The Scarlet Hunter

Chapter 49-4

Two days later, the pain in her legs was dull, as if her body could no longer process the suffering. She felt she wasn't always in the same room as her body. It was like she didn't have the energy to be there. The only thing that tugged her consciousness was his magic running through her and pulling her to him when he was near.

The few times she saw her legs, they were disfigured from the swelling. Black skin covered them with red and purple undertones. "They'll heal within several hours of removing your silver, precious. Just a few more days, OK?"

They weren't going to heal within several hours, though. She was going to make sure of that. Broken legs or not, she would throw herself out that window, headfirst.

Whenever she was lucid enough to think, she drilled her plan into her head. She wasn't morbid, but she needed to layer it. The mate bond and caring for her mate's well-being would work against her. When her silver is removed, Kara might show up and fight her on this too. She needed to be prepared.

"Are you still plotting, precious?" Jackson crossed the room, looking at her.

Her dull eyes looked up to him. "I don't know what I'm thinking anymore."

"The windowsill will still happen. It's what you want." Jackson sat on the bed and pulled her into a seated position. Her sweaty face drooped towards his chest, unconsciously searching for him. The numbness that overcame every part of her caused her to force her breathing. She wondered if she could become so desensitized that she would stop breathing.

He tilted her head to expose her neck to him. "We're almost there." He ran his tongue over her mangled neck and her breathing smoothed with a sigh. She hated how her body reacted to him. "This will be the last time before the full moon."

His teeth elongated while Isla remained listless. When he pushed his canines into her, she couldn't react. Her eyes were dry and distant, aches radiated through her body. Several times over the last couple of weeks, she thought she had nothing left. But this time, like those, she was proved wrong when he took more from her.

His teeth sank deeper, unchallenged. His growls were a sign of the pleasure he was taking in her submission. Isla was left unable to attempt to fend him off. She focused on her breathing, becoming single-minded on inhaling and exhaling. Weak fingers reached over to his nearby thighs, reminding him that she was there and in pain if he cared to notice.

Too deep. The realization that Jackson was going deeper than he had in the past caused Isla to pathetically jerk her chest. She found bitterness in the possibility that she might die without taking Jackson with her, but at least she would be done with him.

Her breaths slowed and became shallow as she felt something trickle down her throat. The last of her energy was used to cough, the involuntary response of her body to the liquid dripping into her lungs. Jackson had punctured her esophagus, and she decided that this was an acceptable death as well. Anything but to be alive with him.

Even as another surge of his magic entered her, she was sound in her decision to end this and end him if she could.

Jackson pulled out. "Just a couple more days, and we will be mated, and all this will heal. Just a few more days." Jackson grabbed a nearby towel for her neck.