Page 89 of When Bones Whisper
“Charles disrespected you and your family,” he drawled as she edged into a slumber. “He deserved it.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“I would have killed him even if you didn’t,” he added with a brush of his fingers through her hair.
“Yes, but…” A yawn cut her off and she rolled onto her side.
“His death is on my hands, not on yours,” he promised, whispering reassuring words into her ear as she slowly passed out.
A searing pain shot through her forehead, right between her eyes, making her groan and squeeze her eyes shut.
Nathaniel’s fingers squeezed tighter around hers. “I’m not going anywhere. You can get through this. Just hold on for a few more hours.”
Those words shouldn’t have been reassuring. If the hex didn’t kill her, he eventually would. Even if he didn’t want to. Alexander had even said he ended up murdering the lovers he’d blood bonded with. Yet, she couldn’t help but hope. He had offered her a way out, even though her chances of winning The Hunt were low.
“What about the ritual you want me to do?” she asked, voice cracking.
“Let us not think of that right now.”
“Will you hold me?” she asked faintly when she felt the urge to lose herself in another memory came over her.
The bed dipped when he climbed into bed next to her, his body pressing hard against hers.
She wanted to believe that every time that night, as the hours bled together, when Nathaniel pulled her tighter against him, that itmeant more to him. But he couldn’t feel those things. Alexander had said as much. It was all in her imagination and since arriving at Sallow Manor, she had allowed herself to fall victim to the very thing she’d been warned against, even by Nathaniel himself. She had grown to like him, to desire him even, to think of him constantly.
When he pulled away and left her alone in the bed to greet Katherine, she ached to have him close again.
His voice resonated in her ears. “Is there anything that can ease her suffering?” While Charlotte couldn’t see Katherine, she assumed the worst judging by Nathaniel’s groan.
“There is not. I’m sorry. Is she asleep?” Katherine asked.
“I think so.”
“I can take over, so you don’t have to be alone with her.”
“No.” The sharp edge in his tone made her heart race. “I can watch her.”
“What about the bond?” Katherine protested. “You have been alone with her for hours already.”
“I’ve got it under control.” His tone teetered on dangerous, and Charlotte wondered if he actually did.
God, she wished she could know the true extent of how he felt. If he even thought of her like that? At least focusing on her confusing flutter of feelings was distracting her from the nausea and pain sweeping through her body in slow, but relentless waves.
After a few minutes, the hex deepened, clawing into her very soul, and the agony became so much worse. She was used to pain.Even on her best days, it was there. In fact, she could barely remember a time when she wasn’t in some level of pain, but the hex was another level of torture, stealing her words and breath with the jabs of sharpness that made her want to die just so she wouldn’t have to feel this anymore.
Something warm jumped beside her on the bed. Duke snuggled against her stomach, his paws on her abdomen, and she burst into tears, drawing the attention of both Nathaniel and Katherine.
His soft meow was everything in that moment, pulling her back from the darkest fingers of her thoughts. Claws extended gently against her nightgown, his wet nose nudged her chin when she contemplated giving up.
The pain was lessening. Only a smidge, but enough that she no longer wanted to throw herself from the window just for some relief. Once Katherine left, Nathaniel returned to hold her, his head hitting the pillow as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. “It’s not long left now.”
“Can you give me some of your blood?” she asked when the hex mark burned with a fresh wave of heat.
“I don’t know if it will help with this kind of pain.”
“Please,” she said faintly. “I need something. Anything.”
“Okay. Hold on.” With a heavy exhale, he brought his thumb to his fangs and pierced his skin. “Here.”
