Page 47 of Frosty and the Reaper

“How? I can’t move, Lia.”

“Heal me,” a voice croaked out. “Heal me, and I can free her.”

Lia glanced down at the male lying next to her. She was trying hard not to freak out, but she was very close to fucking losing it. Not only was she chained to a male who looked like he was seconds away from death, but that male also happened to be her fated mate.

Death.

Just the thought of that sent shivers down her spine.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole fated mate thing. Actually, she still had days when she couldn’t even believe she was a fucking alicorn shifter. But this was next level craziness. Pushing aside her worries, she focused on the task at hand.

“How? How do I heal you? I don’t have any healing abilities.”

“Your…blood.”

“What the—?”

“He’s right,” Kami insisted. “There is magic in your blood that can help him heal. This entire cave is warded against us using spells, but your blood is infused with magic.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…”

Seriously, he looked like a mummified corpse, and now she had to offer him her blood? Before she could overthink it, she closed her eyes and held out her wrist to Death. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes to glare at him.

“Well?”

“Can’t…move…”

Lia flushed as embarrassment and shame filled her. Of course, he couldn’t move. She glanced around for something to use to cut herself. She’d had a knife on her earlier, but it had either disappeared when she fell, or it had been taken from her. Seeing a jagged edge on the rock wall that could work, she braced herself for the pain and used the rock to make a cut on her forearm.

When she saw it was bleeding, she quickly shoved her arm against Death’s mouth and closed her eyes. It would be better if she didn’t have to see the whole process. At first, all he could manage to do was open his lips, his movements sluggish and shaky. The gesture was hesitant, as though even that small effort took all his remaining strength.

For a moment, she wondered if it would even work.

After a few tense seconds, she felt a faint, tentative pull as he managed to seal his mouth against the wound. The sensation was strange, a little intimate as well as a whole lot unnerving. She flinched slightly as sharp fangs pressed into her skin, an unexpected sting followed by the warm rush of blood.

The pain was fleeting, overtaken by a growing lightheadedness as he began to drink more deeply. Each beat of her heart seemed to echo in her ears, making her acutely aware of the blood being drawn from her.

“I think that’s enough,” Kami called out. “Raziel! Stop! That’s enough!”

But he didn’t stop.

Lia fought to open her eyes, but it felt like they had been glued shut. The lightheaded feeling got worse as he continued to drink from her, making the world around her fade into an indistinct blur. She wavered between consciousness and the lure of darkness. When she felt herself falling onto him, she couldn’t stop it. Her other hand pressed against his chest, and she felt her magic surge out of her palm and into him. Her touch was probably hurting him since he was covered in wounds, but she didn’t have the energy to move herself off of him.

Despite the overwhelming weakness, she didn’t blame him. She understood his desperation. He was barely alive and clinging to existence by a thread. If her blood was the lifeline he needed, she would give it freely. He was her mate, after all. Evenas the last of her strength slipped away, she silently urged him to take what he needed to survive.

He was Death, one of the Four Horsemen.

Compared to that, she was insignificant.

It all came down to sacrifice. She was willing to exchange her life for his. If this was the one way she could contribute to helping the world, so be it. She just hoped that he could help save her friend and stop the impending apocalypse from happening.

And with that final thought, she let go and plunged into the waiting darkness.

Chapter Sixteen

Rage was aliving, breathing entity inside of Zander.

He could feel it.