“She drank more than you ever gave us during our turnings, I’m willing to bet,” Andrei says.
“Meaning?” I ask.
“Meaning she has more of your blood inside her than there should be. I’m thinking she was low on blood, lower than we could know. As to why she was so low, it has to be because of whatever they were doing with the hunter downstairs,” Andrei says.
“They were draining her?” I ask, and can feel my own blood boiling with rage.
“Of course, Asher,” Andrei says. “How else could they give her blood to the hunter?”
Nodding my head, I try to keep myself cool and collected. Now is not the time to go on a murderous rampage.
“So, what does this all have to do with why she’s taking so long to wake up?” I ask, impatient for an answer.
“Your blood is basically replacing all of hers because there is so much of yours in her,” he says then shrugs. “I’ll know more as time goes on. I’ll probably be able to see what happened when she wakes up.”
“Are you telling me I have to sit and wait?” I growl.
“Yeah,” he says and walks over to punch me in the shoulder. “Sorry, Pops, but you’re gonna have to wait to give Mom the bone you’ve been saving.”
There’s dead silence in the room as every pair of eyes turns to look at Andrei.
Andrei gives us a smirk then darts out of the room, heading up to the one he’s claimed on the second floor.
Twenty
Asher
Forty-eight hours later and I’m going fucking crazy.
It’s been forty-eight fucking hours and she still hasn’t woken up yet.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s not such a long time compared to the hundreds of years I’ve waited. But time is relative. Two days can feel like a lifetime, and the brief time we spent together before she was turned felt like but a moment.
Staring at the vacant walls of this house has driven me to the brink of insanity. I know exactly how many dust mites lie on the floor under the bed. I know the way the ceiling fan in the room creaks on every third rotation. I know the mice living in the walls are all terrified of us, hiding somewhere in the closet on the first floor.
I fucking hate waiting, and not knowing how much longer it’s going to take is driving me mad.
If I had my own sire to pose questions to I might feel better, but he’s long been dust and bones. Is there something special about our bloodline? My children each took longer than the normal six-to-eight hours, but not by much. So, are we special? If so, did he know why?
Questions upon questions.
Staring at her sleeping face, I sigh with frustration. Not at her, but at me. Was this my fault? I drained her nearly dry… but the Order had been doing the same thing…
Had I paid more attention to her body’s health, would we still be in this mess?
Leaning down, I kiss her forehead. I’ll need to eat soon.
The glamoured humans out in the living room have been standing there for a day now. I’d let them slip into a glamour-induced slumber, but having that many bodies laying around on the floor was getting in the way.
“I need to feed, my fated,” I say and kiss her lips. “I love you.”
Eyes flashing open, she suddenly grabs my head, attempting to latch onto my neck.
Fuck.
I try to free myself from her grip but find that she’s nearly as strong as me.
Unholy gods!
Her legs wrap around my waist, and I’m forced to wrestle with her hands to restrain her.
A well-timed claw to my face tears into my cheek. Her tongue lashes out of her mouth to catch the drops of blood leaking down my face.
It’ll heal, but dammit, she’s wounding the shit out of me.
“Fucking hell, you feral cat!” I shout, pushing her down.
Grabbing both of her hands, I slam them over her head, and my hips thrust forward to hold her in place.
The door to the room opens, and I turn to see Raphael and Matthias staring at me with smirks.
Chloe begins to fight even harder, squeezing her legs tight around my waist. She’s trying to twist me off her, and it’s all I can do to keep her down.
More blood weeps from my cheek, directly into Chloe’s face as I shout, “Bring me a damn body!”
“Asher, what did we say about bringing wild animals into the house?” Raphael chides.
Matthias chuckles and looks at Raphael. “They never learn, do they?”
“I’ll fucking neuter the both of you,” I snarl.
Chloe growls again and thrusts her hips up hard, trying to get me to let go of her.
“Chloe,” I snap, looking her dead in the eyes. “Calm. Down.”
My words quickly have the desired effect, slowing her urgency to be free. But I can feel her trying to fight it through the bond.