Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Gabriel blinked, as if considering it.
“The older the vampire the more powerful the blood,” I said to him. “And Grace can drain me dry if it means she lives.” I squeezed her hand.
“Samuel is also the most lethal form of poison in our kind,” Gabriel noted.
“Samuel is lethal when he chooses to be,” I agreed. “But the power for healing is in his blood. We all know it.” I nodded back toward where I knew Aurora was doing her damndest to blend into the wall. “Why do you think she’s survived this long refusing to feed adequately? Samuel’s blood is what kept her alive when he abandoned her in that house.”
I knew the idea had merit when Saint looked Aurora’s way.
“Please,” I said to Aurora, clenching Grace’s hand. Grace, who I couldn't live without, couldn’t take a breath in a world where she didn’t. “You’re the only shot she has.”
“What if my blood poisons her instead?” Aurora whispered, looking at the floor.
“I’m pretty much already a walking death sentence,” Grace tried to joke. “The cancer is going to kill me in the next couple of weeks. In some ways, I think this might be a more merciful way to go.”
Aurora slowly drew her gaze upward, but it wasn’t Grace she looked at, it was Saint. “You think I should let her bite me?”
Saint blanched.
“No!” I assured her, but kept my feet where they were so I didn’t scare her. “We could have Saint do…what he does to sedate you, and withdraw a vial, just like Lyric does when Gabriel is studying her blood.”
“You wouldn’t feel it,” Saint promised, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“And you think it would work?” she asked him.
“I think it’s the best shot she’s got. Lyric’s blood doesn’t cure cancer, but maybe it can convince what’s left of Samuel’s blood in yours to.”
“What’s left of his blood,” she said quietly, looking down at her hands with what could only be described as loathing.
“It’s your choice, of course,” I managed to say. Too much had been taken from the female already to force anything from her—even a conversation like this one, let alone something as personal, as sacred as blood.
“I won’t do anything you don’t want,” Saint assured her.
She glared at him. “Like you don’t make me drink?”
He ripped his hand over his hair. “That’s different and you know it. I’m not going to sit by and watch you—” His eyes closed and he took a deep breath. “Make your choice, Aurora.”
She looked past me to Grace, then down at our joined hands.
Silence echoed through the room for too many seconds to count.
“I’ll do it,” Aurora said softly. “But only if you knock me out,” she finished at Saint. “No one else touches me.”
He nodded once, but I didn’t miss the flinch.
She retreated to the recovery room, and Gabriel launched into action, getting everything ready.
“What was that about?” I asked Saint. “Only you?”
He shrugged. “I can’t decide if it’s because she knows I can knock her out, or if it’s because I look just like him and she hasn’t stopped punishing herself for something that was never her fault.” His footsteps were slow as he followed Gabriel back to the recovery room.
Fifteen minutes later, we had everything we needed.
I sat on the edge of Grace’s bed and stroked her face, glancing over her features. “I never deserved someone like you. You’ve always been far too good for me.”
“Eh.” She grinned, but there was a tremble in her lips. “Personally, I think I married up.”
“You know this is going to hurt like hell.” I couldn’t stop touching her, my fingers caressing the high line of her cheek, the smooth arch of her neck.
“I can take it.” She captured my other hand and brought it to her lips, kissing the back of it. “Just give me a few days, okay? If I’m not as fast as other transitions, don’t give up on me.”
“Never.” I’d wait forever for her.
“We’re ready,” Gabriel said, two syringes prepared on Grace’s other side.
But I wasn’t.
Leaning down, I kissed Grace like we weren’t surrounded by others. I stroked my tongue over hers, taking what I knew might be our last moments together and holding on with everything I had.
Then I lifted my head and stared down at my beautiful, kind, perfect mate.
She reached for my face and braved a smile. “I will love you for the rest of my life.”
I pressed a kiss into her palm. “And I’ll love you every day for the rest of mine.”
She held my gaze and tilted her head, baring the side of her neck.
Gods, please forgive me.
I struck.
20
GRACE
“And then she knew without any shadow of a doubt, that he belonged to her. Wholly. Significantly. Even when it didn’t make sense. Even when a world wasn’t supposed to exist where he loved her as intensely as he did. She was human. He was vampire. But the fates had mated them, the stars aligning and propelling them toward each other, giving them a piece of happiness in an unforgiving world. He was her mate. And she was his.”