Saved By Your Hot Book Boyfriend

15. The Hot Guy to the Rescue

15

The Hot Guy to the Rescue

Ziros

No.

No, it can’t be. She can’t be in there, in the prison meant for me.

Can she?

But even as I try to deny it, I can feel her magic being pulled in. What a sick, strange trap her ancestor made.

It’s meant for someone like me, not a human.

I endured it for centuries, but a human might only survive minutes.

I’ve got to get her out.

“ Anzelika ,” I whisper, picturing her face. I’m no sorcerer. All I know is the magic I was born with.

I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but this has to work.

It’s all I’ve got.

“Anzelika,” I repeat, louder this time, again and again until I’m practically screaming it, until wind rages through the apartment all around me. “Anzelika!”

I’ve got no desire to set foot back in that prison. All I want is to be free.

If I go back, can I ever escape again?

But I’ve got no choice.

It’s do or die, and I’m not ready to die.

So I picture the void as I scream her name, and finally the heavy blackness rises around me.

It worked . I can’t believe it worked.

But my thrill is short-lived.

I almost forgot how it feels to be here. The air is so oppressive, just breathing takes strength. But I am strong. Centuries alone in this prison strengthened me more than anything in the human realm ever could.

That’s the irony of it.

Anselma, this little human’s great-great-ancestor, was too weak to defeat me. So instead, she imprisoned me here.

This damn void.

I hate it, but it made me stronger.

The void seems to stretch out for eternity, but the thin, glowing strand of light leads my way, and I charge through the oppressive darkness as all my heat races into the line of energy connecting us.

Fine. Steal my energy.

She needs it more than I do.

“Just don’t die on me,” I mutter as I close the last few yards between us, collapsing to the ground beside her limp body.

“ Anzelika ,” I whisper, taking her hand.

Her skin is deathly cold. Nothing but a crumpled heap of herself, all balled-up and shivering there in the dark.

What now?

How do I get her back?

She’s too weak. Taking her through the veil that separates this prison from the rest of the world could kill her in this state. She needs energy.

But how?

I have to do something if I don’t want to die along with her.

“Anzelika!” I repeat, louder this time, flipping her onto her back. “Wake up. Wake up, damn it!”

She stirs softly, like maybe somewhere deep down, her magic is responding to her true name’s call.

Good . That’s a good sign.

But it’s still not enough.

The little thread connecting us is growing weaker. I can feel it fading. She’s pulling my energy away faster than I can supply.

Unless…

I straddle her body in the dark, sliding one hand behind the back of her head, pressing her face to mine as I kiss her. Hard. Willing my energy into her with every passing second.

Finally, finally , she stirs.

I swear under my breath, hugging her tightly to my chest. She feels so small and light and fragile there in the heavy dark. And I never knew I could feel this relieved.

Not for a human.

“You’re alive,” I mutter as I force myself to pull back. Swearing again, I ask, “How the hell did you get in here?”

“You didn’t put me here?” She asks, those wide eyes glinting in the soft light of our magic.

I laugh. She’s got to be kidding.

“No. I need you alive, remember? This is no place for a human. Any longer and you’d be dead.”

She really doesn’t know the first thing about magic.

That must be how she got here.

Whatever she was trying to do, it must have backfired and pulled her into the prison we’re both connected to. I can’t get away from this place. Not fully. Not until she frees me for good.

That thread connecting us limits my magic, tying me to her. Forcing me to abide by the whims of a little human.

She glances around at the dark and asks, “Where exactly is ‘here’?”

“It seems you’ve fallen into the prison meant for me. How you managed it, I can’t say for sure.” I tap her forehead, willing extra energy into her. I don’t know how much else I can give, but she still needs it more than I do right now. “Yet here you are, little human.”

Her voice wavers as she asks, “Why is it so heavy?”

“I’ll explain later.” I slide one hand beneath her legs, the other behind her back, lifting her against my chest. “First, we need to get you out of here.”

She doesn’t resist. Just sinks into my embrace, her body far colder than any human should be.

There isn’t much time left.

“ Okay, void ,” I mutter. “You better let us out.”

This is the part I’ve been dreading. The thought in the back of my mind that’s been nagging at me since I broke in.

What if we can’t get out?

Then we’ll both die.

