Sacrifice in Blood

Chapter 45: Ominous Signs

The blood that had pooled on my hand started to drip down my wrist then which made him break the kiss. I felt his tongue run along my wrist and palm, lapping up the blood.

Ok. Time to freak out now. He clearly was not in his right mind.

Talon grabbed my jaw and roughly pushed my head to the side to reveal more of my neck. I pushed against his iron-clad grip as he began to kiss my neck, but of course I was no match for his supernatural strength.

My whole being was having a meltdown. Half of me was screaming danger but the other half, didn't want to fight back, like it was enjoying it. I had let Talon drink my blood a bunch of times now after all. My body was beginning to get used to him doing so. The usual blind panic and resistance expected when a vampire attacked me was not here.

His grip on my jaw and wrist tightened then, making me gasp in pain. Thankfully, that broke me from my temporary insanity. I needed to stop him right now before he could no longer stop. He was not in control.

Talon growled against my neck and as I felt his fangs graze against my skin, I called out:

"Earth, I invoke thee!"

The element answered my call and tree roots sprung from the ground and tangled themselves around Talon's body, pulling him off me and down to the ground. He hit the ground, snarling and hissing like a monster.

Free of his grasp, I stepped away hastily as he thrashed on the ground, fighting against my magic. I was frozen in horror.

What should I do? My frantic mind screamed. There was no sign of humanity in Talon, just a mindless blood-crazed beast. How could I reach him?

The tree roots I had spelled seemed to have taken on a mind of their own as they fought back to restrain the thrashing vampire. Talon snarled as he managed to break his arm free, trying to get up to come after me.

The element quickly acted, more roots growing. One snaked around his neck and yanked him back to the earth. His head hit the ground hard, making a sickening thud. At once, he went still.

The element, appeased that he was no longer a threat, receded back into the earth.

Talon didn't move. His eyes closed, he looked kind of dead.

I rushed over to him, dropping to my knees beside him, my heart racing. He couldn't be dead though. It took way more than that to kill a vampire, that's what Talon had said himself.

"Talon?" I asked, my voice shaky. I reached out with my un-bloody hand to touch his face. His eyes snapped open immediately, making me jump and pull my hand back, panicked. I got to my feet and retreated a couple feet away.

But when I met his eyes they were their beautiful piercing blue and his face was confused.

"Leina? Why am I on the ground? What happened?-" he started, his voice joking but stopped when he must have registered my stricken expression.

"What happened?" he repeated, on his feet and in front of me in an instant. Involuntarily, I stepped back. He saw this and his expression turned to concern and confusion.

Then the scent of my blood hit him and his eyes followed my hand where I was clutching my bleeding shoulder. His expression darkened, understanding hitting him.

Talon swore and ran his hands through his hair exasperated. He put some distance between us then, guessing what must have happened.

I needed to stop the bleeding and heal the wound before my blood triggered another blood-rage episode. I wasted no time. I closed my eyes, centering myself and cast Aliénor's elemental healing spell: