With that request, the pixie king whirled from the room in the same manner he’d arrived, leaving Griffin and Wren alone.
Standing there, adrenaline leaving his body as the pixie’s poison surged through him, his thoughts centered on his Fire.
“Wren? Are you injured?” He ran his hands over her exposed skin, searching for any wounds.
“Wha… Griffin?”
“There’s not much time.” His heart was already stuttering, muscle losing time as his blood thickened in his veins. Sweat broke out on his brow and his chest heaved with every breath.
Healing his Fire after she’d been bitten by pixies had been simple enough. The poison diluted in her blood stream just enough to make it tolerable for him. But direct ingestion…it was a death sentence.
Tears burned his eyes at the thought of never again seeing Wren’s sweet face, tasting her berry-tinged lips or holding her in his arms.
“Griffin?”
He gripped her arms, using her to keep himself standing. “They know who you are, Wren. It’s not safe.” He swallowed past the bile rising in his throat, fighting to stay conscious. “Get my phone and put your thumb to the screen. It’s going to deny you access, but say Letholdus.” His Fire, the only reason he had to live, and he’d never see her again. But the Protectors would guard her for him. “Repeat it, Wren.”
“Phone. Thumb. Letholdus. But, Griffin…”
His hands, twitching as the venom slithered through his extremities, lost their strength and he lost his hold. He slumped to the ground, body sprawled and weakened. “Now, Wren. The table.”
His Fire, his brave, beautiful one, scrambled and did as he asked. She raced to his phone and her hands shook as she jabbed at the screen, repeating the name he’d given her with a shaky voice.
Letholdus… Carac would be pissed that he’d revealed the man’s true name to a human, but it couldn’t be helped. The Protectors had to take her into their care. They had to.
Wren raced to his side, phone in one hand while he clutched the other, fingers barley able to wrap around hers.
“It’s Griffin, he…” Her voice trembled, but he could hear Carac on the other end. The vampire would care for her. Tired, he let his eyes drift closed, the pain from the venom warring with the breaking of his heart. “Griffin?”
He pried his eyes open, unwilling to take his last breath without a final look at his Fire. “Love…”
* * *
”What do I do?” Griffin’s eyes fluttered, lowering until his ice-like gaze was hidden from her.
“If he’s taken your blood recently, this will bind you forever.”
She growled. Snarled, really. Yes, he’d taken tiny sips, but his life meant more than an eternal bonding. Besides, she’d only be alive for another sixty years. It was a mere blip for an immortal. “What the fuck do I do?”
”You don’t have to do this.”
”He’s dying asshole. Tell me what to do. If he dies, I will gut you where you stand.” Big words coming from her, but she’d meant every syllable.
”Fine.” The vamp snapped. “You need to do a deeper exchange of blood. It’ll tie your lives together and keep him alive until we arrive.”
Wren didn’t question the action. Without hesitation she dropped the phone and raced to the kitchen, destroying Griffin’s orderly world as she hunted for a blade. Knife in hand, she sliced their wrists, his then hers, and placed each other’s wounds against the other’s mouth. She pumped her fist to encourage the flow.
His blood wasn’t sweet and alluring. It was tainted, sour and cold as it passed her lips. But it’d tie them together, keep his heart beating and him at her side. That was all that mattered.
And then she waited…waited as seconds ticked by and his mouth remained slack. Waited with tears trickling from her eyes and then finally…finally the vamp’s mouth shifted against her flesh, tongue stroking her wound followed by a fierce suck. His fangs latched on to her wrist and intense pain poured through her veins as if Griffin gnawed on her rather than simply drank.
Yet, she didn’t pull away, didn’t steal his only hope. No, she kept her flesh in place as she retained control of his arm.
Then men flooded Griffin’s home, fangs bared and moving at inhuman speed. Four crowded the space around her. One pried Griffin’s jaws apart while another lapped at her wound before binding it in gauze. Yet another took care of the slice she’d inflicted on the vamp. The throb in her wrist was nothing compared to the pain entrenched in her heart; the memory of her conversation with Carac continued to replay in her mind.