Page 29 of Heart of Dawn
Everything hurt, every organ slowing, every cell on the verge of collapse. It wouldn’t be more than a minute now until I became a biter. Even while swimming in this mire, my mind unraveling, I fully understood my fate.
Maybe. The blood… The blood is so resistant…
“Orion…” I said, my soul clammy with fear. “Ori…”
“Do not resist me.” Dawn spoke in soothing tones. “Embrace me. Become one with me. Serve me.”
“Ori…”
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
The beating of our entwined hearts cut through everything, holes appearing in the pink. My organs flooded with life, Dawn’s already tenuous hold on me loosening.
“What are you doing?” it asked, no anger in its voice.
My shining fae superstar glistened in the darkness beyond the gaps in the pink. Full of light, full of cherries. The most precious creature in existence, the magic of his presence pouring energy into me.
Fill me up to the brim, Ori…
Second by second, Dawn’s grip slipped. The pink diminished as my head cleared.
No zombie shit for me today.
Thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
Dawn moaned, sounding like a biter. “That sound. What?—”
“Miko? By the stars! What’s going on?”
As soon as his voice jingled in my brain, my heart raced, my veins filling with incredible heat.
“What is this?” Dawn cried. “Cherries! Fae! Fae! Fae! The cursed blood!”
A new pop-up screen appeared, showing me the tsunami of glitter-flecked blood joining mine inside my veins. A special connection from Orion across the miles, just like his voice in my head.
Cleaning me out, a sparkling stream of rubies drowning the pink, washing it away. Making everything better.
Fae blood did something to Dawn. Ori saw it when a biter took a chunk out of Basil, the man’s human memories restored briefly before he went back to zombie mode. The blood might be a cure, or a weapon against Dawn, but right now it became a special thing between boyfriends to knock back the pink menace.
God, I really need to hold you…
“Miko?”Ori’s beautiful voice rang in my head, albeit panicked.
“I’m here,”I replied, the night sky and the rooftop filling my vision again.
“What’s going on? It feels like I’m healing you.”
“You are. I…”
Dawn howled, the noise threatening to destroy my hearing forever. I covered my ears, getting to my feet.“I have to go.”
“Miko!”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
