Page 37 of Bleeding Love

My eyes finally found Celeste. She was standing in the same spot as before, her arms outstretched beside her. She didn’t even blink at the sight of the two witches slowly dying in front of her; she didn’t even glance at the hunters closing in on her.

A man sneaked behind her, aiming a pistol at her back. She couldn’t see him, and probably couldn’t hear him with all the screaming. I moved without thinking, arriving beside her just as he fired. The bullet hit my chest, and I staggered from the recoil until my back hit Celeste’s. Blood seeped from the hole as my body pushed the metal out.

“You need to watch your back,” I snarled at her, feeling my bloodlust rising while more hunters filed behind the shooter, taking aim or raising blades or stakes. There were vampire hunters among them, I could almost distinguish them, but I was more worried about the witches than the humans.

“Why would I do that when I have you?” Celeste chuckled and at the sound of her laughter, the tension in my chest uncoiled. “Come on, Roman. You can’t let the humans be the ones to kill me, right? My death is yours.”

My heart jumped—or I thought it did—and a smile pulled on my lips.

“You are right. You’re mine,” I said, loud enough for her to hear. She didn’t reply, but I felt her body lean harder against mine. “And I say you are not dying tonight.”

“Good,” she chirped, and her touch disappeared as she took a step forward. “Now, let’s get this over with. I’m hungry.”

“So am I,” I smirked and lunged forward.

Keeping the image of her writhing in my arms while I drank from her delicious neck, I bit and slashed and broke and tore until nothing was moving around me. The world was a blur, the smell of blood and death so thick that I could taste it on my tongue.

The square was littered with bodies—piles and piles of them—some lying in the pools of their own blood, others melting under the unnatural flames of the witches. There was no screaming, no shouting for help or death, no clash of metal or spells. The only sound was the crackling flames, the patter of the rain, and a single heartbeat.

I turned around, searching for Celeste. My smile dropped when I didn’t see her. I focused on that one beating heart, praying it was hers. I had been so focused on killing the hunters, on freeing her from their pursuit, on trusting her that she could handle her own with the witches that I hadn’t even checked on her.

My eyes landed on the body lying in the center of the square. Her hair was matted to her head, and her pale face turned upward, toward the sky. Her lips were moving as the words slipped from her mouth, and the downpour let up.

I rushed to her side, dropping to my knees in the red mud while my eyes searched her body for wounds. The smell of blood was so strong, I couldn’t tell if there was any coming from her body. I reached out for her dress, ready to tear it apart so I could examine her when she caught my hand.

“I’m fine.” She smiled weakly. “One of them hit me with a nasty curse, but I’ll be fine.”

“What kind of curse?” I frowned, looking her over again. Her dress was drenched and filthy but not torn. There were barely any scratches or bruises on her. Even her face was clear.

“It…” She winced as if she was in pain, but when she looked back at me, she smiled again. “It basically liquifies my organs.”

A gasp of horror escaped my lips as I looked down at her stomach. I could hear strange noises coming from there, but in the scope of everything happening, I hadn’t paid attention. Her organs liquifying…humans couldn’t live without their organs. She was dying!

“Roman.” Her voice was soft, but when she grabbed my hand, her grip was iron. I tore my eyes away from her body, red falling over my sight while I searched for someone to kill, to torture, to hurt. “Roman!” she shouted, then whimpered in pain. I reached out for her stomach but stopped myself. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t heal her or fix her. “I am not going to die!” she snarled in frustration. “She was weak! The spell barely got my liver. My magic will heal me, but I need you to carry me. We need to get out of here.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, picking her as carefully as possible. Every time she winced, a muscle in my chest spasmed, almost like I was in pain, too.

“I’m not going to die,” she said again, a note of amusement slipping into her tone. “I’m not that easy to kill.”

I held back a sigh of relief and just nodded.

A loud gasp, followed by low footsteps, made me turn toward the nearest building. The windows were dark, but I could hear people inside, feel their eyes on us. Celeste followed my gaze, her lips pursing.

“Do you want me to kill them?” I asked, trying to discern how many people were hiding in the houses nearby. To my surprise, Celeste shook her head.

“There is no need,” she said quietly before resting her head on my shoulder. “The Order will deal with them. They won’t let the truth come to light.” She let out a tired sigh, closing her eyes and relaxing in my arms. “Do as you promised, Roman. Take me somewhere where I’ll be safe. Where we’ll both be safe.”

Chapter 18

Celeste

Thiswashappening.Thiswas real. I was safe—at least for now. No one breathing down my neck, no one threatening me, no one hunting me, no one knowing where I was.

Except for the vampire who had saved my life and brought me here.

I pushed myself out of the giant tub, stepping out carefully while water dripped onto the immaculate tiled floor. Picking up the towel from the shelf where I had left it, I wrapped it around my body. The bedroom was spacious and dark, even as I pulled the curtains to let the bright moonlight in, but I could tell that it was expensively furnished and intricately decorated.

After several days of traveling, we had barely made it here by dawn. Once Roman had slammed all doors and windows shut, he had collapsed beside me and we both slept like the dead. When I woke up again, he was sitting on a sofa, my head in his lap, and stroking my hair distractedly. He had mentioned the place had belonged to some old French noble house whose line had died out, and he had managed to have it transferred under his alias, so technically, Roman owned it. It was the place he planned to go to when he was tired of the human world and ready to die.

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