Oath of the Alpha - Eva Dresden Page 0,36
they were familiar. She felt their power prickling along her skin, clawing at her back where Er’it gripped her so tightly. The images running pell-mell through her mind tripped along, stuttering from one memory to the next, all of them soaked in blood, pain, and a loss so deep it struck the soul as it tore a heart apart.
His heart and soul. Aida’s eyes did not sting but burned with the salty wash of her tears, a deluge that rushed over her cheeks to spatter over Er’it’s shoulder and chest. Her broken purr was an offer of comfort she never knew for herself, given as she pushed her face tight against his neck. Leaning all her weight against him to force the delicate reverberation of solace into him, she cradled his head as Er’it snarled and growled above her.
“Enough! That is not for you to see, Omega,” Er’it yelled against her crown.
Power twisted, wrenching between them to slam the door of his memories shut against her. Vivid blue edged in dusky purple, it snapped and crackled in a maelstrom of energy reaching from one to the other as Er’it sucked in hard breaths and Aida continued to purr.
“Enough.” Quiet but far from calm, Er’it shoved Aida back to straddle low on his thigh. Jerking his chin at the arrow in his shoulder, he ground out, “Pull it free.”
“Y-You said that—”
“It’s why we’re doing this, Omega. Now pull it out before I change my mind.”
Aida sniffled, dashing the back of a hand over her eyes to clear the film of sorrow away. Her brow puckered when she tried to move closer and Er’it tugged her back to keep her where she was, no matter that it would mean she had to pull the arrow from the opposite angle. She sniffed again, a hint of hurt in her midnight eyes. It wasn’t her fault, but when had that ever mattered? The bitter taste of regret and the acrid bite of anger threatened to choke her as she reached for the arrow. Grasping it tight in both hands, she used all her might to tear it free. It moved a bare inch.
She sobbed as it ripped the wound open wide while she worked it from Er’it’s shoulder, the triangular head rending his flesh. Blood poured from the gaping hole, sludgy and foul. The scent of rot was heavy in the air as Er’it groaned and slammed the back of his head against the tree. Finally, it gave way with a horrible ripping sound, flesh and fabric torn asunder.
“Your hand. Put it on the wound,” Er’it ground out through clenched teeth, vibrating with tension as Aida did as he told her. Slapping his violet-tainted hand over hers, he pushed, holding her palm tight against the putrid flesh as he gripped her hip hard enough to bruise. Crushing her against his chest, he bit out words that sent power skittering down her arm.
The azure glow flared to life under Aida’s skin, leaching into the darkness and filtering brilliant moonlight through the trees to light up the night as bright as day. Both shouted, Aida’s high and shrill as greasy muck rushed from his shoulder as if drawn out by some force. Splattering all over her front, coating her in the nauseating stuff, it came faster and faster. A fair river of the disgusting fluid became brighter, shading to wine, claret, then crimson. It was bright ruby in the end as Er’it’s lashes began to flutter, and he mumbled against Aida’s cheek.
Blue light winking out of existence, the deep red-purple of amaranthine painted her skin in its stead. Etched with jagged tongues of cerulean and ruby, a storm of energy worked its way through her. Aida whined low in her throat, her eyes wide as she clung to Er’it, who seemed too still. Forcing her gaze away from the unsettling show of power, she pulled his head down to find his eyes open and dazed. Seeing the thick fringe of his lashes framing the golden amber turned hazy and soft, Aida’s brow furrowed. She worried at her lower lip as he took her blood-smeared palm and laid it over the wound once more.
His lips tipped up into a smile, the true grin of humor dazzling her senses as much as the rush of power leaving her fingertips. Slow, controlled, something she’d yet to experience with this chaotic magic, it flowed from her hand into the wound, the flesh turning the bright red and pink of healthy