Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 65066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
But there’s wet on my face when I put an arm around Jordy and press my face into her blood soaked hair. “Live, Kit. Live for me. Because, from now on, I live for you.”
A slight noise and her mouth parts, her chest rising and falling. “That’s it. That’s right,” I murmur, pressing closer. The healing has begun. “When you wake up, I’ll be here. Because I choose you.”
A whimper wakes me. I open my eyes and the sun hits me in the face. It’s high in the sky. Shit, I fell asleep? Jordy lies still beside me. For a horrible second I think that—but no, her chest is still moving. Her face and body are matted with dried blood, but underneath her wounds have healed.
I head to the bathroom, grab a fancy towel, and spend a few minutes washing the blood off her face and chest. About halfway through, her eyes slowly open.
“Hey.” I stroke back her hair.
“Grizz? What—” her eyes flash around frantically. “What happened? Augustine—”
“He’s gone. The vampires are all gone.” For now. But I gotta move her soon, in case they come back.
“But, I thought—”
“I couldn’t leave you, Kit. I made a mistake, but I’m not going to leave you again.”
Her forehead wrinkles and I smooth the lines away. She relaxes into my touch. It’s scary, how much she trusts me.
“How you feeling?”
She tries to shrug and gives a little groan.
“Easy. You’re okay.”
“I don’t know what happened. The vampires...”
“Beat you and left you for dead.”
Her hand falls, her eyes round with pain. “I remember.”
“Kit, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s all right.” She starts to struggle upright, then sits up quickly, casting a wondering glance around her. “I feel…fine.” She tests the word, raising a hand in front of her face and staring at it. “Better than fine actually.”
“It’s the blood.”
She closes her mouth. Swallows. “Blood?”
“All the blood I had. A whole cooler. Frangelico gave it to me to fight vampires.”
“You gave it to me?”
“I gave it to you. I didn’t know if it would heal or kill you, but you were dying anyway. I could only hope.” I touch her face tenderly. “And it worked. It healed you. Took all the blood I had, but it was worth it. It saved you.”
“You used the blood,” she murmurs to herself. “But, what about the vampires? The one-eyed vampire? I saw him, he was there. You can still get him—”
“No, Kit. No more. We can’t stay here. I can’t go back to the king. And I can’t hunt the one-eyed vampire anymore. I can’t risk anyone finding out about you. The vampires were trying to turn you.”
“Trying to—” her brow wrinkles.
“I figured out what they were doing. All those blood exchanges. They want an army to fight Frangelico. They tried to turn you.” For a horrible moment, I wondered if the blood could have turned her into a vampire. But no. Jordy’s alive and her fox is strong. The blood did its healing work.
“Grizz.” She touches my face. “What about your revenge?”
“I don’t need it. All I need is you.”
She closes her eyes and lets her forehead meet mine. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For ruining things. For using up all the blood. Now you can’t get revenge.”
“Jordy.” I pull away and catch her chin. “You didn’t ruin anything. You saved me. I was gonna drink that blood, fight the vampires, and die. I didn’t think I had anything to live for but revenge. I was wrong.” I tuck my face close to hers and whisper against her lips. “I have you.” Fuck, I have to kiss her.
Her arm slides around my neck and I lift her, carrying her swiftly out of the room. Away from the blood and gore. Away from the scene of her death and rebirth.
I get as far as the front door before I haul her against me and claim her mouth. I kiss her in the vampire’s house, my hands running up and down her body, squeezing, claiming. She’s soft and warm and whole. I was so fucking stupid. I could’ve missed this. I could’ve lost her forever.
A dog barks outside, a random warning. I break the kiss and Jordy puts a hand to her face, rubbed red by my stubble. She laughs at the beard burn, and I have to kiss her again.
This time she breaks away, still smiling. “We need to go.”
Right. “We gotta get outta town before sundown. Out of the valley.”
Her face falls and I cup her chin. “It’s not like that. I’m coming with you this time. I promise this, Jordy. I will never leave you again.”
“Okay,” she says, looking up at me with such trust. I don’t deserve her. I’ll spend the rest of my life treasuring this woman, caring for her and protecting her and replacing every bad memory of vampires with a hundred good ones. She’s gonna know how special she is. She’s gonna know she’s loved. I’ll dedicate my life to it. To her.