Cursed Demon Kissed 2 Page 0,29

tolerate it under normal circumstances. The wound on my back made it unbearable. I noticed I was crushing Eric's limp body in my arms. He didn't have any demon blood to protect him from the scalding heat. And, I knew he felt it. As long as I maintained contact with Eric, he would come with me, and feel what I felt - or worse. I risked killing him instantly and splicing us both, but I had to. There was no other choice.

The heat licked my stomach making me cry out in agony. Warm blood oozed from my back, stinging as it touched my sweat soaked shirt. Catacomb. Focus, Ivy. Attempting to ignore the pain, I continued to picture the painting from the book in my mind; every vivid detail. The angel's wings. The flaming swords. The Valefar mark painted on the tomb. I imagined the cool smell of the earth and the narrow passages that surrounded the graves.

I clutched Eric harder when I heard him cry out. I couldn't stop it. There was no stopping efanotation midway through. The pain was intensifying and searing every inch of my body from within. My lungs let out another scream drowning out Eric's cries. The cold earth crashed into us abruptly.

I fell face-down in the dirt and lost consciousness as the pain in my back overtook me.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Pain coursed through my body unlike anything I've ever felt before. My muscles felt raw in an unnatural way. I patted my arms, checking to make sure my skin was still intact. It felt like it had been fried off. That was the most painful efanotation that I've ever done. I sighed in relief, rubbing out my sore muscles, and sat up looking for Eric. He was lying a few feet from me, facedown into the dirt. He rolled onto his back and was breathing hard. Dirt streaked his white shirt.

I slowly dragged my wounded body toward him. A moan escaped his lips as he tried to move. His amber eyes opened cautiously and stared at the tomb ceiling. He blinked slowly, finally focusing on my face. "What happened? Where are we?" he asked.

Leaning over him, I looked to see if efanotating caused him any permanent damage. He obviously didn't do with it well, but he seemed fairly unscathed. He would have looked better if I didn't hurl us into the floor.

Relieved, I breathed, "We're somewhere safe; for the moment anyway. We're under Rome." In a grave. I left that part off since it was obvious from the piles of bones stuffed into the stone walls. I slammed my eyes closed and stifled a moan.

"Are you all right?" he asked sitting up.

I looked up at him. "The blade hit my back."

The expression on his face changed, as he crawled next to me. Slowly I sat up, trying hard to swallow the pain. He knelt behind me and after a minute said, "Your shirt is covered in blood, but it's stuck to the wound. I can't see it very well. May I?" indicating he needed to look under the shirt to see how bad it was.

I nodded, "Just do it, Eric." He hesitated. My back was covered in blood. When he didn't move I turned sharply and said, "Forget it."

"Ivy stop," he said. "It's not like that."

"Then what's your problem? You're so afraid of touching demon blood that you won't help me. Forget it Eric."

"No, that's not it. If you'd be quiet for a minute, I'd tell you." I folded my arms and stared at him. Bright red marks blossomed in his cheeks until his entire face was in a full blush. "The blade cut through your bra. The strap is cut three-quarters of the way through."

I laughed. "I was slashed with a deadly weapon and you're blushing over the back of my bra strap? Seriously, Eric?" I reached behind me and ripped the strings that were holding the fabric together. The bra broke, and I pulled it out from under my shirt and threw it on the floor. The back strap was covered in blood.

Eric's blush deepened, but I pretended not to notice. It was kind of sweet. "You shouldn't be walking around, ya know. From the amount of blood on your back, you should be dead." His fingers pushed the torn sections of the back of my shirt apart. For a moment he said nothing, and then I felt his fingers pressed lightly on my back, and I flinched. "Does that hurt?"

I shook my