14. Chapter 14
Chapter 14
A s soon as I finish healing Dryden, I see two pairs of hands take him by the upper arms and start pulling him up. That strange, overwhelming need hasn’t subsided a bit, and the very possibility of someone taking him away from me makes me let out a low snarl.
Before I know it, I’m lunging forward, barely registering the fact it’s Nuala and Jaeger I’m fighting.
Nuala lets go, but only to mercilessly tear me away from him and restrain me as Jaeger hoists him onto her back.
The next thing I know, I get dragged into the castle, the only thing keeping me from thrashing the fact that he’s right in front of my eyes.
What the hell is going on with me?
Right when we step into the Main Hall, two Embers come running towards us. “Alert everyone of our presence,” Jaeger orders in a low, tense voice, “and take him to the infirmary.”
“No,” I grit out, starting to thrash in Nuala’s grip.
She doesn’t let me go, and watching the two Embers disappear with him when all I feel is this need to take him somewhere, just the two of us, and lick him clean… It’s gut-wrenching.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Nuala demands as she lets me go, steps to the side and gets in my face, more pissed than I’ve ever seen her.
I just use the opportunity to try to go after him.
“This is not the time, Nuala,” Jaeger cuts in as she blocks my way.
“I don’t give a single fuck, Jaeger,” Nuala snaps as she comes to stand in front of me again. “Do you know what you just made him do? You know what he just had to use to get us all out of there alive?”
The question makes me frown, but it’s still barely breaking through the haze I’ve found myself in. “Where’s the infirmary?” I ask in a low, rough voice.
She ignores my question. “He had to use a stone that can be used to tap into the Pull regardless of any magic blocking it. It was the only ace in the sleeve we had for when we finally went to kill Baldur. He made it a few months ago, using the last of the ingredients something like that can be made with. You’ve just significantly lowered our chances of winning this war, and for what?”
Right now, I can’t seem to bring myself to care, but it sounds like something I’d normally find important, so I open my mouth to answer, but then she looks at me as if she’s seeing me for the first time, the anger seeming to dissipate as she blinks in disgruntled confusion. She takes a step back and gives me a once-over. “What’s wrong with her?” she demands, still looking at me, but addressing Jaeger.
I frown, my thoughts rushing back to the infirmary.
“That’s what I’d be able to find out if you only stopped screaming at her,” Jaeger replies with an annoyed sigh.
“Well, find out then.”
“Where’s the infirmary?” I repeat, addressing Jaeger this time. But she’s already taking me by the upper arm and leading me towards one of the armchairs.
“Anna?” I hear Raven’s panicked voice even before I see her, Alaric, and de Groot barge into the room.
“What happened to her?” Alaric asks with a frown as they all come to hover around me.
Even de Groot frowns. “Is she—”
“Everyone,” Jaeger cuts her off, throwing her a pointed look, “just calm down.” She turns back to me, tenderness in her voice as she says, “Anna, why don’t you take a seat.”
I shake my head. “No, I have to—”
“What you have to do is take a goddamn seat.”
I close my mouth shut, blinking in surprise. Jaeger rarely ever yells and the act is enough to make me snap out of my haze a little.
I do as she says.
“Now stay still and just breathe like you normally would,” she orders as she leans a little forward and places a palm on my neck, thumb searching and settling over my pulse point.
She frowns then glances over her shoulder. “Her pulse has slowed, so that’s number one.”
What the hell is going on?
“A mirror and a flashlight, anyone?” she asks and Nuala hands them to her.
She places the mirror in front of my eyes and directs the light straight at my face, allowing me to see my brown eyes turn black and then go back to brown when she switches the flashlight off. “What the…”
She throws a nod to everyone waiting and then turns her focus back onto me. “Can you sense your wolf or use your Sight?”
The question confuses me, but I take a moment to check. When I fail, panic starts overtaking me. “No, I can’t do either.”
“That’s alright, you’re perfectly okay, Anna, and everything will go back to normal soon. You just can’t sense your fae or shifter sides right now because…”
“Because what?” I snap a little.
She presses her lips tight. “Because vampires are a predatory species and it might take a few days for those three facets of you to come to terms with each other.”
My eyes round. “The blood… I’m a vampire.”
She gives me a solemn nod. “Yes, you are.”
My mind starts reeling. I barely register Jaeger turn to the others and say, this grin on her face, “We might not have the stone any longer, Nuala, but what we do have is a fully actualized Aurora.”