Page 40 of Blood Bought

“Tamsin?” I called gently, dropping down next to the mattress they’d laid her on. “Can you hear me?”

“Mmhm,” she hummed, not opening her eyes. “I’m tired. He’s coming back for me soon, just let me rest.”

I brushed the hair off her shoulder and gasped when I saw the marks on her neck. He didn’t just bite her, hegoredher – the wound looked too deep to be survivable, and the skin had been torn so roughly that I couldn’t even see the telltale signs of teeth marks.

He really was a beast.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, hands shaking as I tore off some of my own shirt to soak up the blood. “Tamsin, I’m so sorry.”

She hissed when the fabric touched the wound. “Don’t be. I knew the risks, it was a 50/50 shot and I ended up on the wrong side. Not your fault.”

It was, though. If I’d have just given myself to Alaris when he’d asked, he wouldn’t have made me bait for Ciro. She’d have still been safe at the shelter, maybe smart enough to say no to whoever took my place. “Tamsin...”

“Stop, Adalind,” she said weakly. “I don’t want your pity. It feels good for a moment... better than anything I’ve experienced in a long time. He just doesn’t like when his food is happy, apparently. I’ll figure out how to make it easier for myself.”

I thought about what Alaris said, about having a sweet tooth and caring deeply about consent. Ciro seemed to be the opposite, a sour tooth, if that was a thing, and I knew in that moment that Tamsin wouldn’t ever be able to find a way to make it easier for herself. He would keep her unhappy, sour, miserable, until she had nothing left to give him, and then he’d throw her away and leave her to die if he didn’t kill her himself.

I did that. I brought her to him. And I was the only one who could fix it.

“I need you to hang in there, Tamsin. Please. Just for a few more days. I’ll find a way to get you out of here, I promise.” I pulled the bracelet off my wrist hastily and put it on her instead. “This will block your thoughts from him, from all of them. When they come back to take you to him, hide. They won’t be able to find you.”

She tried to sit up, grunting with the strain. “No! I won’t let someone else take my place. Take it back,” she pleaded, scratching her own skin trying to take it off. “How could you even ask me to?”

The question slapped me in the face. This was the guilt I’d been warned about – the guilt my mother survived eighteen years of before finally turning herself over to Brander to be his whore. The guilt that we were putting others in terrible situations to save ourselves. The guilt that Tamsin already felt so strongly that she wouldneverbe bait – never do this to someone else even if it meant the difference between life and death for her.

Carefully, I took the bracelet back and got to my feet. “I know you won’t make someone else go in your place. Will you at least let Brenna go? She loves it, and she’s been with Ciro a few times from what I’ve heard. You won’t be condemning her to anything she doesn’t want to be condemned to and it’ll buy me some time. I won’t let you die like this.”

“Whether it’s now or later, I won’t be able to stomach someone else taking my place. What don’t you get about that?” she snapped, suddenly looking a little stronger.

“That this isn’t your place,” I said firmly. “I brought you here. You tookmyplace, and now I’m going to go fix it. This has been a horrible chain reaction all starting with me being too stubborn and scared, and that ends here. I will fix this, Tamsin. I’ll make it so you can go free.”

Acceptance spread across her face slowly, like all she needed to hear was that it shouldn’t have been her in the first place. It was at least half-true – while I was never meant to be Ciro’s, the rest still would’ve shaken out differently if I’d let Alaris have me.

And now... Alaris was the only one who could save her.

“Just hang in there for me, Tamsin. Please. I know exactly what to do, I just can’t until Alaris gets back.”

“How long will that be?”

I glanced toward the door like he’d somehow come crashing through it, then shook my head slightly when that didn’t happen. “I honestly don’t know.”

But for both of our sakes... I hope it’s soon.

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