A Slave to Love

Chapter 71: Ready or Not

"Ace," I gasped, my eyes already starting to fill with hot tears. "Ace somebody—he has a—help us."

Ace stuck the torch in between the bars of the cell, making sure it held before he sat down next to me. His eyes ran over Blade's body, then lifted his hands and pushed his fingers under Blade's lips. All I saw in the flickering, dim light was black. Ace was cursing under his breath, looking angrier than I'd ever seen him.

"They ripped his fangs out," he hissed, sounding more animal than human.

My stomach turned in revulsion and I held my own mouth. They ripped them out. How could somebody do that? That was just...inhumane. Everything about Aros was inhumane.

"He's got an infection starting," he said after moment, barely controlled anger hiding deep in his voice. "That stake has to come out."

"Ace I can't—" I started, horrified at the idea. I remembered Alek's scream of agony when Lexi pulled a stake out of him. Doing that to Blade would be awful.

"I know. I'm not letting you," he said sharply, going into a crouch. "Get over there. Far from Blade."

"What? Why?" Now that I was here, I couldn't imagine leaving him.

"Because when I pull this stake out, I don't want you to get hurt. Now go." He growled. I balked before I scrambled to the other side of the cell, back against the wall as I used it to pull myself up so I was standing. My legs were threatening to give out as I watched Ace grasp the splintered end of the stake with a hiss of pain, the small pieces of wood piercing his palms.

"Don't look," Ace said tersely. For a moment, I was too distracted by Blade to understand. Then I saw his muscles bunch under his shirt, turned my head and squeezed my eyes shut.

The scream that came out of Blade just...wasn't human. It was loud, bouncing off the walls of the cell back at us. It was so full of pure pain, one that made my knees give out and my whole body throb. It cut off abruptly into shallow gasps and whimpers and I heard Ace toss the stake. It rolled across the ground, bumping against my knee.

"Kiana...he needs—"

"Blood. I know." I shook my head and crawled on trembling arms to them. Blade was curled up in a ball, shaking worse than me. Ace grabbed my arm and sat me up properly, red eyes eerie in the flickering fire light.

"He can't bite you, not properly. I have to bite you...it's going to hurt. A lot."

"I don't care. Just do it. We're running out of time." We'd barely even begun and I was already tired. But I felt a fire in me, something that was pushing me to do something. To get out of here alive. I'd been missing that flame the past few days. But now that there was a chance, I knew I had to throw everything I had into taking it.

I handed him my arm, locking gazes with him. "Do it Ace."

He nodded slowly, and then quicker than lightning, he bit down on my wrist. At first I didn't notice, then a burning hot pain flashed through me. I bit back my yelp of pain as Ace sat Blade up and handed him to me. He opened his mouth and I shoved my wrist in. I was surprised when his teeth clamped down so hard on my arm I thought he'd snap it right in half.

Unlike the other times he had drank my blood, this was painful. It was unbearably hot, the sting of his jaws clenching around my arm, urging more blood into his mouth and out of me. His body was tight, ice cold and damp. He was animal, acting on pure instinct. This wasn't the sweet, controlled way he normally did it. This was basic survival instinct kicking in; no space for restraint or control or any feeling or thought at all.

"I'll stop him," Ace said suddenly, watching us carefully. He had his eyes focused solely on Blade as he spoke, not daring to glance away for even a split second.