This is the last place I want to die, trapped and cold as the lifeforce is sucked from my soul. But fate must be on my side today, because as soon as I picture her little apartment, the void vanishes.

I almost don’t believe it.

It was never that easy before. Hell, I spent ages trying to get out before I resigned myself to my fate.

And now I can just leave as I please?

Ha.

What a strange twist. But what matters is that we’re alive.

Even if only barely.

The human shivers in my arms, and I set her in bed, wrapping the covers around her with a grimace.

She’d better wake up from this.

As soon as I stand, lightheadedness hits me so hard, the floor feels like it’s gonna rise up to meet me. The hell . It takes a lot to make me lightheaded.

I lean against the wall to steady myself, swearing under my breath. Tempted just to crash right there on the bed with her.

I’m exhausted. I don’t think I’ve been this exhausted in my life—not even in all the years I spent locked in that oppressive void.

It must be the magic binding still draining my energy into her.

I’m spent. I’ve never had so many close calls in such a short time as I have since I met her.

And I’m starving.

I could eat everything in this apartment and still not be satisfied.

Unless—

A deep hunger stirs inside me, a dormant craving I’ve learned to ignore. My gaze flicks to the human on her bed, her hair splayed out around her, chest rising and falling beneath the covers.

Every beat of her heart rings behind my ears, echoing through my soul. Awaking that feral hunger inside.

Blood .

I want her blood.

I mutter another curse, lurching back as my head pulses.

Biting her now would kill her. I know that. And yet my vision starts to redden, that desperate craving intensifying.

“ No ,” I growl to the quiet room. “No. I refuse .”

Lunging for the kitchen, I grip the edge of the counter and fling open the cabinets, grabbing everything I can that looks remotely edible and shoving it in my face.

Even the stuff that’s way too sweet. It’s just crystals of sugar. The white kind, and the brown kind.

And a bar of chocolate.

I eat that, too, then chug water straight from the sink. Damn, indoor plumbing sure is a marvel.

Only then do I start to feel my strength rushing back.

Finally .

Maybe this is what it’s like to be a weak little human. How the hell do they survive?

Speaking of.

The blankets rustle as the human stirs.

“So you’re awake,” I say, leaning around the kitchen wall. “Good. You need to eat.”

She blinks up at me, groggy and confused. Sitting there in those little pajamas with the rumpled blankets falling around her waist.

“Was that…was that a dream?”

I shake my head. “Not a dream.”

She groans, hauling herself out of bed and plopping down at the little dining table.

“How long was I in there?”

“That’s the trick of the place. You can’t tell a second from a century. Yet it still drags just as long.”

Her eyes widen and she glances at the window like she’s making sure the sun hasn’t risen.

Looking back at me, she asks, “It couldn’t have been that long. Right? My apartment is still here, after all.”

I shrug, glancing at the clock on the microwave. There’s clocks everywhere these days.

“Probably five minutes.” Humans nowadays sure are obsessed with time. “Give or take.”

“That’s all?” Her shoulders visibly relax, as if she’s relieved.

And she should be.

She seems calm, almost too calm. Like she’s got no idea how close to dying she actually came.

And how close she still is.

I can feel her lifeforce wavering where it pulls at mine through the link.

If it weren’t for my energy feeding into her, she’d still be passed-out in that bed.

“Catch,” I say, tossing her a half-full jug of juice. “You should drink all of that. And then we’ll find you something to eat. It’ll make you feel better.”

She looks at me funny as she catches it.

Like I’ve done something wrong?

No.

Not like that. Not quite.

Like she doesn’t know what to make of me.

“Hey, don’t get the wrong idea.” I open the fridge, which is getting conspicuously empty. Where do humans these days get more food? “I only saved you because we’re connected. And you still owe me my freedom.”

To my surprise, she’s still watching me when I look back.

And in a quiet voice, she says, “ Thank you .”

Those two little words shouldn’t make me feel the things they do.

I shut the fridge, leaning against the wall with my head tilted back, just staring at the ceiling.

She really is a sorceress, because just those two little words have me wanting to do whatever it takes to hear her say them again.

“Are you tired?” she asks, catching me by surprise. “We should go to bed.”

I turn slowly to stare at her.

And there’s that fantasy again, the one I’ve really gotta get out of my damn head. The fantasy from that kiss.

“ We? ”