Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel #1)(61)

A warm, solid weight pressed against my shin. I glanced down, spotting Cordelia. The little raccoon had appeared, gluing herself against my side. Warmth and strength flowed from her into me, giving me more power.

I pushed harder, and a scream tore from my throat as my hand closed around the gem.

Falling away, I landed on my back with the orb in my hand, then panted as I blinked up at the ceiling. The pain had stopped. My head spun as I sat up. On the altar, the girl lay still. I opened my palm. The red stone I held glowed with a faint light.

“What did you do?” The Devil’s voice was a croak.

He stood before me, his face pale.

Then he collapsed to his knees.

I scrambled toward him, clutching the stone in my hand. “Are you okay? What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m—” The words couldn’t escape him.

Eve landed next to us, her glittery wings folding back into her body. “He’s been poisoned by the necromancer.” She dug a hand into one of her many pockets and pulled out a vial. She opened it, dumped the contents into her hand, and blew the powder on the Devil.

It coated him, and the oil began to disappear.

“Will that fix him?” I demanded.

In front of me, the Devil swayed, hardly able to stay upright.

“I think it’s too late.” Eve frowned, confusion flickering in her eyes. “The oil has sucked the life from him.”

“But it’s gone now. The oil is gone.” Her powder had absorbed it all, leaving him looking clean and new. And pale. So damned pale. Even his eyes looked almost colorless.

“So is most of his life force.”

“But—” I searched his face. Had he known this would happen when he’d blasted through the necromancer’s protective shield and grabbed him?

Yes.

Somehow, I knew the answer was yes.

And I also knew how to fix him. My gaze flicked to his mouth, to his fangs that were now retracted.

Could I do this?

Yes.

The answer was yes.

I moved toward him, still gripping the gem that I didn't understand. Quickly, I wrapped my arms around him and bared my neck. His head dipped toward me as if he couldn’t help it, a low groan tearing from his throat. But I didn’t feel his teeth.

“Bite me,” I demanded.

“Are you sure?” His voice was rough.

“You’ll die without it, right?”

“I—will.”

“Then bite me.”

His lips pressed to my skin, and a shiver of fear and desire rushed through me. Was I really doing this?

His lips parted, and the air around us seemed to fog, filling with dark smoke. It formed a barrier between us and the world. I heard my friends cry out in concern, but I could no longer see them. Soon, I could no longer hear them.

We were in a cocoon, far away from them. The Devil’s magic protected us from the world so that no one could see us.

His warm breath brushed across my skin, and I shuddered. My heart raced, anticipation overwhelming. When his fangs pierced me, pleasure exploded. I moaned, moving closer to him until my chest was pressed to his.





20





The Devil



Carrow’s arms wrapped around me, pulling me close as I drew on her neck. The feel of her beneath my hands, beneath my fangs, was enough to send my heart into overdrive.

She tasted so damned sweet. Everything I’d tasted since I’d been turned had been so damned dull.

But her…

Her scent swirled around me, lavender and something so intrinsically her that I couldn’t get enough of it. The heady aroma was so much more powerful now.

I wrapped my hand around her waist and clutched her close, wanting to feel every part of her. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced—even before I’d been turned.

The protective shield of my magic hid us from prying eyes, and I wanted more than this. I wanted to pull her clothes off, to taste her. I wanted to bury the years of loneliness in her. I was a seething mess of want.

Anything. I’d give anything to have her.

Beneath my lips, she tilted her head and moaned. The pleasure in the sound shot through me, and I clutched her closer. The connection between us surged, and it was impossible not to think of what the Oracle had said.

She would thaw me.

Was it possible?

Was the myth true?

With the taste of her blood on my tongue, it was impossible not to think so. Impossible not to believe it.

But the Oracle had been keeping secrets the day she’d come to see me—I could feel it.

“Grey.”

The sound of my name on her lips made me shudder. I drew deeper on her neck, feeling my strength return.

Stop.

I had to stop.

With every bit of strength I gained, she lost some. She’d recoup it eventually, but if I drained her, she’d die.

With her taste sweet on my lips, I withdrew my mouth.

“Don’t stop,” she murmured, sounding half out of her mind.

“I must.” I licked my lips, cleaning them of any trace of her, and cupped her face. “We have to stop.”

Her eyes fluttered opened, and she looked at me.

Holy fates, her eyes were beautiful. Brilliant green. And her hair. An impossible gold.