Page 109 of A Hunt Bound in Blood

As I described it, I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more.

Cammon guided my hand to his lips. His crimson eyes were so full of earnestness, open and determined, that there was no room for doubt when he said, “Shared everything, Buttons. I’d have it no other way.”

My damned tears erased his beautiful face again, and I blinked them away as I nodded. Come what may, this was the future I chose.

He raised his hand to my face and pulled me down to him. His lips brushed against mine, his sinfully delicious blood smearing across my mouth and dancing over my tongue like the smoothest brandy. And then his kisses travelled down to my pulse—and he bit.

Unlike a vampire bite, there was no venom to heighten the pleasure. There were no fangs to pave the way. All his teeth were sharp, and they sank deep into my flesh. It should have been terrifying. A few weeks ago, I would have struggled against him, hating the way he clasped me to his chest and left me no room to manoeuvre. I would have thought the entire offer of a bond was a ploy to consume my emotions and leave me a drained husk for the sake of his own survival.

But it never occurred to me now, even as the pain made me gasp and tense against him.

Soon, the pain faded, replaced by a different sensation that ran deeper, like a thick cable piercing my chest and securing itself to my soul. Hooks latched on to my heart, looped into my skull and bound me there too. Every part of me connected to Cammon, and with every passing moment, my strength grew. Tempest mage, vampire, bonded to a demon prince. Power filled my muscles, my blood. I tasted his desire, his love, his gratitude, all mixed with the flavour of his made-for-me lifeblood.

The pleasure was immense. Not sexual—not only sexual—but like every good memory wrapped up and served in one giant helping. Every good experience, every sweet moment. Girls’ nights with Ashara over bottles of wine. Cracking open a new book in my favourite armchair. The smell of old books. The rustle of leaves on a summer day.

Bonding with Cammon was bliss. It was perfection. And as the bond settled, his strength grew as well. I felt the healing wounds on his torso, the flex of his muscles, the ease of his tremors, each step leading him farther away from the river of Death.

He drew one last mouthful of blood between his lips, and my world shifted again. The sense of power faded, and in its place, the pain returned. Not the same as before—that radiating pinch of puncturing teeth—but greater. All over. I screamed as slices opened on my body, spilling blood from wounds that hadn’t been there moments ago, as fatigue weighed down my muscles, as bruises flowered across my skin.

As Cammon’s injuries passed to me.

Cammon

LII

A feeling of completeness swept through me when the final thread of our bond settled into place, both halves of it now strong. Unbreakable. The thick tethers stretched between us, tying us together until one of us drew our last breath.

I should have been terrified of such a connection, but from the moment I’d suggested it, I’d known it was the only thing I wanted. Glory and me together. Fighting. Facing whatever challenges arose. I thought of her under the mountain, the way she’d opened up to me, trusted me enough to show me all her vulnerabilities. I needed to give her a chance to see the same side of me. Something we’d have plenty of time to enjoy now. Whatever the future held for either of us, my place was right here next to this woman.

With every draw from Glory’s neck, my strength returned and my wounds sealed. I’d known it would be quick, but the speed with which I felt almost like my usual self was unbelievable. The injuries were still there, my energy not fully back, but I wasn’t dying. Not today.

Glory’s hands weakened around mine, and when her scream pierced the air, I ripped myself away from her throat and the rhapsodic taste of her blood. I watched in horror as she collapsed against my chest.

I caught her before she could fall into the mud and stared down at her body, at the bruises and cuts that had burst into being as she’d let me and this new facet of our bond in. My heart rate, only just slowing, sped up again, and my vision narrowed to sharp pinpricks focused solely on her.

“Fuck. Glory, fuck.”

I’d known she might experience some pain, but I’d had no idea it would be this bad. Bond of love, bond of body—from this point forward, our pains would always be shared. I hadn’t realized what that would mean for her right now.

“I’ve got you, Buttons. Hold on.”

She was barely conscious, her eyelashes fluttering in her effort to stay awake. She needed blood to recover, but I needed all my strength to get us to safety.

As I looked around, I had no idea where that might be—until I caught sight of Evaniel’s flag beyond the trees. The ship. It had sailed, leaving us behind, but if I was fast enough, we could reach it.

A big if, but for Glory’s sake, I had to try.

I summoned every ounce of my refreshed power, but once I hauled Glory’s dead weight into my arms, I felt it ebb. My barely healed wings wobbled when I stretched them out behind me, and on my first attempt to launch into the air, we crashed into the mud, my arms tight around Glory to avoid crushing her beneath me. My lungs rasped with ragged breaths, but I kept my eye on that mast as I again hurled myself into the sky.

This time my wings caught, a juddering flight that kept us barely a few metres above the ground. Each beat of my damaged limbs took us a little higher, a little farther, with increased effort.

The rest of the ship came into view, cutting through the smooth waters as though the storm had never happened. I spotted the crew moving around the deck, spotted the captain at the helm. They were maybe two hundred metres out, and bit by bit, I was closing the distance.

We would make it. We would—

Black spots danced in my vision, the muscles in my arms gave out, and in my scramble to keep hold of Glory as we fell, I slammed my shoulder into the low cliff that lined the sea. I used the rocks to shove myself into the air once more, giving me a few extra feet and a short burst of speed. My left shoulder spasmed, my wing lost its steady beat, and we veered in the sky, off balance over the freezing water.

I tightened my grip on Glory, curled in my wings, and forced one final, powerful beat, letting the wind carry us the remaining distance.