The Wicked Born

Chapter 16

"That isn't supposed to happen," she uttered. She knew that a lot of what happens once a witch and a human male are linked is complete speculation because it happens so rarely, but she'd never even heard of them sharing a pain bond as well.

"What, Tabitha?" Confusion and a little panic of his own began to fill his voice. Her eyes snapped to his and she bit her lip at the intensity she found staring back at her. "Tell me. What is going on?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "but I think we may have a real problem. Every time my arm throbs, you feel it. When I pricked your finger just now, I felt it." 

Realization dawned on Dacre's face, and his expression grew grim at the prospect. "You're saying that we can feel what the other feels?"

"No, no," she shook her head, "I think it may be specific to pain. If it was a sensation bond, then you'd be able to feel when I chewed my lip or I'd be able to feel when you rubbed the back of your neck." Tabitha shut her eyes tightly in panic. Her immediate thoughts went to how much danger she'd be putting herself in during the coming weeks, and how Dacre would handle the physical pain if she were to get hurt or killed in the process. Her heart thrummed in a fearful rhythm at the thought of him feeling all of the pain that she was almost ensured to feel.

"That can't be good," he uttered lowly in response. Tabitha nodded grimly, her eyes still shut tight while her mind raced with the possibilities of what a pain bond between the two meant for him. Would it last once her blood is out of his system? She had no idea. 

"Hey," Dacre whispered, drawling Tabitha back to the present. Two warm hands cupped either side of her shoulder. She opened her eyes and was met face to face with his calm, warm expression mere inches from her own. She was hyperaware of every last bit of skin that touched--the pads of his thumb drew lazy but spark-filled paths over the muscles of her bicep. The small yet comforting gesture was almost enough to unhinge the witch. When did he become the collected one? "It's going to be okay; we'll figure this out together."

"You don't understand," Tabitha retorted, all while fighting the overwhelming urge she had to place her palm over the back of his rough, calloused hand. Her instincts pleaded with her to capture his tracing fingers between her own and to discover what it felt like to be touching him skin to skin. It was disconcerting to her when she realized that he seemed unaware of the simple touches between them that threw her nearly completely off of any course of thought she had previously been on. Her mind reeled for a minute before she was able to resume her thought process. "We both know that what's in store for me won't exactly be pleasant. Best case scenario is that I somehow make it in and out of the castle with Bexley without getting into any sort of altercation with the guards. But we'd be kidding ourselves if we thought that is honestly how it will go down. I'm most likely going to get injured at some point, which I can handle, but the thought of you feeling the same things I do... I'm just worried that it'll be too much."

Dacre paused his stroking of her arms, and a large part of her ached for him to begin his motions again. She all but sighed in relief when he finally resumed the path. A resolute look in his green eyes told he'd made up his mind about something, but she wasn't quite sure what.

"Don't worry about me dealing with a little pain, Tabitha," he soothed; the corner of his mouth twitched up infinitesimally in a suppressed smirk. "I need you to understand that while I may be weaker than you as a human, I'm more than capable of handling a bit of pain. I was in the King's guard, if you'll remember. It may not be ripping faces off of predators, as I know you're so fond of," he poked fun at her as she rolled her eyes, but his light tone told her that he didn't hold the previous incident against her, "but it was still a pretty grueling process. How do you think I have most of the scars that I do now?"