Chapter Ten #2
I gasp, pulling back from her wrist, and our eyes lock. Hers are wide, pupils blown, and I can feel what she’s feeling, the echo of my emotions bleeding into hers, the connection forging itself whether we want it or not.
“Vex?” Her voice is shaky. “What—”
The Khorvath screams.
It’s sensed the bond. Sensed the power shift. And it’s furious.
Every tendril lashes out at once, a coordinated strike meant to overwhelm us. But I’m ready now. More than ready.
I’m alive.
I surge to my feet, positioning myself between Tessa and the creature, and when the tendrils come, I meet them head-on.
My claws are longer now, sharper, glowing with a strange light and they tear through the ice like paper.
Each strike sends shockwaves through the Khorvath’s form, disrupting its structure, and I can feel it weakening.
Because I’m not fighting it alone anymore.
Through the bond, I can sense Tessa’s presence like a second heartbeat. Her warden bloodline resonates with something in me, vampire and guardian, predator and protector, two halves of a whole that should never have existed but somehow work.
The mark on her shoulder flares brilliant white, and the Khorvath recoils.
“No!” it shrieks. “She is mine! The warden belongs to me!”
“Wrong,” I snarl, and my voice is layered now, human and inhuman, carrying power I didn’t have minutes ago. “She’s under the protection of the Kings. She’s marked by us. And you don’t get to touch her.”
I lunge forward, claws raking across the creature’s torso. This time, when I strike, it doesn’t regenerate. Golden light—where is that coming from?—traces the wounds, sealing them, preventing the ice from reforming.
The bond. It’s the bond. Tessa’s warden blood is flowing through me, giving me access to power that can actually hurt this thing.
The Khorvath realizes it too.
With a final, ear-splitting shriek, it collapses into itself, the form disintegrating into swirling snow and shadow. The temperature spikes back up so fast it’s disorienting, and suddenly it’s just... gone.
Not dead. I can still feel it out there, lurking, waiting.
But beaten. For now.
I stand there for a moment, chest heaving even though I don’t need to breathe, and then the adrenaline crashes and I drop to my knees beside Tessa.
She’s pale. Too pale. Her wrist is still bleeding sluggishly, and there are dark circles under her eyes that weren’t there before. I took too much. Not enough to kill her, but enough that she’s going to feel it.
“I’m sorry,” I say, my voice rough. “I’m so fucking sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
“Shut up.” She reaches out with her good hand and cups my face. “You saved everyone. We won.”
“I broke my rules. I fed from you. I—” The reality of what I’ve done crashes over me. “The bond. Tessa, I’ve bound us together. I can feel you now. Your emotions, your—”
“I know.” Her smile is weak but genuine. “I can feel you too. It’s... weird.”
“Weird?”
“Yeah. You’re a lot more terrified than you let on.”
A rough laugh escapes me. “I’m terrified I’m going to hurt you. That I won’t be able to stop next time. That—”
“Vex.” She pulls my forehead down to rest against hers. “Shut up and take me home.”
Home.
She called the clubhouse home.
Before I can respond, Blade is there, human again and pulling on his pants. His eyes take in the scene, me kneeling beside Tessa, her blood on my lips, the mark on her shoulder still faintly glowing, and his expression goes carefully neutral.
“Everyone in the van,” he says quietly. “Now. We’re leaving before that thing decides to come back.”
Prophet helps me get Tessa to her feet, and she sways, leaning heavily against me. I lift her without thinking, cradling her against my chest, and she doesn’t protest. Just burrows into me, her face pressed against my neck.
Through the bond, I feel her exhaustion. Her fear. Her trust.
And underneath it all, something else.
Something that feels dangerously close to love.
Fuck.
The ride back to the clubhouse is tense and silent. Hannah’s already awake and sitting beside Tessa in the van, holding her hand, shooting me looks that range from concerned to calculating. Blade drives with controlled fury, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.
And me? I sit there with Tessa in my arms, feeling every beat of her heart, every shallow breath, every flicker of emotion through this new connection we’ve forged.
A connection that’s supposed to be impossible.
A connection that could kill her.
A connection that I already know I’ll never be able to break.
When we pull up to the clubhouse, Blade cuts the engine and turns to face me. His expression is unreadable, but his voice is hard.
“My office. One hour. We need to talk about what just happened.”
“Blade—”
“One hour, Vex.” He looks at Tessa, and something softens in his eyes. “Get her cleaned up and rested first. But then we talk.”
I nod, not trusting my voice.
Because I know what this conversation is going to be about.
I’ve created a blood bond with the woman we’re supposed to be protecting. I’ve tied her to me in ways that can’t be undone. I’ve made her more vulnerable even as I’ve made her stronger.
And worst of all?
I don’t regret it.
Not even a little.
As I carry Tessa up to my room, our room now, there’s no way I’m letting her out of my sight, she stirs against my chest.
“Vex?” Her voice is drowsy, slurred with exhaustion.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For not dying.”
The words hit me like a physical blow.
“Thank you for not letting me,” I say quietly.
Her hand finds mine, fingers lacing together, and through the bond I feel her contentment. Her safety. Her absolute trust that I’ll protect her.
I only hope I can live up to it.
Because now we’re bound. Now she’s mine in ways that go beyond possession or protection.
And if I fail her, if I take too much, if I lose control, if I become the monster I’ve always feared I am, it won’t just destroy me.
It’ll destroy her too.