From here on out, we’re blood bound. Forever tied to one another until I decide otherwise.”

He slammed me to my back as crimson poured from his wrist and forearm. I fought the advance with every ounce of power left. My hands shot up while I screamed and tried to push him away. I failed. Marko gripped my face harder, nearly crushing my jaw as he drowned me in his blood. And he didn’t stop until my throat started to open back up. Adrenaline was so powerfully racing through my arms and legs, I was fighting harder than I ever had. But my fight stopped with an internal tug that nearly ripped open the center of my chest.

My arms locked up and I felt the pattern of my heartbeat change as his blood flooded my stomach. The pulse slammed once. Then, in a set of three, only to return to a two-count rhythm. I sucked in air as the electrical currents shocked me with a force I hadn’t known existed. It left me shooting to my side and screaming as I tried to get in a fetal position. For minutes, I thrashed back and forth, unable to control my limbs. Glimpse of love and hate shadowed Marko’s face and I wasn’t sure how this was going to end. Would the new, evil him try to kill me the moment I came to? That Marko wouldn’t want this. Wouldn’t want me.

Aching registered over every inch as my movements slowed. Twitching turned to shakes until it finally began to stop. A low hiss turned into a growl, pulling me from the exhaustion.

“Tessa? Tessa, I have to talk to you!” A loud crash had my head turning toward the door, but for the life of me, I couldn’t react. My heart ached as I feared for my best friend. Hunter stood there, his eyes flaring from surprise to rage. Panic was present, and I had no doubt it was from what he was witnessing. But there was something else. A new found confidence in the way he held himself. Determination as he took a step closer.

“You’re fucking dead,” Hunter yelled, staring at Marko.

A twinge in my stomach had me crying out and clutching to my bloody nightgown. Marko pulled me into his arms, holding my head locked in his grasp as he moved in next to my face from behind. I couldn’t stop the jolts against him from the pain of the increasing ties. “You kill me and she will die. We’re bonded now. That’s forever. Face it. Tessa belongs to me. You’ll never have her now.”

“Watch me. I’ll never let her go. Not to you.”

Hunter reached behind his back but the next thing I knew, glass was shattering and gravity was gone. Darkness registered and Marko clutched onto me as he scaled the fence. I knew where we were headed. Lights from the houses blurred by at inhuman speed and I watched my home and Hunter’s emerging body fade away as we raced for the safety of the tunnel. My life as a human was over. I was a slave now. Marko Delacroix’s slave, and he’d been right on one count. Things weren’t the same now that I could feel our connection intensifying. But was it better, or worse?

Lies. Scandal. His past.

Like a tidal wave, his mind subconsciously opened to me, revealing secrets I could have never imagined. And now I was a part of them. I was tied to his deceit. Wrapped up in his lust. And headed for one hell of a war with none other than my best friend, and there was nothing I could do about it. I was bound—blood bound.

To be continued…

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