Page 11 of Secrets of Ruin

Her hand trembled as it caressed his thick beard before her wrist pressed against his lips. “Drink. It will make you stronger.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice as the sweet lure of her blood and the beat of her pulse called to him. His fangs sank into her wrist.

Her potent blood hit his tongue, and he drank it down. Coppery and honeyed all at once, it flooded him with strength as it seeped into his drained cells and pulsed through his arid veins.

He ached to grasp her hand and hold it closer, but he didn’t have the energy to make the small move; dragging himself over here had left him depleted. Dimly, he heard her talking while another, deeper voice spoke in the background.

He couldn’t make out the other’s words or who it was, but he understood her.

“He’s burning up,” Kaylia said.

There was a pause and the rumble of more words before she spoke again. “I think his wounds are infected, but I can’t get a good look at them, and if I could, there’s nothing I can do to clean them.”

The low voice spoke again before Kaylia responded. “They’ll come back soon. They never leave us for long.”

Those words and the possibility of the ophidians’ return roused him a little. They couldn’t come back while he was this weak; he couldn’t stop them from taking her if they did.

He managed to lift his hand to clasp hers while he continued to drink. He stroked her fingers as he tried to comfort her.

Finally, he reluctantly retracted his fangs as his body clamored for more. He hadn’t taken nearly enough to sate him, but he couldn’t take more; if he did, he risked weakening her too much.

“Drink more,” Kaylia commanded.

“Taking… too… much,” he managed to get out.

“I’ll decide when it’s too much. Drink more.”

“When they come back… you… need your… strength.”

“Drink. More.”

Brokk wanted to argue further as her blood spread out to repair his body, but it couldn’t heal all of it. His cells and veins screamed for more. They were broken, empty, on fire…seeking sustenance, and she was offering it to him.

A little more wouldn’t hurt, but he would be the one to decide when to stop. She felt too guilty about him taking her place on the rack and would give far too much because of it. He wouldn’t let that happen.

Clasping her wrist, he bit into her again and held back a groan as he drank. A little more of the fire dimmed, but she could never provide enough to put it out fully. He was too far gone for that.

“Take as much as you need,” she said.

He drank a few more gulps before releasing her and licking away the blood on her skin. “Enough.”

“Brokk—”

“No. Enough.”

He edged away from the bars before her lure became too strong to resist. He didn’t know how far he made it before he collapsed and allowed the darkness to take him over again.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kaylia sat against the solid back wall with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms around them. Her muscles ached from sitting in the same position for hours, but she remained where she was as she kept her gaze pinned on Brokk.

She had no way of knowing how long he’d been unconscious since feeding from her, but it felt like endless days of worry. The ophidians had returned a few times to give them food and water.

They always opened the cells with their metal gloves and poles at the ready while one of them shoved food and drink inside. Occasionally, someone would still charge them, but those futile escape attempts lessened as time passed.

Anyone who tried to flee always paid the price, but though Kaylia hated seeing her friends suffering after these attempts, it gave her some hope to see that the others hadn’t given up yet. There was still hope here, even if it was dwindling.

She’d also tried charging the ophidians a few times, as had Brokk. They’d failed, but she wouldn’t give up.