Binding Ties The Sentinel Wars - Shannon K. Butcher Page 0,7

said, what you’re doing is saving lives. Is spending a few hours with Joseph really such a hardship that it’s not worth the lives of those children?”

“Now who’s playing dirty?” she asked. “Why the hell do you care so much whether or not I get to teach my classes? What’s in it for you? You do all this healing without asking for my blood to fuel your efforts, and all I have to do in return is make sure that it’s either you two or Tynan who patches them up. Aren’t you supposed to demand payment in blood?”

“Hope and I sustain each other now. We have far less need for blood than the rest of our kind.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. What’s in it for you?”

The two shared a secret look that spoke volumes—volumes Lyka couldn’t even begin to understand.

Finally, Logan spoke, but it was clear he was choosing his words carefully. “Most of these children are wounded beyond what you can see. Their emotional scars run deep. Every time we heal their bodies, it gives us the chance to touch their minds and work toward healing that part of them as well. It’s a slow, delicate process—one made much faster by the sheer frequency of opportunities to heal that your little lessons provide. Baby steps, as it were.”

“That’s it? You’re doing all of this as some kind of magical therapy?”

“These children are blooded. The lives of our kind depend on them growing up and having children of their own. Without a continuation of their bloodlines, the Sanguinar will starve. Emotionally damaged children do not tend to live long enough to become parents. And those that do often pass on their scars. If we heal them now, we prevent all of that pain and loss.”

Lyka stared at the couple. “There’s more to it than that. What aren’t you telling me?”

“Part of our arrangement with you was that you don’t ask a lot of questions. This is where that clause activates.”

“Fine. I’m being too nosy. I get it. Just promise me you’re not doing anything that will hurt the kids.”

“I swear it,” said Logan.

“So do I,” added Hope.

The weight of both vows settled over Lyka, reassuring her. They were bound to their word now. That alone was enough to put her mind at ease.

“Okay. Let’s go back to the problem at hand. Clearly you two know Joseph better than I do. What do I do to sway his decision without resorting to naked time?”

Logan smiled, and it made him almost too beautiful to look at. “That, my dear, is simple. If you do what we say, he’ll be putty in your hands by midnight.”

The idea of getting Joseph in her hands was far more appealing than she dared admit, which was all the warning she needed to tread carefully.

One misstep and she could singlehandedly send their races back to war against each other. And she would be trapped behind enemy lines.

* * *

At sundown, Tynan eased from his bed in his suite beneath Dabyr.

He was ravenous. His bones felt ancient and brittle. His vision was clouded over with a hazy red film that nearly blinded him. His skin was fever hot, burning with fatigue that no amount of sleep could remedy.

He needed blood. Gallons of it. Oceans of it. He needed to gulp it down and let it ease the grinding hunger that prowled through his limbs, weakening him.

He swayed on his feet, flailing to find something to grasp.

“Easy, brother,” said Logan, grabbing his arm.

Tynan hadn’t even known his Sanguinar brother was here. His senses had dulled to the point that he couldn’t even detect the presence of one of his own kind a few inches away.

Logan eased him back to sit on the bed. He pressed his wrist against Tynan’s mouth and willed his skin to open.

Sweet, hot blood flowed over his tongue, rousing the hungry beast within him. He grabbed Logan’s wrist, holding it tight enough to break bone if the man tried to pull away. Power surged through him, relieving the parched cells rattling around in his veins.

“That’s enough,” came a soft, feminine voice.

Hope. Logan’s mate.

His skin closed, blocking the flow of blood. Tynan tore at the man’s skin with his teeth, but he wasn’t fast enough. Wasn’t strong enough.

Logan ripped his arm away, flinging Tynan down onto the bed.

Both men were panting. Tynan’s vision had cleared enough for him to see his brother slumped on the floor. Hope was over him, her delicate throat pressed to his