Page 131 of Their Blood Rite

‘What… what are you doing?’ he asks.

His body has stiffened. I unwind some of the charm bracelets, but he takes my hand and stops me.

‘I’m used to seeing the monsters in the dark. And mine can’t hurt me. Not like yours can.’

‘They do something to you, though. It can’t be nice to see the shadows of those you killed in the corner of the room.’

I lace my fingers between his and wrap the bracelet around both our hands.

Instantly, he relaxes. His muscles unclench, and I sink into him, my head resting on his shoulder.

‘Thank you for helping me earlier.’

‘I had no choice. You were going to give us away with all that screaming.’

‘Could have just knocked me out if that’s what you wanted.’

A grunt is all I get in response.

‘If they arrest us, what way do you think they’ll kill us?’ I shift my head to look up at him. His dark eyes watch me huddled up in his frame. ‘Burning? Hanging? Cutting?’

‘No one is killing you.’

‘I hope it’s not by cutting.’ My hand runs up my arm, remembering each slash delivered by the coven. ‘I think I would rather hang. At least then my neck might snap, and it will be quick.’

‘Wesaid,’ he growls, the corner of the room darkening as he speaks. ‘No one is killing you.’ His voice is like a hundred speaking all at once but all dangerously dark and demonic. It makes me ice cold on the inside as well as out. But I also feel the pain. The fear. The vulnerability of the creature deep inside. Dorian. I feel him struggling for control. Determined not to sink into the darkness of those souls.

I rest my hand on his cheek. I feel those shadows. Those souls clawing at him, desperate to get inside. I feel their hatred and violence. Their need for pain and suffering. I sense them feeling me. It’s as if they all turn to look at me. The sensation of dozens of eyes on me has the hair standing up on the back of my neck.

Quiet…

I whisper the words in my mind, speaking to them directly.

Calm…

The dark veins withdraw, and I know the shadows have gone still. Dorian lets out a long exhale and settles under my touch.

‘How did you do that?’ he asks, his dark eyes searching mine.

‘I speak to the dead, remember? I told them to piss off.’

‘How did you get them to listen?’

I slowly shake my head. ‘I have no fucking idea. But strangely, I get the feeling they like me.’

Slowly, his arms wrap around me. His fingers find mine, and they knot together. He nestles his face in my hair and exhales deeply.

‘I will never allow anyone to kill you,’ he says in a low promise. ‘But if I find out that any of this is a trick on your part, Poppet,Iwill be the one that ends you.’

‘Any of what is a trick?’ I ask, sinking in further as he pulls me in.

‘What I’m feeling. How you make me feel.’

‘How do you feel?’

His mouth settles by my neck. He gives my skin the most tender kiss.

‘Like I can finally find peace with you in my life.’

---