Binding Ties The Sentinel Wars - Shannon K. Butcher Page 0,46

all the strength seeped out of Joseph. It took every ounce of energy he had to keep his sword in his grip.

Lyka scrambled to her feet and came to his side. He couldn’t find the energy to stand or even lift his hand to ask for her help.

“Joseph,” she said, her face going white and her pretty golden eyes widening. “You’re hit.”

He had no idea what she meant until he looked where she was looking. The hilt of a crude sword stuck out of his gut. The blade had gone all the way through him and he’d barely felt it.

He started feeling it now, though.

Joseph reached for the sword to pull it out, but Lyka stopped him, batting his hands away easily. “No. You pull that, and you’ll bleed to death. We need a Sanguinar. Fast.” She pulled his phone from his jeans pocket and dialed.

“Joseph’s been injured. We need help. Now.” Her voice shook so hard the words were barely decipherable.

He heard a man’s voice come through the phone’s casing, but couldn’t make out the words.

“No. If I move him, he’s dead. You need to send someone here.”

Joseph almost asked if it was really that bad, but a cold wave of pain tore through him, forcing him to grit his teeth to hold back a cry of pain.

He didn’t want Lyka to think he was weak. She already thought of him as soft from his desk job. To have her think he couldn’t hold his own in battle was unthinkable.

Whoever was on the phone with her spoke again, this time with a little more concern coming through in his tone.

“I’ll do what I can, but I’m no healer,” she replied.

The man on the line began shouting orders, presumably to someone around him.

Lyka clenched the phone harder. “Tell him to hurry, Nicholas. Seconds count.” She hung up and pocketed the phone. Her hands were shaking.

Joseph pulled in a slow breath so he’d have air to speak. “Good news?” he asked.

She knelt beside him, patting his shoulder gently. “Ronan is nearby. He’s on his way.”

Blood trickled down his spine, reminding him to hold very still. “Don’t worry about me. Keep an eye out for more demons.”

A wave of deep fear and worry flickered through him, and he knew instantly that it wasn’t his own. The luceria was channeling her emotions to him, as it was designed to do.

He only wished they’d been happier ones.

He found the tiny conduit that connected them. He could sense the potential for powerful magic to flow between them, but right now, there was nothing there but the potential for more. He’d never been bonded to a female Theronai before and wasn’t entirely sure how it worked, but he let his instincts guide him as he used that conduit to offer her what little comfort he could.

“I’m going to be fine,” he said. “I’ve been through worse injuries than this and survived.” It was a lie, but one he was willing to give her if it eased her worry.

She got right in his face and bared her teeth. “Don’t you dare lie to me at a time like this, Theronai.”

“How did you know?”

She tapped her nose. “I can smell it. I can also smell your pain.”

“Sorry.” He pulled in too deep a breath and his abdomen erupted in pain. “I’ll try to keep my smells to myself.”

Her helpless frustration churned through their link. “Is there anything I can do?”

“You’ve already done all you can.”

“And that pisses me off.” She paced a few yards away, then stalked back. With every step she became more and more furious. After a couple of minutes, she came to a stop in front of him and stared down at his wound.

Blood wet the front of his shirt. The waistband of his jeans was becoming saturated. His body’s temperature had dropped, giving the cold wind plenty of room to suck the heat right out of the blood he’d shed. Each breath was becoming harder to draw than the last. He did his best to stay perfectly still, but his strength was fading, making him sway where he straddled the dead demon’s body.

She took off her shirt, leaving her wearing only a stretchy camisole.

“What are you doing?”

“Tying this around your wound so the blade won’t shift.”

She did so carefully, moving close enough to him that he could catch the sweet scent of her skin. He honestly didn’t know if he was going to make it out of this alive, but in that moment, with