Page 232 of Eternal Ruin
It was that voice again. Why were they in so much pain?
Allowing his heart to flutter awake a little, he opened his eyes.
An angel’s face hovered above him, and he thought for a brief moment—it’s her.
The Sage who kept saving his life, a radiant shine coming off her mask, smelling of white roses.
She was crying, her tears wetting his cheek. The third drop made his vision clear, and he stared into an unmasked face, dark wet eyes and trembling lip.
Kidan.
His heart ripped violently, although his face hardened at her anguished expression.
“I’m not dead yet,” he said hoarsely, wincing. “And even when I am, I’m not worth this many tears. Enough, little bird.”
It only made her sob more. “I couldn’t hear your heartbeat. They said… I thought…”
Her voice folded on itself, annihilating him.
Susenyos fought to speak through a parched throat, swallowing the blood she offered him greedily. Though every atom in his body felt punctured by a needle, her blood was a slow salve. “It happens sometimes. My heart is beating, just very slowly. My body is trying to heal.”
She traced a fearful hand along his bleeding chest. “What can I do?”
“You’re already doing it. Your blood… helps me concentrate on something other than the pain.”
His fingers disappeared into her braids. It was like touching the finest silk, her hair the ropes of an ancient tree. He could feel the pounding of her heart, the change in her breathing.
Becoming his only source of sustenance went beyond anything they were ready for. So he would ask no more of her than an ordinary companion would until he found a way to break this bond. This mortal vow. He refused to burden her with such a fate for the rest of her life.
Moving hurt like hell but Susenyos reached for her slender neck and pulled her head down, down to his chest until her ears were pressed to it.
“I’m fine, little bird,” he whispered. “Listen.”
He let his heart pump then. Her sniffling didn’t stop but gradually it became staggered. She wrapped her arms around him like a vise, making all the Sicions’ torturous cuts bleed further but he didn’t dare complain.
Susenyos kept his hand on her head, softly running his fingers down her braids. He could do nothing but hold her. Let the pain and fear thunder through her and leave her.
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered. “The dean won’t stop but I can’t break the law. I can’t.”
As Kidan explained what Professor Andreyas had taught them, Susenyos cursed.
Law permanence. If Kidan broke the law as a master, there was no way torectify it. He didn’t know such a thing would happen. Of course, Mahlet wouldn’t have shared this with him.
He would never forgive himself for not seeing the trap they were walking into. A niggling feeling still lurking inside him told him there was more.
What is it?he demanded.What else?
There was only the blankness of his mind. Samson had escaped and hidden like a cockroach. Arin demanded Susenyos return as soon as possible or lose his people again—but these threats were obvious.
This one hovered above him invisible and dangerous, just out of reach.
Frustrated, he turned his attention to something he could actually solve. Kidan would lose something of equal value to her soon. And that could only be June.
“You can’t lose June,” he whispered, trying to keep his eyes open. “Make the dean promise to execute a death transformation if June dies.”
Kidan’s breathing stopped at once. Slowly, she lifted her head, horror wide in her eyes. “You’re saying… June will be a vampire?”
He wiped her tears. “I’ve seen what her loss did to you. You can’t go through that again.”
