lamia that’s still strapped to the chair. “So the whole feeding thing is new to me. Do you prefer a neck, wrist, blood in a cup? What works best for you?”
His eyes widen in shock, and they move cautiously from me to the others in the room. “You…you would feed me?” he asks, his voice low and just shy of a whisper.
“You said you needed to feed, right?” I ask, confused. Do they not drink from people like I thought they did? Shit, did I just offend him? “Sorry, maybe I’ve seen too many vampire shows. I didn’t mean to be an asshole,” I rush to tell him.
His ice-blue eyes search my gaze, and his lips seem to be fighting not to show any hint of amusement. “No, they pretty much have it right. Well, my face doesn’t morph into that of a demonic shar-pei, but we do drink from people when we can.”
Sabin gets the metal on the lamia’s arm unlatched and moves to do the same to his leg.
“What’s your name?” I ask him as I place my wrist in front of his face.
Sabin gets one leg unchained and relocates to my side of the chair to finish working.
“Siah,” he answers, and I notice that his pupils start to dilate as I push my wrist closer to his mouth. I nod in encouragement and press closer to his mouth. He abandons the obvious wariness he’s feeling about this situation and sinks two sharp canines into my wrist. He pulls his fangs from the new wound quickly and then seals his mouth around the punctures and sucks hard at them, his eyes never leaving mine the whole time.
I’m oddly fascinated by what he’s doing and very aware that we’re being watched by disapproving eyes, but helping him is the least I can do after what Silva just did to him. I turn away from the sight of this lamia feeding from me and focus on the others in the room. Ryker is standing in the doorway, waiting to be told what we need.
“Where are the others?” I ask, ignoring the strange pull at my wrist.
“Valen, Bastien and Torrez are taking Silva to the main house and making sure that Aydin and Evrin don’t leave. Knox is making something in the other room.”
Out of nowhere, purple magic sparks to life on my forearm, and before either of us can pull away, the magic strikes out at Siah as he’s drinking from me. His eyes widen with fear, but as he absorbs the magic, his eyes close, and his face relaxes the tiniest amount. I don’t hear his moan, but I can feel it where his mouth is attached to my wrist. The next thing I know, pleasure is surging through me, and I tilt my head back, reveling in the feeling of it.
“Does that mean what I think it means?” Sabin asks, his tone pure shock.
Siah flinches back from my arm, and just like that, the euphoria is yanked from me too. My head snaps down, my eyes immediately landing on his, and we both just watch each other for a beat. The last chain on the chair is loosened, and just as Siah pulls his arm free, Knox pushes past Ryker with a bottle of blue liquid in his hand. I step away from the lamia as Sabin and Knox start administering the blue liquid to his wounds, but as I watch, I start to feel oddly fuzzy all of a sudden. I hold out my arm and move toward Ryker so he can heal me, when the world tilts out from underneath me, and I watch as the ground rushes up at me. I’m yanked away from the pain the ground promises and wrapped up in someone’s arms. I feel the telltale tickle of magic moving over my body, and then everything goes numb…and then dark.
I’m warm when I come to, wrapped in strong arms, safe, confused, and surrounded by people. Voices dance around me, and I feel like I could almost float on the anger in the room as they argue. I nuzzle the chest my cheek is pressed against, and soft lips kiss my forehead. I blink slowly, my eyes adjusting to the light in the room. Ryker’s sweet smile looks down at me, and I can’t help but return it.
“My hero,” I sigh dreamily, and his chest rumbles with a laugh that vibrates through me. “Thanks for catching me,” I tell him and pull his