Get on your feet! I screamed at myself, rolling left and right to miss his blade.
I tucked my knees beneath me, pressing off the ground in an attempt to stand, but the move cost me seconds I didn’t have. A white-hot jolt sliced just above my left breast, the guard’s knife sinking into the hilt with a sickening squelching sound.
I screamed, the pain clanging through me as much as the shock. I whirled, using all my speed, all my strength to rise up. I brought those daggers in my hands with me, and each found their mark, One in either side of the guard’s neck, the tips barely missing each other in connection as they sank into his flesh. Warm, thick liquid poured over my hands from the wound, making my fingers slick on the hilts.
He fell, that scowl now a permanent mark on his lifeless face. Blood soaked my clothes—mine and the guards, as I spotted Zorin fleeing through the tunnels. I tried to race after him, but my speed failed me. It winked in and out, only moving me a few feet before jerking me to a halt. My mind was blurring, my body growing cold with each rush of blood that spurted from the wound above my breast. My knees hit the ground, the pain barely registering.
“Olivia!” Ransom’s voice was like a war cry as he dropped to his knees before me. His eyes flared at the blood all over me.
“It’s not all mine,” I assured him, breathless.
“Olivia?” My father’s voice was ten degrees of shocked as he and Hawke and Benedict raced to the scene, guns drawn. “What on…did you…”
“Yes,” I admitted. “I offered them prison over death, but they declined. Avi is safe inside. Zorin got away,” I said, eying Hawke and Benedict who disappeared at my words, no further explanation needed. “He poisoned them,” I continued. “He threatened Avi.”
“Are those…daggers?” My father asked, astonished and this side of angry.
I ignored him, my body slackening against Ransom’s. He scooped me up, cradling me against his chest. Silent and sharp and practically vibrating beneath me.
“Get Mother, Marisha, and Zasha,” I said, motioning to the tomb. “I sealed Avi and Katya inside. Had to…” My voice weakened. “Keep them safe.”
Ransom growled, and the wind kissed my face as he ushered me backward into that swirling wind until I saw nothing but peaceful black.
17
Ransom
Shock. Rage. Frustration. Guilt. Terror.
Emotions collided within me from every direction, but the strongest of them was fear.
Fear for Olivia’s life.
Focus. I could deal with everything that had just happened as long as Olivia lived.
The blood flow appeared to come from her shoulder, and once I’d wended us into our bedroom, I stripped her on our bed with quick efficiency, leaving her only in her underwear as I examined her wounds. Most were superficial cuts—the work of a knife? Bruises bloomed along her ribs and face, but it was the shoulder wound that worried me the most. It bled with a pulse of its own.
Live. She has to live. Nothing else mattered if she didn’t.
“Ransom,” she croaked, her eyes fluttering open.
My gaze jerked to hers and I took my first full breath since hearing the sounds of the struggle a few minutes ago. I’d wended from the staircase to the chamber, only to see her lying limp and wounded.
Avi is safe inside. That had been her first concern. Not her own health, or even her life.
“Thank God,” I muttered, pausing to press a kiss to her forehead.
“Did you get Avi out? Is she okay?”
“I’m a little more worried about you at the moment. You’re losing too much blood.” I ran my tongue over the wound to help seal the deep puncture, then applied pressure with the heel of my hand. “You have to feed.” Settling on the bed so she could reach, I offered my throat.
“Did you get Zorin—”
“For fuck’s sake, Olivia! Feed before I lose you!” I cupped the back of her head and brought her mouth to my neck. “Now!”
She struck true and deep, and my fear beat back the wave of pleasure that crested over me as she drew from my vein in long pulls.
“Olivia!” I heard her sisters shout her name as they raced down the hall.
With a single thought, I slammed the lock home on the bedroom door, sealing us in. They pounded on the door and tried the handle.
“She’s alive. We need a few minutes!” I called out as Olivia fed at my throat. My voice nearly broke at the feeling of relief that coursed through me.
I’d almost lost her. The thought echoed around in my head like a fucking pinball machine, triggering every primal instinct to protect her. There was no life without Olivia.
Olivia broke the suction at my throat, licked the punctures, and fell back against the pillow. “Did you get Avi out?” she shouted.