Blood Bound [Book Two, Lady and the Wolf] (EDITING)

Chapter Fourteen: Sacrifices

"Drake," Van managed to spit out between harsh coughs as he sat up, leaning over the side of his bed and vomiting dark red blood into a bucket. His body was racked with pain and his every breath was a struggle. "What's... happening to me?" He asked in a shaky voice, his face pale and clammy with sweat.

Drake flashed a penlight into Van's eyes. His eyes were completely red, meaning that whatever was happening was certainly because of Konstantin. The heart monitor was beeping frantically, and Drake could see the Van's body temperature dropping rapidly. He knew he didn't have much time to act before it was too late and Van's body shut down completely.

"Your organs are starting to shut down," Drake explained, using that cold, matter-of-fact doctor tone Van had heard him use many times before. "We need to get you stabilized."

At that moment, Van could feel his body seize as his muscles contracted aggressively and he sucked in a horrified breath. His muscles were clenched, his eyes wide open as he shook and struggled to breathe. He remained fully conscious despite the pain, and he could hear Drake calling for Nikolai to assist. Nikolai quickly rushed into the room and raced to Van's side, obeying Drake's orders, and using his strength and weight to hold Van down. Van could easily have sent the bed - and everything else - flying with his own strength, but he could do nothing to fight back.

Grabbing a vile and needle, Drake hastily shoved a needle into his brother's arm, and after a moment, the seizing stopped entirely, but the pain and nausea remained. He hadn't entertained the thought of dying a quick and painless death, but damn, anything would have been better than this.

As Drake and Nikolai raced back and forth with medical supplies and equipment, Van turned to his side, and a slight smile graced his pale face.

"Never thought I'd get the chance to meet you," Van sputtered, his words barely a croak despite all his efforts to speak clearly. His chest felt heavy, and his lungs burned with unbearable pain, but he pushed on with the limited strength he still had left. "Konstantin..." Van whispered again in a weak voice.

As Van's consciousness faded, the being beside him offered a sad smile. They looked almost identical, the scars that marred their skin matching in some ways. Even though Van could see the physical similarities, there was a subtle difference in personality and demeanour.

The were two halves of the same soul, after all.

"This isn't how it was supposed to end."

Van chuckled weakly, his voice breaking as he mimicked the emotional breakdown he was experiencing. "Yeah, well... did we expect the picket fence and happily ever after?" his voice cracked, replicating just how he was breaking down emotionally. "We're letting her go. It's for the best." Van's tone was bitter and sarcastic, but beneath that was a deep sorrow and sense of sadness at the reality of their situation. Letting her go would be painful, but it was the right thing to do.

"You love her. She was made for us - just for us."

Konstantin's frown let Van know that even though he wasn't happy with the situation, he was accepting it. A silent acknowledgement of the difficult decision ahead. Van's heart ached with the pain of letting go, but he knew this was what needed to happen.

Van shook his head as best he could. "Aira was made for no one. We," he took a deep breath, trying not to cough up the blood he knew was making its way into his throat, "we were made for her. Aira belongs to no one, no man, Lycan, or God."

"She'll hate us when she finds out, because you know she will find out. She'll spend the rest of her days believing this was somehow her fault. You know her, I know her, we both know this will ruin her."