Bloodbane #2
I wiped my tears with my cloak and looked through the trees toward the road. “Where is everyone?” There was complete silence. My hair stood on end with the only possibility. “Is everyone dead?”
Dommik ignored my question. “We have to get out of these woods. Fast.”
My features were twisted into horrified disbelief. “Dommik. They’re dead!”
He surveyed the scene with an unwavering expression before flatly responding, “Yes, Reyva. I killed them.”
Air fled my lungs. The lifeless bodies of Travelers and raiders alike were strewn about the very nature that would claim them in the coming days. I knew relinquishing myself to the Hive meant I may witness gore and butchery, but I hadn’t thought it would be so immediate.
This was not like the death spoken about at Illica’s court—stories of war leagues away from the safety of the castle. Even on Hollis’s estate, where accidents like an overturned cart or barn fire happened from time to time.
This was utter carnage. Dommik’s comment was detached and casual, as if he hadn’t murdered everyone. Meanwhile, my gut undulated at the sight.
I bit back my nausea as I gestured to the lifeless body mere feet away. “How can you be so…so unbothered by this?”
Dommik scoffed. “What? You want me to be remorseful? You want me to grieve for him? For them? Trust me, they don’t deserve your remorse.
” He snarled with a new round of pain brought on by his too-broad movement.
His arms retracted and cradled his wound before turning his attention on me again.
“You said it yourself back in the Illica keep. The world is full of horrible truths. This is one of them.”
Dommik groaned and knelt, his hand slick with blood.
I craned for a better view of his wound. “Don’t vampires heal?”
I’d heard as much, but no one I’d ever met could say if the rumors about vampires were true or not.
“Yes,” he confirmed through a pained grunt. “Well, normally.”
I lowered myself next to him and his intense gaze followed my every movement. Against my better judgment, I tore my eyes away from his exposed fangs to inspect where the Veilbreaker’s steel had torn through leather and flesh.
A strange scent wafted around us. Beyond the iron tang of his blood. Beyond the musk of his sweat and leather. Something earthy. Something poisonous.
“Bloodbane,” I whispered, placing the aroma. Its distinct black petals were rare and rumored to sprout in places where blood had been spilled. As a collector of flora, I’d found the flower loved dark, damp, private corners of the woods, but so did nefarious deeds.
Used in tandem with other herbs, bloodbane could be ingested by humans for medicinal purposes. Usually to slow a heart rate to treat a battle wound.
But apparently for vampires…
“Fuck,” he sputtered, faltering.
I winced as I sliced through the fabric of my cloak with the blade Dommik gifted me. My lack of experience with a weapon became apparent as I butchered the fabric. An uneven strip would have to suffice as a temporary bandage.
“Hold this end,” I instructed, working to wrap the cloth around his middle. Between our limited range of motion and the hisses from our injuries, we managed to apply the inadequate bandage.
He grunted an unenthusiastic ‘thank you’ as I tied the binding.
“How long will it take to heal?” I knelt beside him and cradled my wounded arm.
“Hard to say. Days, maybe,” he admitted, becoming more exasperated with each passing second.
Between labored breaths, Dommik let out a two-toned whistle and sheathed his sword. A sweat had broken out across his forehead and even in the limited light, his fair skin appeared paler now.
Dommik’s gray stallion trotted through the brush and chuffed a hello to his master.
“Hello, Asher.” The beast nudged its muzzle against Dommik’s cheek in encouragement. “I’ll be fine. Relax. I’m getting up.”
We strained to stand. My attention snagged on Dommik clutching the torn black cloak he’d loaned me.
“You’re not fine.” Concern coated my hushed tone. For his well-being, yes, but only as a means to an end. To protect my family.
“It’s nice to see you so worried about me.” A devilish grin spread across his angular jaw. He lifted his bloody hand and curled his fingers, beckoning me. “Come on, your turn.”
I bit my lip. “But…my blood…will you be able to control yourself?”
He couldn’t possibly expect me to give him any amount of trust. Not after lying about who he was. What he was.
Dommik let out a heavy breath and ran his tongue over a fang. The motion ignited a confusing combination of concern and curiosity. I blinked and shook away the second thought.
The pause between us lingered a little too long for my comfort. “So, no?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted as he ran a hand along Asher’s muzzle.
I raised my brows. “I need you to be sure, or it stays in.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Dommik stepped toward me. I stepped back. He scoffed, rolling out his shoulders. “It’ll fester if you leave it in.”
Asher let out an irritated huff. Neither of my male companions possessed a wealth of patience for my hesitation.
“Reyva, you need to let me help you,” he gritted. Storm-filled eyes leveled me with urgency.
“How do I know I can trust you?” My voice cracked as I thought about the bodies littering the woods around us and how unaffected he was being surrounded by fresh death.
Dark locks fell as he dropped his head. “You don’t.” Dommik sighed and lifted his gaze to meet mine. “But I don’t think you have much of a choice, do you, lovely?”
Asher chuffed, raising and lowering his head in agreement.
He was right. I was met, yet again, with the thinly-veiled illusion of choice. I bit the inside of my cheek in one last short-lived moment of reluctance.
“Be quick about it then.” I shivered. He nodded and set to work retrieving gauze from one of the saddlebags Asher carried.
“You’ll want to bite this,” he said, holding out a strap of leather. I opened my mouth and let him place it between my teeth. “Good girl,” he purred and I scowled in a way my mother would have disapproved of.
Something about his praise ignited an ember in me. Desire. Rage. Maybe both. I continued following his instructions and braced myself against a tree.
“Three…two…”
“FUCK!” My profanity garbled against the leather with the sudden release of wood from my flesh.
“Hold still.” Dommik’s hands moved with unnatural speed as he wrapped the gauze around my arm. Splotches of red seeped through the fabric. I furrowed my brow. Beads of sweat lined his forehead and he strained more with each breath, but he was holding himself together, at least, for the moment.
“Thank you,” I murmured, inspecting his work.
“You’re very welcome,” Dommik strained. He’d quickly wrapped my arm, but was now taking his time pulling the hood of my cloak over my head.
Crickets resumed their nocturnal songs as Dommik towered over me, fingers lingering on the hood lining. His usual, mischievous stare faded into one of reticence, as if a question cloyed just behind his teeth, begging permission to be known.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Dommik shook his head. “Nothing. I have explicit orders to deliver you safely…and alive. And you’re still alive. So, nothing is wrong.”
I eyed him as he led Asher to me. Getting on the back of that stallion meant I would put my flesh within biting range. Dommik might have been injured, but that didn’t make him less deadly. However, I had little choice but to trust that his explicit orders meant more than my blood.
“I would love nothing more than to remain alive and unbitten,” I said as I lifted a foot into the stirrup. Dommik aided me into the saddle on his battle-worn stallion before positioning himself behind me.
“May I?” Dommik grumbled.
I looked down at his arm hovering in front of my middle. I wasn’t sure which surprised me more. The fact that he’d asked permission, or that I gave it to him.
His embrace pulled my back flush with his broad chest and his leathered thighs framed mine.
I was not some na?ve, inexperienced maid, but feeling the strength and security from his muscled body sent my heart into an erratic flutter.
I held the horn of the saddle as well as my breath, steadying my thoughts.
Dommik chuckled to himself—about what, I didn’t know—before he clicked his tongue and kicked at the beast's sides. “Home, Asher.”