Chapter 26
Alexei
Iturn around to find my Vedma. She rushes forward, limping slightly. My jaw ticks. She hurt her foot trying to protect me. “Your foot,” I say immediately. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine. You’re the one with bullets in you!” Her hands go to my chest, pressing against the wound. Trying to stop the bleeding. She looks terrified and on the verge of tears.
I smile.
“If only I knew it took me getting shot for you to touch me like this,” I say softly. “I would have done it myself.”
Her eyes go wide. “Are you crazy?”
“Oh, Vedma. I’m feral for you.”
She tries to pull her hand back, but I catch her wrist. Her hand is sticky with my blood, and somehow that also excites me.
Knowing that she’s marked with my blood.
In my mind, all I fuss about is the thought of how vampires feel when they meet their other half.
Is this it? Am I even getting it right? Do vampires even have mates? Or is that a werewolf thing?
But anyway, I feel really great seeing her covered in my blood.
Bringing her hands to my lips, I blow warm air across her bloodstained hands. “Your hands are freezing. Why didn’t you bring any gloves?”
She jerks her hand away. “I don’t care about my hands right now. You’re fucking bleeding out. I need to apply pressure on the wound.”
Zoya presses both hands back against my chest. “When are they going to be here?” Her voice cracks. “You’re losing so much blood. How are you still standing? Let’s just go find somewhere to sit. You need to relax.”
My smile only widens. Everything hurts. I’m losing a lot of blood.
I’m probably losing consciousness, too. But her touching me just grounds me to this earth.
I feel elevated. I feel so good. I’m on cloud nine.
Is this what they call obsession? Or am I psychotic?
But her worrying about me, I can’t feel the pain anymore, or the bullet wound.
“Stop smiling like that,” she shouts. “You’re creeping me out. You’re supposed to be weak and drowsy from blood loss. Stop freaking me out with that freaky smile. Be in pain. You’re allowed to be in pain. You’re human too.”
I shrug off my coat despite the pain. I feel the wound separate, allowing more blood to trickle down. I then drape it around her shoulders. “It’s cold. Put this on.”
She obeys without arguing. She slips her arms through the sleeves, letting out a contented sigh. Then she looks up at me, and tears start falling from her beautiful eyes.
“No. No. No. No. No.” I touch her face with my bloodied hands. “Please don’t cry. I’m the one hurting. I don’t need you crying. It will only make me upset.”
“At who?” A tear rolls down her cheek.
“At those men who hurt you.” I wipe her tears away. “But I already killed them. I can’t bring them back to life and kill them again. So please, your tears are precious to me. Don’t waste them on this.”
She nods. But it seems my words don’t even get to her as more tears flow down her face. And I keep trying to wipe her tears. But then I hear footsteps approach. It doesn’t sound like one person, more like multiple. My mind begins to spiral.
Are more of those men coming? Or are these my men?
Immediately they come into view, I see Paul and his men appear at the mouth of the alley. All their weapons are drawn, and they look ready to shoot. Paul rushes forward. “Pakhan, we came as fast as we could. What happened, sir?”
I shoot him a look. “Why didn’t you take your time?” I say, annoyed.
Paul stammers. “Sir, we had to get here. Your wife sounded frantic on the phone.”
“Well, she’s handling me just fine.” I look at Zoya. “See? She’s taking care of me.”
I feel her hands press a little harder against my chest.
“You crazy fucker.” Zoya turns to Paul. “Please, he’s delusional from blood loss. Help him with these wounds before he bleeds out.”
“I’m not delusional.”
“You are. Somebody, please help him before he starts talking crazy.”
“The next person who touches me without my permission dies.”
Everyone freezes.
Zoya stares at me. “Are you serious right now? You’re not going to let your people help you?”
“You’re already helping.” I smile at her. “Your hands are enough. They’re like magical healing potions.”
She looks at me incredulously. “My hands are not magical healing potions or medical treatment or whatever I appear to you as. Like I’m some kind of goddess in your head.
You need help.” Immediately she pulls her hands away, fresh blood starts to flow from the wounds.
“There, now you’re bleeding more. Are you happy? ”
“No.” I reach for her hands, trying to put them back. “Please put them back.”
She jerks away. “Not until you let them help you.”
I groan, frustrated. “I don’t want their help. I want yours, and you were doing a good job.”
She sounds annoyed. “I don’t know how to remove bullets, Alexei. If anybody hasn’t told you, I’m not certified in CPR. I don't even know how to do it. So stop being stubborn and let them help.” she says through gritted teeth.
I walk forward towards her. “You don’t need to know how to remove bullets. Just touching me helps. It was working.”
“That’s because I was applying pressure so that you wouldn’t die of blood loss. I wasn’t doing any magical shit.”
“Exactly. So keep doing it.”
She takes a step back, and I follow like a dog. “Don’t run from me.”
“I wouldn’t be running if you weren’t being difficult.”
“I will. After you promise you won’t leave me.”
“I’m not leaving you! I’m standing right here. We’ll be in the same car going to get you medical treatment. Ugh, please. Somebody just take him. He won’t do anything to you.”
Paul looks uncertain. “Ma’am, are you sure?”
She pinches the bridge of her nose, annoyed. “Okay. Alexei, can you hear me?”
“Yes baby.”
“Can you really hear me? Because I feel like you only hear butterflies and rainbows when I talk.”
I don’t respond.
“Wait. Can you understand me? My words are not slurred, right?”
“Yes wifey.”
“Alright. For the love of God, allow your men to help you. If you do that, I promise to stay with you throughout everything.”
A smile ghosts my lips. “Are you sure? You’re not lying to get away from me?”
“Yes,” she says, annoyed. “Now, somebody please take this man away. He’s lost so much blood, even I am getting drowsy on his behalf.”
“Yes, ma’am,” my men respond.
Immediately, one of my men comes to me, supporting me. But why is she walking far away from me? “I thought you said you were going to stay close?”
She responds, “Yes, I was. But you need to be with the medical team right now.”
I shrug off the two people holding me, limping to where she is so she can support me walking. Immediately, I feel at ease. My men support me from the back, and we head to the car. When we get inside, Paul starts calling people, staring at me at intervals.
“Sir,” he begins, ending the last call. “The doctor is going to be at your villa. They are already waiting with all the supplies.”
I hum, pressing my face into her neck, taking in her scent. God, she smells so good. She smells like my ruin. That sounds so poetic in my head, but she just smells really good. Oh my God! Is she chloroform?
Because I’m about to pass out.