“Besides, after what Vincentius made you say to me, I am looking forward to his slow, painful death,” he rumbles at me darkly and spins on his heel to leave. As he gets to the door, he barks back at Remiel, “Give her your blood for fuck’s sake, man. She needs you.”
“CK, wait!” I call out painfully, but he has gone, followed closely by Xane. “What do you mean?”
What did I say to him? I don’t remember. Oh gods, I have to remember. Whatever it is, it is tearing him up inside, I need to fix it. I struggle to get up off the bed, but Devon pushes me gently down.
“Stay still, Lizzie. It’s bad,” he says.
Trust Devon not to sugar-coat it. But I know my situation is grim. I can feel the cool air hit my insides through the gaping hole in my chest and that is just something that no person should ever have to feel. I have been here before and I have the sudden urge to throw up as the long-ago memories come flooding back. I lean over the side of the bed, just in time to spew my feed up all over the floor.
“Don’t think about that,” Devon murmurs in my ear, holding my hair back as he crawls onto the bed behind me.
“I’m not,” I say, trying not to let the tears fall, as I stiffly rise and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. Then, I flop back to the bed with my eyes scrunched tight against the agony.
“I know you, Lizzie. Stop it,” he chides me gently.
I struggle to breathe, and it hurts so much.
“No!” Devon suddenly yells, making me jump with a loud groan as it hurts even more. “Do not use your claws. You will poison her.”
Remiel gives him a tight-eyed look and offers his wrist to Devon to slash open so I can drink from it. I have no idea if my fangs are capable of working but it’s a non-issue right now. I latch onto his wrist and suckle fiercely, gripping him tightly.
After a few minutes, my head starts to become a bit clearer and I stop sucking. “How are they supposed to get out?” I ask.
“What?” Devon asks.
“The wards will stop them from getting out. This fight is going to be nothing more than a battle of words,” I explain.
“And that is how it will remain,” Remiel says, avoiding the blood-splattered side of the bed as he perches on the edge to get closer to me, seeing as how Devon is practically draped over me like a blanket.
“What is the point in that?” I ask.
“I told you, vengeance is mine to seek. No one else. When you are strong enough that I can leave you, I will end this,” he says.
“No. The revenge is all mine,” I argue. “I will end this once I am strong enough. But I’d like to give CK and Xane the retribution they are looking for first. Kick some serious arse.”
“Aren’t you afraid that Sebastian and Drake will kill them?” Devon asks candidly.
“Sebastian never could kick CK’s arse,” I say confidently. “Even with powers. CK has a stash of them himself that he has been dying to let loose. It’ll be good for him to have a challenge.”
“You sound like a proud parent,” Devon says with a loud laugh.
I bash him in the chest, but it does nothing to him. I am so weak it’s all I can do to just lie here and not die.
“I will go and see to Delinda,” Remiel says, patting my hand.
“I want to see her,” I say desperately.
“Not like this,” Remiel says. “It will frighten her.”
I nod woefully, accepting that even though I wish I could hold her.
“Remiel,” I say as he heads towards the door. “Come back a minute. There is something I need to tell you. Or ask you, I suppose.”
“What is it?” he asks with a crease to his brow.
“Nothing bad,” I say, waving my hand at his cross features. He takes my hand with a smile and sits back down on the bed. “I want you to claim Delinda as your own,” I say to his and Devon’s shock. “There is no way that she is ever going back to the Fae Kingdoms, blessed child or not. She is staying here with me and she knows you and loves you. I want you to raise her with me.” Or raise her alone if I die here.
I take a labored breath, waiting for his response.