Chapter 14 #4
“It’s alright, you know,” I told him. His amber eyes shifted to my face. “I don’t mind. If it helps.”
His tongue dragged across his lower lip, as if savoring the last drop of blood that still clung there. I looked down to discover my hands bathed in a faint green light. Max was using his Vitalis die to heal the cuts across my palms.
“From now on, especially when we reach the New City,” he murmured, a warning and a claim in one, “don’t you dare bleed for anyone but me. The Cursed are dangerous.”
So he’d proven, and yet the way he’d tasted my blood had been covetous, possessive. Like the moment it broke my skin, it belonged to him. I didn’t know why, but I agreed with the nod of my head.
He released my hands. “We should move. Before the fire alerts someone nearby.” He glanced behind me. “Just try not to look at the mess I made.”
Blood coated the front of his shirt. Some of it had soaked into my shoulder when he became my shield. “You killed them all?”
“Yes,” he said without emotion.
“Just to get to me?”
His breath fanned my cheek. “I wanted to rip them apart the moment I heard what they were thinking about you. Thankfully, you gave me a better reason.”
I nodded, not nearly as afraid as I should have been at the sight of him. “Thank you, Max. Again.”
“You don’t have to thank me every time. It’ll start getting old.” The corner of his bloody lips quirked.
I smiled even as tears pricked my eyes. “At least I pulled my weight this time.”
“You’re not a burden, Nina. Don’t change who you are for these bastards.
Certainly not for me.” He dragged me toward the front of the boat, taking the gun from my shaking hand.
The floating house was eerily quiet but for the crackling of a fire in the main room and the wet, rattling breaths of a few men Max had left behind to perish.
Max had released his Cursed side, leaving a bloody trail of wrath in his wake. We moved together through his wreckage. Crimson splashed the walls, stained the carpets.
“Hell, Max…”
He took a deep breath. “I know.”
“How? You didn’t even have a gun!”
His arm loosened over my shoulder. “It’s called a bloodrage. It’s what happens when a Cursed feels threatened, and we haven’t fed in a while. It turns us into beasts.”
A nervous laugh flew from my lips. “I’m glad it was over before you found me.”
He looked down at me in a strange assessment. “It only happened because of you. I would have never harmed the one my rage was trying to protect.”
“And this happened because you didn’t feed?”
“The Cursed need someone with a bloodline to fuel their power. It’s why you don’t see many of us in the Fissures. Our prime energy source isn’t there.”
“But your magic works the same as mine. I don’t know anyone else with the same power.
Wouldn’t it be easier if you just…” I couldn’t finish the thought, something too scandalous about the idea.
An image flashed, conjured by my imagination or his influence still employing my mind.
His lips around my throat, teeth sinking into the soft flesh of my neck, large hands pulling me against his form.
A shiver thrilled my spine, but I shook the thought away before he noticed what I was thinking about.
“I haven’t asked, because I don’t need it.
” He held up his dice. “The Cursed can also write code because we have essence in our system. That’s why the Academy despises our existence so much.
I used my knowledge of each Archetype to bridge my power into these essence stones, giving me access to every Archetype, whenever I wish. ”
“You said I was the only person you’ve met who could use them. So another Cursed wouldn’t be able to? Why?”
“Because…” He winced. “It’s complicated. They don’t… have the parts I do. It’s not enough to be Cursed.”
Max stiffened; his touch on me disappeared as he pulled away from the conversation.
I was left to wonder as we stepped over the last few bodies in the foyer.
He held out his hand to help me step into the rowboat.
The tremors in my hands relaxed as his fingers wrapped around mine, not letting go until I was steady and secure.
“Where to now?” I asked, pulling my coat tight around my middle. The temperature had dropped in the hours after sunset.
“No idea. We could go back to Driftend.”
“Word of my crimes has probably reached Driftend by now.”
I thought in silence as we drifted farther from the houseboat. Soon, it was blurred by the mist hovering over the canal. I was about to suggest we keep heading north when another boat appeared around the bend of the canal.
“Shit,” Max hissed.
“No, it’s fine,” I told him, recognizing the hull immediately. A broad smile stretched my cheeks. “It’s the Loralynn.”
Max stared at me in disbelief. “I’ve never met anyone as lucky as you. As soon as we get to the New City, I’m taking you to the gambling halls.” He shook his head but clearly couldn’t fight the grin on his lips.
I scoffed. “I’m starting to think you are fate’s favorite. I’ve never felt this lucky in all my life.”
The amusement in his eyes disappeared. “Neither have I, Nina.”