Page 54 of The Crimson Princess
“No. No, you’re the princess. I have your back.”
“Do as I say,” I command. “Go now.”
“Princess,” she pleads.
“The frostburns will have my back.Doit.”
She breathes out and breaks from the darkness into the light, and I scan the area around her, amazed as the frostburns form a protective circle behind us. We drink from the pond, and we’re back inside the forest in less than a minute, our relief palpable, but if there were hordes of werewolves on the other side of the pond, they could be here en masse as well. Our travel starts out uneventful and we’re almost to the spot where I plan to hole up in a small cavern and wait for the weres to exit into the villages.
That’s when we walk into a trap. Suddenly, we’re surrounded byweres, and not just a few, more than any number I’ve seen together thus far. The frostburns attack, but more weres jump down from high spots in the trees. They’re everywhere. And when three are all but on top of Raven, I launch to her rescue, but no sooner have I killed one than two are at my back. I shield myself and blink and the minute I’m in the clear, more come down from the trees. I throw up my shield again, but I can’t hold it, and I feel the teeth of one of them sink into my neck, dragging me down. Another is on top of me, his long, sharp teeth biting into my belly.
I scream out, and the frostburns drag the weres off of me, but the war is raging on around me, and I can’t move. The pain, there is so much pain, and I can’t lift my head. I can’t shield myself, but somehow, I blink myself as far away as I can from the battle, but it’s not far enough. I’m still in the forest.Toren,I call out in my mind.H…help. He…lp.
Raven appears by my side. “Oh no.No. Satima, I’m here but I need to get help. I’m going after Idris. I’m going for help.”
“No,” I squeak out. “No.”
Toren appears above me, and some part of me knows, he’s my survival, my only chance at life over death, and he must throw up a shield as two weres come at him and bounce right off. He kneels beside me, a blessed sight for my blurry eyes, and I watch as he bites his wrist. “I got you, princess,” he murmurs, leaning in close. “You’re going to be okay.” He presses his wrist to my mouth, his blood pouring past my lips, and I can barely drink.
“What are you doing?” Raven demands. “What are you doing to her?”
“Saving her,” Toren says, his voice calm, when I sense he’s raging inside, “but she won’t heal instantly, not with the severity of her wounds. You need to cover for her. Don’t let anyone come looking. Don’t tell them she’s with me.”
“How can I trust you?”
“Turning on me is turning on her. She will die. And I don’t have time to argue with you or play some game to prove myself.Shedoesn’t have time. Do this for her and I promise you, I will saveher. Fight your way out of here and cover for her with the gales. Do not let them know she’s gone with me. It will—”
He doesn’t finish, or if he does, I’m not aware of how or when. He pulls his wrist from my mouth and slides his arms under me. “I got you, Satima,” he murmurs and then to Raven. “I’m taking her.” And that’s the last thing I remember. Everything goes dark.
Part Three:
Bloodstone
Chapter twenty-four
Awarenesscomestomein a rush of pain and darkness, my automatic reaction is to jerk upward, but strong hands hold me in place. “Stay where you are. You’ll tear your wounds deeper.”
“Toren,” I whisper, my voice raspy from the rawness of my throat.
“I’m here, princess.” He leans over me, and I blink through the dimness of the room, the sight of him is a balm to my soul. I’m not dead. I’m not alone.
Don’t try to use your voice,he says in my mind.Your throat needs to heal.
Every part of me feels as if it’s being ripped apart.
I imagine it does, but you’re healing, he says. I promise.
Emotion is as thick as the acid in my throat.You came for me.
Did you doubt me? Don’t answer that. Of course I came for you. And you’re going to be okay.
Am I?
Yes. My blood is healing you, but it’s too newly introduced to your body, for me to go too fast. I have to feed you slowly or we risk you going into shock.
So I’m alive because I’m part vampire?
That’s complicated to answer and better saved for later.He strokes my hair from my face, his touch gentle, and somehow it alone soothes the burn of my body.
