Page 92 of Their Blood Rite

‘She actually took control of his corpse?’ Shaw asks, his words distant as they seep into my barely conscious mind.

I’m vaguely aware of something stroking my face. Something soft, warm and wet. When I hear water sloshing, I know he’s washing my face, running a cloth delicately around my nose and mouth.

‘She did, yeah,’ Archie replies. ‘The guy was headless and stumbling about, but she got him to do what she wanted. Snapped a man’s neck. I was impressed. She was completely freaked out, watching it with complete horror and screaming, but it was fucking impressive to watch. I don’t think she even intended to make it happen.’

‘And she did more blood boiling?’ Dorian asks.

‘Yep.’

‘She’s strong,’ Dorian says. ‘Stronger than she should be, considering she’s only just done the Rite and found that Kindred. Shaw… she should be in the cells.’

‘As soon as she’s conscious, she’ll need blood,’ Shaw says, thankfully ignoring him. ‘Her throat is swollen from where she was strangled. Hopefully, she’ll be able to swallow. Without our blood, these injuries will take weeks to heal.’

‘The cells,’ Dorian continues. ‘She’s too powerful to be left unsupervised. And she tapped into Archie’s blood for magic. She could have killed him.’

‘She only did it to save my life, Dorian,’ Archie argues. ‘I’d be dead if it weren’t for her coming back for me. And she didn’t have to. I told her to run.’

‘Then she’s manipulative as well as powerful,’ Dorian retorts. ‘She knows she can’t run away from us, so she wants to win us over. Wouldn’t surprise me if she organised for those men to attack in the first place.’

Prick!

‘I don’t think so, Dorian,’ Archie scoffs. ‘Look at the state of her. An arrow in the side. A broken face. A swollen throat.’

‘She used your blood for magic!’ Dorian argues. ‘Now she knows she can, what’s to stop her doing it again?’

‘She can only use it in my wolf form. Not human form. And I let her use it because the alternative was extremely irreversible death, Dorian.’

‘She’s got a taste for our blood. She’ll never be able to resist. They never could, which is fine. It’s expected. But I don’t…’ He grunts in frustration. ‘I don’t want you getting attached to her.’

‘She’s not like the others were. She’s… different.’

‘You let her fuck you. And now you’re pussy whipped by yet another blood bitch. Just as you were before, and do you remember how that worked out for you?’

‘I think you’ll findIfuckedher. Not the other way around,’ Archie bites back, anger piercing his words. Unusual for him. ‘And fuck you for bringing up that bitch to me. I’m not the only one with a history of manipulative blood bitches, Dorian. Atleast I don’t have an army of shadows haunting me because ofmymistakes.’

Dorian shifts. I hear Archie move too.

‘If you two are going to fight, take it outside,’ Shaw states firmly. ‘She saved Archie’s life, risking hers in the process. I’m not locking her up for that, Dorian.’

I try to move. I attempt to speak. Gods below, I’m in so much pain. I need their blood. If I could, I would scream for it. As Shaw wipes my face clean, it feels like being slowly punched in the face. I must be bruised to shit. I want him to stop, but I’m locked inside my body.

‘You were supposed to be watching her, Archie,’ Dorian argues. ‘Clearly, neither of you can be trusted.’

‘Oh,’ Archie chuckles angrily. ‘I watched her. Watched her ride my cock.’

Dorian growls a low and deep grumble that sounds like a dozen beasts stirring from the bottomless pits of hell. Even the air gets colder.

‘Oh. That’s the truth, isn’t it?’ Archie jeers. ‘You’re just pissed that I fucked her first.’

‘I don’t want some scarred-up little virgin blood cunt.’

I’m shocked as I hear a fist strike flesh.

‘You little shit!’ Dorian growls. ‘You hit me to defendthat?’

‘Stop it. The pair of you,’ Shaw sighs tiredly. ‘We all knew it was a matter of time before one of us had her. It’s in our natures to be drawn to each other.’ His words are utterly dismissive, as if the fact that I was to be fucked by at least one of them was a certainty.

I guess it was… but still…

---