Michael—Dad—please help!
“I’m not going to bleed to death,” he tells me and urges me up.
“But you’re not healing, Lucas,” I spit as if he’s forgotten. “And if you don’t heal, you’ll continue to bleed. Vampire blood doesn’t clot. You have to heal.” I shuffle closer, pressing the sweater against his stomach. The blood is starting to seep through.
Lucas gently wraps his arm around me, pulling me to him. I expect him to be cold like he always is, but he feels warmer than usual. I don’t have time to even acknowledge how strange that is.
“Abby’s home,” I say, bringing a hand up to wipe away my tears. I end up smearing blood across my cheeks in the process. My thoughts are a jumbled mess, and I can’t get the words out. “We…we…she can, um.”
“Breathe, Callie,” Lucas says calmly.
My eyes flutter shut, and I suck in a breath. “She can stitch you up. Keep you from losing more blood.”
“Good idea.” Lucas nods and pulls his jacket closed, covering up the blood. He holds his hand over the wound, keeping the sweater against it so he doesn’t leave a trail of blood as we walk.
Lucas retracts his fangs and grits his teeth, holding up the front that everything is fine. He does an impressive job, too, saying hello to his employees on the way out.
“Do you want me to get the car?” I ask, pulling the keys out of his pocket.
“Callie,” he says, almost sounding annoyed. “I’m fine.”
“You are so far from fine!” I’m still wrestling with my emotions, unable to keep the tears out of my eyes. I’ve been in bad situations before and will be in bad situations again.
I’ve faced demons and hellfire and a trial with the Grand Coven where the outcome could have been my death by fire. Yet nothing scared me as much as this does.
I can’t lose Lucas.
If I did…no, I can’t even think like that. If I do, I’ll start crying, and Lucas needs me right now.
“We’re not that far,” he counters, and while I could run to the car and speed back faster than it’ll take us to walk at normal speed to it, I don’t want to leave Lucas alone while he’s…he’s…like this.
Whatever it is.
Heart in my throat, I keep a steady hold on Lucas. We make it down half the block before I realize he’s the one holding me, keeping me steady.
“I love you,” I whisper as another tear rolls down my cheek.
“Are you just saying that because you think I’m going to die—for real this time?”
I look up, glaring at the cheeky grin on Lucas’s face. “Not. Funny.”
He chuckles and bends his head down, kissing the top of my head. “I love you, too. And I’m not going to die. Not like this. If I die, it’s going to be way more epic.”
“Stop talking about dying,” I rush out, teeth on the verge of chattering. I’m getting annoyed with him for not taking this seriously, and I know it’s a defense mechanism. It’s easier to be annoyed than terrified.
“I’m not going to die,” he says like he believes it. Then he falters on his next step, and I realize how heavy Lucas actually is. There’s no way I can physically hold him up. He’ll crush me.
I throw out my hand, ready to telekinetically stop him from falling, but he recovers, moving with vampire speed.
“Don’t do that,” I say, and this time my teeth do clatter together. “You…you should conserve your energy.”
Lucas doesn’t reply with a witty comeback this time, frightening me even more. Sweat drips down between my breasts, and my heart is hammering so fast in my head I can feel the pounding.
Lucas straightens up and grits his teeth, pushing forward. We shuffle down the sidewalk, and he hunches over from the pain. The blood is seeping through the sweater, through his jacket, and is dripping on the sidewalk now.
Shit.
We need to pick up the pace, but Lucas can’t move any faster. Tears burn in the corners of my eyes, and part of me wants to turn around and run to the front of the bar, finding the asshole who slashed Lucas, and cut him from the inside out.
Let him know how it feels.
My rage makes the streetlight above us glow brighter and brighter, until the bulb explodes. Another couple who’s walking the opposite way down the street startles and jumps, bumping into us.
“Sorry,” the guy says and lowers his eyes to Lucas’s stomach. “Whoa, you okay?”
Lucas looks up, making eye contact. “I am fine. You didn’t see anything. Keep walking.”
The guy looks at Lucas like he’s crazy. “You don’t look fine, buddy. Did the glass from the light hit you? You could sue the city, you know.”
Shock takes over Lucas’s face, and he leans back against me. He’s not healing, and he can’t hold anyone spellbound? What the fuck is happening?