He threw the device down beside him, his brow pinching, and he must have seen the questioning look in my eyes. “We use that device to heal skin lesions. That bastard must have used his darkness to inflict these wounds because I can’t heal cuts this way.”
It was like I could actually feel the life leaking out of my body. Thane had gently laid me down on the concrete floor in the torture room, and despite the ugliness of the location, I soaked up his beauty as he tended to my injuries. At least I’d have something gorgeous to look at as I died, I thought amusedly. There could be worse ways to die.
“So, we may have to do this the old-fashioned way.” He offered me a soft smile and I wasn’t sure if that was meant to be a joke.
“You could always take me to the hospital,” I suggested in a whisper, well aware of what his answer would be, but figuring it was worth trying.
“That’s not what I was talking about, pet.” He brushed a strand of hair caught on my lashes out of my face. “The quickest way to remove your pain and heal you is with a blood exchange.” He stared at me with a smirk as if he knew what Derrial and I had done.
“Do you mean a bond?” I asked, sounding snappier than I’d intended, or maybe I had meant it that way because no one had even explained what such a connection entailed. “You need to explain what a bond means first,” I gasped even as a wave of pain shot up my leg and I convulsed as the pain rolled through me, faster and harder. Shutting my eyes, I let it pass and stayed statue still until the thrumming eased.
Soft fingers stroked my hand. “My blood will run in your veins and yours in mine. I will share with you some of my healing ability, but it also means...”
He wiped his mouth, almost nervous, and I looked at him, sensing something big was coming. “It means what?”
“The fact you didn’t die when you were bound with Derrial means your blood is compatible with ours, and we were right to sense there was something special about you.”
“What does...” My words trailed off from the burning pain, feeling as if someone jammed blades into my open injuries. “Why does it hurt so much?” I cried out, gripping Thane’s hand, squeezing it as the deadening sensation crashed through me over and over.
His breath was on my cheek. “Pet, I can help you, but you have to willingly agree to bond with me. The darkness he used to cut you up has a toxin in it, made to bring you unbearable pain for weeks after the infliction.”
Sweat slid down the side of my face, or maybe it was blood. I had no clue. I still stared at Thane incredulous though. Was he fucking kidding? He was staring at me with compassion and he had offered me a way out. Earlier I was willing to die to stop the torture, and now I was ready to be set free from the pain.
“Yes,” I cried. “Please, make it stop.”
“I will,” was all he said, then took out a small blade from his belt. “I need to make a small incisor on fresh skin as your cuts have poison that sits on the wound.”
“Do it. Hurry,” I cried as another stream of pain rushed over me, making me feel like someone was raking nails across my body. The pain was so bad that I couldn’t even tell Thane had finished cutting me until I glanced over and saw him pressing my finger into his mouth. His eyelids fluttered as if the taste did something to him, taking him to another realm.
When he finally lowered my hand and licked his bloody teeth, he sliced his thumb and pressed it to my parted lips. Drops rushed over my tongue, and I lapped the blood, its coppery, sweet taste flooding my month. Already, the sharpness of my wounds was retreating.
He must have cut himself deep, because I was taking in more than I had with Derrial. As my pain eased, I gripped his hand, holding on. I needed more until the pain was completely stopped. As I drank his blood, I found myself forgetting the day, forgetting that I had ever been hurt.
Thane ripped his hand from my grip, his thumb tugged out of my mouth, making a popping sound.
I licked my lips feverishly, in those seconds believing he might try to take the blood back.
“Enough,” he growled. “Blood sharing can become an addiction, so we need to be careful.”
As I lay there, feeling the calmness spread over me, I remembered the monster’s words. How I shone so bright they’d find me, how I was special, and how his kind, the Khonsu, would hunt me down. A different fear strangled me now, and it became hard to breathe once again as the truth of my reality slammed into me.
No matter where I ran or hid, I’d never be safe.