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It was electric. So different from his own and utterly intoxicating. A few drops of that blood alone made him feel incredibly powerful. No spell in existence was beyond his reach.

But he didn’t need to work an insane, godlike miracle. He commanded the blood to flow backward into the wound. With magic, he forced it into Chen’s body. The vampire whimpered, his legs shifting beside Moon in the dirt and rocks as if he were trying to put some distance between himself and the source of his pain.

“Moon,” Chen cried out.

The blood witch cracked and stopped the spell. The blood he’d forced into the vampire gushed out. This wasn’t working. The wound would not heal. There was no way to keep the blood inside of Chen and circulating.

“Fuck!” Moon roared, pressing the saturated hoodie to Chen’s chest again to at least slow the blood loss.

“Shh…it’s okay…” Chen choked out. His words had become reed thin, as if they’d snap in a spring breeze.

“It’s not okay. It’s not fucking okay!” Moon shouted, his voice cracking at the end. This wasn’t supposed to be happening.

“I wish…I wish we’d had more time.” Chen huffed out a breathless laugh that ended in a pained cough. “Two thousand years of existence, and I’m wishing for more time.”

“Gege, don’t. We can still figure something out.” A lump formed in Moon’s throat, threatening to choke him.

Or maybe it was his heart. The thing was racing, trying to crawl out of his body, straining to grab the vampire and fix him. He couldn’t lose Chen yet. He couldn’t lose him ever. The damn vampire was learning to smile and even laugh. Moon needed at least a lifetime of seeing that slow-blossoming smile spreading across his pale-pink lips.

Chen’s eyes flicked open, and he blinked, sending two fat tears rolling down his cheeks. “Two thousand years, and I meet you at the end of all things. I wanted more time…”

Moon cupped Chen’s cheek and pressed their foreheads together. “We will have more time. Do you hear me? This isn’t over. You think I’m letting you go that easily? When I set my mind to winning someone, I do a damn thorough job of it. I’m not done with you yet.”

Chen’s lips trembled, and for a second Moon thought he was trying to grin. Instead, Chen whispered, “You won.”

“Fuck fuck fuck,” Moon snarled. This bloodsucker was not getting away from him now. Not now. Not ever.

There was one option left, and it scared him to death. Not because he didn’t trust Chen, but because he wasn’t sure it would work at all.

Yet, did they have any other choice?

Moon lifted his head and patted Chen on the cheek. “Gege, I need you to open your eyes and listen to me.”

Chen’s eyelids fluttered and cracked open so he could glimpse nearly black eyes. They seemed unfocused, as if Chen were fading from him even faster now.

“I have an idea, but I can’t promise it’s going to work. To force the fae poison out of you, I need more control over your blood. I might be able to do it if it’s my blood flowing through your veins. You need to get out those sexy fangs and bite me.”

“But…”

“I know what I said earlier, but we don’t have any other choice. If we do nothing, you will die. I’d rather we try something.”

Chen’s lips moved, but Moon couldn’t make out the words. The vampire’s mouth opened a little wider and Moon saw those long, white fangs descend. Moon wrapped his arms around Chen, scooting as close as he could while positioning the vampire’s head on his shoulder.

It took some doing, but Chen got his face close to Moon’s throat. Those soft lips brushed his skin, sending a chill across Moon’s entire body.

“I’m sorry,” Chen murmured.

Moon’s brain had started to question why he was apologizing when sharp pain sliced through his neck. Chen didn’t have the energy to strike quickly. Those pointed weapons sank into his flesh with agonizing slowness.

There was none of the pleasure people spoke of when they talked about being bitten by a vampire. This was excruciating. Every pull of Chen’s mouth on the two wounds was razor blades slicing across his soul. He wanted the pain to stop. Instincts screamed for him to shove Chen away while his heart cried out for him to give every drop over to Chen.

But it wasn’t enough to give Chen all his blood. That was playing into King Ash’s evil plans.

No, Moon had to prove to the asshole that he’d underestimated this blood witch. He was going to heal his man, and then they were going to put the elf king into a whole new world of fucking hurt.

As soon as Chen had taken three deep swallows of Moon’s blood, the witch reached out his trembling right hand and pressed his palm to the open wound. He clenched his teeth at the feel of Chen flinching. He didn’t want to hurt him, but this was the only way.