A Slave to Love

Chapter 26: Bite Me

KIANA POV

After Blade dropped me off I had felt fine. I took a shower, got a snack from the lounge and then headed back to my dorm to read a book in my pajamas. But after a while I started feeling uneasy, my stomach twisting and my tattoo tingling but not in a way that was  comforting nor familiar. As the afternoon wore on it got worse until I was in so much pain that I couldn't even take it anymore.

When my friends came back from bowling and came to check on me they found me lying in bed under the covers in a ball, crying and in pain without knowing a reason why. I wanted Blade but I couldn't get my mind clear enough to summon him.

My friends tried to get me to the nurse but I told them to leave me alone and not to tell anybody. I snapped--okay, more like screamed-- at them so much that they left without another word.

I waited all night for Blade to show up like he promised he would.

But he didn't.

So now, here I was at six in the morning, hiding out in the forest after I had managed to crawl there, praying to God that Blade was okay and that he would come see me so I'd know everything was fine.

"Missed me, sweetheart?" a familiar voice asked.

I froze in my pacing, head whipping up to see Blade leaning against a tree in the shadow of the early morning, but I could still see his signature smirk was worn out and forced. And I could also see the rest of him, which was so revolting I gagged.

He looked like he belonged in a really awful, gory slasher film. The right side of his cheek had a long gash in it, from his temple to the corner of his lips, his chest had several long slashes through it as well as his tattered shirt, his legs looked unsteady and he kept all of his weight off his left foot, but even still his right thigh was bleeding. His arms were cut and hands were covered in cuts. His eyes were half open and sunken in, bruises staining his pale skin all over like a dark map.

And every single cut, scrape and gash was leaking black blood. It marked his flesh and soaked through his clothes, dripping sluggishly from the open wounds.

"What happened to you?" I whispered, teeth gritting against my gag reflex.

"I saved Lexi," he said with a shrug that made him wince, looking as if he was about to pass out dead on the ground. His knees buckled and he gripped the tree tightly. I started forward to help, but he hissed at me so I stopped.

"Blade you need help," I said, heart hurting just looking at how broken he was. I couldn't look at the rest of him, only his face seemed somewhat safe to let my gaze linger on, and his pained bloodied expression was putting my guts through the wringer.

"I'm fine," he spat, nostrils flaring as his red eyes darkened. "Do not cross that line," he gestured vaguely at the space in front of me.

Was he kidding me with that shit? I wasn't about to leave him there alone without helping him. I walked forward but smacked right into something. I tried again, pushing against it even though I couldn't see anything blocking me. Blade watched me, challenging me with his burning eyes. The penny dropped.

"Blade! You can't do that! Let me help you."

He shook his head, jaw tight and eyes squeezed shut, seeming to hold his breath.

"What happened? What's wrong? Why won't you let me near you?" I asked, worried and panicked as I paced anxiously along the invisible barrier keeping me from getting to him. The guy may be a pain in the ass, but he wasn't like that all the time. Yesterday proved that, as did him saving my life. Seeing him battered and bruised made me sick to the point I wanted to cry but he wouldn't let me do a thing to help.