Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(119)

Alhana's eyes shifted to each of the shifters then finally settled back on Phoenix. "Are you sure it will work? What if it kills her instead?"

"Then I will hold Ace down and let you tear him apart."

I blanched. "Phoenix!"

"If the Alpha Lion is telling the truth, he has nothing to worry about," Phoenix said as he turned his head to look at me. "If that bond is as strong as he says it is, you should be able to tell if he's lying or not, right? Shall he try it?"

Ace squeezed my hand. "It's okay, Andra. I've seen it done before. If she's not already too far gone, my blood will save her."

I knew, without a doubt, that he was telling the truth. He brought the memory of the vampire being saved to the forefront of his mind, so I could watch it replay for myself. My gaze shifted to Phoenix. "He's telling the truth, but if for some reason she dies anyway, you aren't touching him unless you go through me first. We both know you will never make it through me alive."

I figured he would back down, but he only nodded once, accepting my terms. I blinked a few times, unsure of what his intentions were. He knew we were linked, and that killing me would also kill him. Was this vampire girl worth that much to him or was he ready to die because I had bonded with Ace and couldn't be with him now, the way I used to be before Ace came into the picture? His sad eyes told me the latter was true.

"I'll do it," I said.

"Andra—" Ace started, but I cut him off before he could object.

"I'm doing it," I said, and released Ace's hand to walk up and stand before the vampire girl, challenging her to either get out of my way or fight me. She moved. Smart girl. I wrinkled my nose as April's scent offended my senses. "I need a knife that isn't silver-coated to pierce my wrist."

"Here," Phoenix said, and then he lifted my wrist to his mouth and struck me before I could think of a reason why he shouldn't. I jumped a little at the sting.

"Ouch." Ace's fear of my well-being slammed into me so hard that I wobbled a little on my feet and a chill skittered up my spine as my own apprehension set in. I glanced over my shoulder at Ace. "I'm okay. Will you think about something pleasant, please… eating ice cream or wrestling around with Chaos, maybe?"

He grinned mischievously, and then a mental video of him ravishing my naked body and me screaming out his name in ecstasy flashed through my mind. "Absolutely," he said as heat flushed my face. "That better?"

I swallowed as I turned back to the girl. The puncture wounds Phoenix had gifted me with were almost healed, the blood flow nearly stopped. "Not really," I said through my mind, and he chuckled out loud in response.

Positioning my wrist over April's mouth, I watched as several drops of blood fell between her lips, onto her tongue. "Is that enough?" I asked.

"It should be," Ace said. "Let's wait and see."

The seconds felt like minutes as we waited for any kind of response from April. I was just about to tell Phoenix to bite me again when her finger moved.

"Did you see that?" I whisper-shouted. Her hand moved next. "I'll be damned! It's going to work."

"Quick, Roel!" Phoenix said. "Go to the weapon's room and get a few blood bags from the refrigerator."

"I'm on it!" Roel said, and then dashed out of the room.

Several more minutes passed, and each new move April made was exciting. I felt like I had just brought someone back to life from the grave.

Roel came back into the room carrying at least fifteen bags of blood. Phoenix rolled his eyes. "What?" Roel said. "She hasn't fed in weeks. I didn't want her to wake up and go ravenous on all of us. Women are always less aggressive after they eat."


"You got that right," Ace said, looking pointedly at me, one corner of his mouth lifting in a sexy smirk.

Oh, God! Did I just think he was sexy?

"Yes. I'm going to have to say that you did," he said through my mind.

April moaned before I had a chance to be embarrassed, and my attention was suddenly drawn back to the girl lying on the bed.

"April?" I said.

"Hmmm," she replied.

"Are you thirsty? Would you like blood?"

"Pleeease…" her raspy voice said.

Phoenix punctured a small hole in one of the bags with a fang, and then held it over her mouth. The hole was only big enough to let the blood drip into her mouth at a steady pace, but after she swallowed a few times, he made it bigger, giving her more.

After April had consumed an entire blood bag, her eyelids fluttered open.

"How do you feel?" Phoenix said.

April groaned. "Like I've been bitten by a f*cking werewolf!"

A few of us laughed, and then Alhana threw herself on the girl, tears streaming down her face as she hugged her friend.

April chuckled painfully. "Easy, Sass! I just made a long trip back from Heaven. Those stairs are killer."

Alhana laughed in response, but didn't stop hugging her.

The door of the room opened and Lea walked in with Alex. Besides his dirty and bloody shirt and jeans, he looked like the old Alex, no contusions or puffiness to his face, and he was walking without a limp. They really needed to bottle and sell this shit if it healed people that quickly.