Page 63 of Absolution
If what I had with Max was a blood bonding, then something had been really wrong with my bond with Gabe. I’d never felt him in my head like this, never felt his control quite so firmly, or saw anything from his past like I’d gotten from Max.
I had a million questions, just as soon as I could hold my head up without crying like a baby. Max had blood bonded me, so he was my sire now? What was with the walk down memory lane? And he knew Gabe? What the fuck?
“He’ll need to feed,” Max said. He was near the sink wiping blood spatter off his wingtips. “The healing needs blood.”
“Will he throw it up again?” Seiran asked.
“Not as long as he doesn’t feed from a vampire. We can’t take blood from our own for anything other than bonding,” Max informed him.
Seiran growled. “Is there a book on all this? I need a book on this vampire shit.”
A smile cracked the edges of Max’s lips. “Several actually.”
“Can I read them? I think I need to read them.”
“Me first,” I grumbled at them. If anyone needed a clue on how to be a vampire it was me.
“Can I give him blood or does he need someone else?” Luca asked. I was practically sprawled across him, my head resting on his shoulder, propped up with an arm around Con’s neck. “I’ve never seen a revenant come back.” He actually looked scared. Of me? I didn’t want Luca to be afraid of me. “He killed Galloway. Even a revenant shouldn’t have been able to kill Galloway. He was one of the Tri-Mega.”
Galloway was dead? Holy fuck.Ihad killed Galloway? How did that happen?
“Galloway was weak. The loss of his Focus broke him. I warned him that he would not be strong enough to quell the siphon. Stolen power never undermines natural power,” Max said. “Feed him. He’ll need rest.”
“Need to know what the fuck happened,” I grumbled.
Luca pressed his wrist to my lips. “Drink.”
I didn’t want to. Didn’t have the energy to make it not hurt him. He must have seen it on my face because he pulled his wrist back, sliced it with his own sharp teeth and then pressed it to my lips. Con flinched and looked away, but didn’t try to leave. I closed my eyes as the taste of Luca’s blood filled my mouth, sweet as rain in a desert. It didn’t take much to fill my stomach, though it did another gurgle that made me worry I’d lose that blood too. I lapped at Luca’s wound, willing it to close, knowing now it was more my saliva than any magic power. Bonded, I thought. Could I create that between Luca and I? Would it ensure he changed when he died? I swallowed back that thought, not wanting Luca to change. He didn’t need to know what it was like to be a monster and he wasn’t one yet, not really.
“Thanks,” I told Luca. “I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You’re sweet for a badass motherfucker,” Luca leaned forward to give me a kiss. When he pulled away, he kissed Con too. “Don’t freak, okay?”
“I’m not freaking,” Con promised. “I’ll just insist Sam brush his teeth before I kiss him.”
“We okay?” I asked Con. He’d seen a lot of bad vampire shit. I hadn’t wanted to be part of that bad vampire shit, but couldn’t change that now. “I’m sorry. For all of this.”
“Wasn’t your fault,” Con said. “We called for you. Tried to get you to stop. You didn’t hear any of us. Or anything, really. You decimated the first two challengers in the cage and they were trying to keep people out and you in. You broke through the cage, ripped it open like it was nothing more than paper. Galloway tried to step in.”
“Which was stupid,” Luca said. “Fuck. You killed one of the Tri-Mega and didn’t even break a sweat.” He looked at Max. “And you reigned him in. Is the Tri-Mega all bullshit then? Just more political crap to keep vampires in line? I thought they were supposed to be the be-all and end-all power.”
“I think we all have a lot of unanswered questions,” Seiran said.
And wasn’t that the truth?
“Let’s go upstairs and we can talk privately, yes?” Max said waving a hand toward the elevator.
“I don’t trust you,” Seiran said honestly.
“I’d expect nothing less from Father Earth,” Max said. “Your grandfather was much the same. But I can answer a few questions and direct you toward some legitimate reading if you’d like.”
Even with Luca’s blood in me it was hard to stand up, like my limbs didn’t quite have enough electric pulses to actually animate them. Con and Luca helped me balance. “Let’s go, Ronnie. I’m needing some details myself. Someone needs to answer some shit already.”
Seiran walked to the elevator and pushed the only button and a moment later the door opened.
“Where are your tiny Pillars?” I asked him as I hobbled into the elevator.
“With Jamie and Kelly in the loft. Bryar’s keeping an eye too.”