Page 73 of Stalk the Dark
“I can’t. My blood isn’t pure…”
“You’re not human?”
“Not completely…not enough.”
“Why didn’t you…never mind. Not the time.” Shit, shit, shit. That left only one option. Me. I’d been sent here to protect the people from a monster, but also to protect the monster from all the monsters he’d created, and until now I’d wondered why a creature that couldn’t be killed would need to be protected.
This, here, was why.
Someone wanted him desiccated, weakened, and in pain.
What would have happened if we hadn’t been with him to make sure he got away? Would they have taken him and locked him up somewhere?
I couldn’t allow him to be lost. Still, the thought of his fangs in me made me want to puke.
He cried out in pain again.
Oh fuck, his face…Skin pulled tight over his skull like when we’d first met.
Damn it! I tugged my amulet off and handed it to Ordell.
“Shit.” He clenched his teeth, because yes, shit was getting real. “Orina, this will hurt.”
“Yeah, I figured. Just get him off me when he’s had what he needs.”
He nodded tersely.
I took a deep breath and pulled Ezekiel toward me. He had weight to him despite the rapid desiccation. I gripped his jaw, looking into his golden eyes threaded with scarlet.
“Permission,” he growled, his body vibrating with the effort of holding back from devouring me.
My stomach quivered. I closed my eyes. “I give you permission to feed on me.”
He was on me in an instant, hands fisting my hair, pulling my head to one side, and then fire ate at my neck, burning down my throat and into my side.
Primal instinct kicked in, and I fought—clawing and kicking—but his grip was an unbreakable vise.
“Don’t fight,” Ordell said. “You’ll make it worse, Orina, don’t?—”
Crack, I couldn’t breathe.
“NO!” Ordell bellowed. “Enough!”
Warm hands grabbed at my shoulders, but cold arms crushed me harder.
Crack. Crack.
“Ezekiel, stop. Let go, dammit!” Ordell ordered.
But his voice was far away. I was cold now. No pain. Drifting.
Was this death?
Shouldn’t it bother me more?
“Ezekiel, stop! You’re killing her!”
Cold metal kissed my neck, and Ezekiel hissed, releasing me to Ordell.
