A Slave to Love

Chapter 67: Derailed

A day. Not even twenty four hours before I would have to leave. Twenty four hours before I had to break Blade's heart, just so he could live. I didn't even know why or who was making me do all this.

I just lay there, tangled up in sheets with him, staring up at the canopy of his bed that I'd spent so many nights in. I rubbed my face and eyes with my palms, struggling to keep myself composed, to keep from telling him everything. They'd kill him if I told him and they'd kill him if I didn't leave. I was stuck. I didn't have a choice. I couldn't let him die.

"Hey," I heard Blade say groggily, letting out a yawn, "Something wrong?"

"Nah," I rubbed my eyes, pretending to be tired when really I was wiping my tears away. "Just woke up actually." I closed my eyes and stretched, giving myself another moment to calm down. "I'm so comfortable. Can we just stay here all day today?"

"Well I certainly won't complain," I felt his breath on my neck as he chuckled. "So what do you want to do today?"

"I just want to be with you today. No distractions or anything. Just us doing anything we want." I found his hand and clutched it tightly, as if I'd lose him prematurely if I didn't hold onto him.

He scooted closer and kissed my forehead, "That's more than fine by me," he assured me, "So what did you have in mind?"

What did I have in mind? I hadn't thought past just spending as much time with him as possible. But what could we do that would make this day memorable? Well, everyday with Blade was memorable, but how could we make this one more so than usual? Besides the fact that it was our last day together.

"Blade? What haven't we tried yet?" I asked, trying to remember some of the things he mentioned before.

"Um...you'll have to be a tad more specific. As in, tried yet for what?" he asked, his smile more than a little cheeky.

I found a small, genuine smile. "Not what I meant. I meant with us, our bond," I touched his tattooed arm meaningfully.

He sat up, head cocked to the side slightly as he thought. "A few things. I mean, I've never summoned you before. Uh...we never exchanged blood to make a stronger bond. And if we can manage it, read each other's minds. But that's usually after being together for years." He puffed his cheeks out and let out a huge breath, seeming at a loss. "There are a lot of things we could do, but I never really thought about it. We could always ask." He suddenly levelled his gaze with mine, "Why?"

I shrugged slightly, "Just curious. I wanted to try something new," I said lightly. I licked my dry lips, studying his face for a moment while I plucked up the courage. "Could we...could we exchange blood? I want to see if we can be stronger..."

He faltered a moment before nodding. "We can try it. But if we do exchange blood, you'll get some vampire qualities," his eyes were wide, warning me, "Three times Kiana, that's all it takes. We have to be careful if we do this again, to make sure it's all out of your system first."

"That's okay," I said quickly. It wasn't like that was going to be an issue. I wasn't going to be around long enough for it to even leave my system.

He pulled me up so I was sitting and kissed my throat, "Are you sure?"

"Are you sure?"

He let out a small laugh, "Not really, but I'll take my chances."

"Me too," I breathed, eyes closing. He kissed down to the spot between my neck and shoulder, lingering there for just a moment. I shivered and he cupped the back of my neck with his hand, lips parting over my skin before his teeth sank into me. I felt the heat in my body suddenly rising, my brain whirring into motion as I felt him pulling my blood into his mouth.