60. The Stranger
Chapter Sixty
The Stranger
S tubborn fool. She provoked a demon, and not just any demon but a freshly Fallen one .
Opening the portal beneath her feet, I watch her drop through it.
I let her fall for a long moment before catching her.
I wait until her heart slams with fear, thinking she will fall forever, before I snatch her out of the air.
The portal on the ceiling connecting our homes snaps shut with resounding finality.
Summer struggles on instinct, throwing punches and kicking out. I dodge the blows easily, but have to shift her in my arms to keep from dropping her. She looks up at me with wide, panicked eyes, but she stops fighting once she realizes it is me.
“Reckless,” I admonish her, already drawing a healing rune on her skin as I stride down the hallway to the bathroom.
“What are you doing?” she asks, glaring up at me, finally having found her voice.
Ignoring her, I put her down on the counter, getting to work on her arm.
Wounds from a Fallen’s claws are not something she will heal from, even with her powers.
I doubt either she or her adopted brother knows that a demon’s claws are poisonous, and there are very few creatures that possess a natural immunity to it, most being allies of Hell. Certainly not light fae.
Even now, tiny black threads are spreading from the wounds, and she will soon lose feeling in her arm, then her torso.
Foolish.
I mutter curses under my breath, tossing a glare her way every few minutes.
Yanking some suture thread from the first aid kit, I drop the avatar from around my hand so I can cut my finger.
Willing the wound to stay open, I drag the white thread through my blood, soaking it through and dyeing it crimson.
Summer meets every glare I cast her way with a stubborn, defiant tilt of her chin, but she doesn’t say anything.
I wait a few minutes for the thread to dry a little before carefully stitching the wounds closed with Infernal runes.
It is the only way to save her from the poison coursing through her.
Summer hisses at the pain, and I snap my teeth at her. She provoked a newly Fallen with her power and darkness. What did she expect to happen?
“What were you thinking?” I snarl, the words that have been snapping and roiling inside me finally breaking free.
“What?” she asks as I finish stitching her wounds with the blood thread and begin to wrap her arm.
“Provoking a Fallen like that,” I snap, anger making my avatar tremble.
Her eyes narrow on me as I yank the gauze tight. “How the fuck did I provoke him?”
Is she serious?
“ I wish he’d let me watch ,” I say, hurling her own words back at her. “He is a demon . He feeds on malevolence.”
Demons exploit emotions like anger and rage in their prey. They heighten them, breaking down the safeguards we put in place to keep everyone around us safe, and once that darkness is let off the chain, the demon feasts.
She pales. “You were listening?”
“You were in the kitchen,” I say with a small shrug.
She’d just revised the oath between us and allowed me access to the kitchen. She should have known I would be watching. That I am always watching.
“Why weren’t you sleeping? Like a normal person?” she demands.
Because I rarely do. The last time I slept, truly slept, was in Hell with her. But I won’t confess that weakness. She already has enough power over me.
“Why weren’t you?” I counter, ignoring her question by asking one of my own.
“Because I am an idiot who made a deal with the devil.”
She made a deal? Fool!
“Lucifer?” I ask .
“No, you moronic asshole.” I narrow my eyes at her and yank the gauze tight on purpose, making her flinch. “Ouch!” she yelps, and I snap my teeth at her. “What the fuck is your problem?” she yells, trying to push my hands away.
“Currently, you,” I snarl. “Risking your life without a care, as if your life belongs to you.”
“It does belong to me,” she snaps back.
I grab her throat, pressing her back against the vanity mirror. “No. It’s mine.” Beginning and end. Mine.
Her lips part on a gasp, and I am unsure if it is from my hold on her throat or my words.
“You will not be so careless with something that is mine.” She watches me cautiously, those icy blue eyes glowing. “Understood?”
She swallows but doesn’t answer. Not good enough.
“Nod,” I order, tightening my hold. She nods shallowly, and I release her throat. Silently I finish bandaging her arm and secure the ends with a strip of tape before packing everything up.
Summer just quietly watches me through it all, not saying a word.
She hasn’t even tried to move off the counter, and after I finish washing and drying my hands, I step back between her spread thighs.
Being careful of her injured arm, I lift her hands and place them at the back of my neck, before wrapping her legs around my waist. I expect her to fight, but she doesn’t even try to pull away when I lift her against me.
It surprises me, and I wonder if she has hit her limit and just doesn’t have the energy to physically resist me at the moment.
If that is the case, I have no doubt her compliance will be short-lived, but I still don’t like the evidence of her exhaustion.
“W-what are you doing?” she asks, clinging to me as I carry her from the bathroom. “I need to check on Rafe.”
“I know,” I say, striding down the hall.
She rests her head on my shoulder, not even protesting when I push through the door, into my room.
I stop before the rune I drew on the wall and activate it.
The portal opens and I step through, holding her close as we drop into her bedroom.
Her arms and legs tighten around me during the short fall, and the jarring impact of my feet against the floor.
Even as she looks around, registering her surroundings, she doesn’t try to get me to put her down.
She allows me to carry her to her bed and gently lay her down .
“You can’t be here,” she whispers.
“Rest.” I tuck the blankets around her and put a pillow under her injured arm.
“I need to see Rafe,” she says, exhaustion draining the emotion from her voice.
“Later,” I say, pressing my fingers to her lips.
Agony, bright and burning, sizzles along the oath bond, making my hand feel as if it is on fire. It is the only warning I will get before it becomes crippling, and then lethal. There is a reason the Grand Arcane outlawed blood oaths like this.
“Behave,” I whisper, brushing her hair back from her cheek.
She glares at me. “Get out of my room. You’re about to be in breach of our oath.”
It’s a small price to pay, but I kiss her forehead and vanish from her room.
Fool.
This time, I don’t know if I mean her or myself.