Page 76 of Bitten & Burned
I was the man, not the monster, according to Anton.
I wasn’t sure I believed him. I didn’t deserve his defense.
Vael pulled himself to his feet without a word. Dust in his hair. Red blooming on his throat. Pride in tatters.
He didn’t speak. Didn’t growl. Just stood there like he wanted to leave, but didn’t dare after the show Anton had just put on.
Anton straightened his collar. Smoothed his sleeves. Calm and crisp, like a man who’d just returned from a polite little murder.
Then he looked at Vael. Flat. Cold. Already bored with him.
“For gods’ sake…go.”
Vael went.
He didn’t slam the door this time.
ROWENA
Warm.
Not fire. Not sunlight.
Blood.
It flowed over my tongue like silk—steady and rich. Grounding me through the flow.
“Shh, little dove,” a warm voice whispered. “Drink. It’ll help. My blood always helps.”
Cassian.
His wrist was pressed to my mouth, his other hand cradling my head. I could not remember how I got here. But I couldn’t worry about that when the taste of him was so…familiar. He tasted like safety.
My throat worked for me, swallowing on instinct. My fingers twitched. My headpounded.
“Easy,” he murmured, voice velvet-smooth and full of quiet command. “That’s it. Just breathe.”
I wasn’t aware of when the tears came, or why.
Cassian shifted slightly, bringing his head down closer to mine.
“There you are, Rowena. Keep drinking. I’ve got you.”
I gripped his wrist and drank deeply, letting the warm taste flow over my tongue. The aches in my body began to recede. The pounding in my skull was already fading.
I could feel my toes. My fingers. My legs. My arms. I was coming back. The bond’s hum steadied, faint but present, as though it too was returning with me.
A groan escaped me as I swallowed again, but a little blood sputtered past my lips.
“Shhh… easy. Go slow,” Cassian murmured. “Not so much at once. Don’t worry, I’ll stay as long as you need me.”
And gods, I needed him.
I relaxed into his arms, letting the feeling return to my limbs and everything else. Slowly, the frantic edge of need faded. I was just drinking, not clawing my way back.
I released him.
“Did you get enough?” he asked.
