Page 26 of A Trial By Blood

I strode to the other side of the bed, my body, my organs in some kind of distress. I was surprised I hadn’t collapsed from all that was going on inside me. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I didn’t care, the sun was calling me closer.

I looked down at her lying there, so small, so frail. I listened for her heartbeat. Nothing. My head dipped before I knew what I was doing, pressing my ear to Rose’s still chest.

Nothing.

Something hot trickled down my face, and I brushed it away. Blood. I’d seen my sister weep before. These were tears. Why was I weeping? I looked down at Rose’s face, and fire burned hotter in my chest. My hand lifted all on its own to touch her cool cheek. Another hot tear slid down my face and fell, landing on Rose’s pale lower lip.

I reached out to brush it away, but it slipped into her mouth. I stared down at her, trying to understand what was happening. Trying to resist the urge to grab her from that bed and hold her to me—

Thump.

I stilled. Several seconds passed.

Thump.

I shut everyone out around me and zeroed in on that sound.

Thump.

I pressed my head to Rose’s chest once more.

Warrick gripped my shoulder, and I turned to him. Willow was pressed to his side, weeping. Ren, behind her. He and Warrick watched me with a look I couldn’t interpret. “Brother, she’s gone,” Warrick said.

“No.” Blood. Rose needed blood. I knew what Rose was, what her father was. I knew what she needed.

My fangs extended, and I bit into my wrist.

Someone gasped.

I ignored them and took Rose’s chin, opening her mouth, and pressed my wrist there. My blood slid past her lips to her tongue. I was yanked back.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Warrick barked at me.

I spun, throwing my arm wide, and punched him in the throat. He automatically released me, and I spun back to Rose and pressed my wrist to her mouth again.

Everyone was yelling and crying. Warrick came at me again, Ren joining him.

I spun and snarled, the sound coming from somewhere deep inside me, somewhere I didn’t know existed. No one was going to stop me.

“Ronan, please stop,” Daisy cried. “She’s gone. Don’t do this.”

I forced myself to find the words. “She isn’t dead. Almost, but not quite.”

“What?” Willow whispered behind me.

“I found her father,” I said. “He’s a shifter.”

Daisy blinked up at me. “No…he was…he’s human.”

Rose’s lips trembled against my wrist, and I looked down at her, unable to look away. “He’s a bat shifter. As Rose grew older, her need for human food would have become less, while her need for blood steadily increased.” I looked up again. “Rose wasn’t sick, she’s been slowly starving to death. She needs blood.”

Rose whimpered.

Daisy cried out. “Rose! Oh goddess. Rose!”

Rose’s tongue slid over the bite mark I’d made, her instincts automatically kicking in, knowing somehow that if she did that she could encourage the blood to flow faster. Is that why I’d brought food to her each morning? Why I always had a driving need to feed her, nourish her. Somewhere deep inside, had I known this was what she needed?

“Roe?” Willow said, rushing closer.