Page 91 of Inhuman Nature

Kit watched from the front door. “You need to recreate him,” he said in a calm voice that belied his earth-shattering words.

Shaun looked down at Rake. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Kit asked. “Unless you plan on delaying anylonger, in which case he’ll die before you get the chance.”

“He’s not going to—”

“Listen to his pulse!” Kit urged again, tone harsher this time.

Shaun listened.

Thud. Thud-thud. Thud.

Rake’s pulse was slowing. He was dying in Shaun’s arms.

Shaun looked helplessly at Kit. “I don’t know if he wants this. I don’t think I can—”

Kit bared his teeth at him, fangs extending. “Then give him to me. I’ll do it.”

Shaun felt like he had the first time another child had tried to steal one of his toys when in nursery school. He backed away from Kit, holding Rake close to him, almost exactly like how he’d cuddled that toy bear. “No,” he whispered.

“He’lldieif you don’t!” Kit hissed.

Shaun couldn’t face the idea of an existence without Rake. He’d only just got him: losing him so fast wasn’t an option.

“I’m going to do it,” Shaun said. He moved into the bedroom, laying Rake down on the bed. He bit Rake’s neck on the opposite side of the existing bites, and at the same time, used his claws to cut into his own wrist, forcing it over Rake’s mouth.

He shouldn’t have insisted on doing it himself. The only time he’d experienced a recreation, it had been his own. He knew how it worked in theory, not in practice. But it was instinctual to give Rake his blood whilst he drained the last of Rake’s mortal life out through his veins.

There were a few terrifying moments where Shaun thought he had been too late. But then he felt the slightest pressure onhis wrist. Shaun threw his head back as Rake began to pull blood from his veins. It was so different from when Lawrence had forced himself on Shaun. This was almost euphoric. He was giving life to Rake, saving him.

Recreating him.

Shaun pressed himself closer to Rake, needing the contact. Rake’s cold body heated, but Shaun knew his blood alone would never give him true warmth. Rake would need to feed from others too, and soon.

He knew the moment that Rake’s recreation settled, as Kit appeared in the bedroom. Shaun wouldn’t be forgetting his expression any time soon. He just couldn’t figure out why Kit looked so desolate until he spoke.

“If I’m able to get into the flat, it means that DJ…” Kit trailed off, clearly unwilling to finish the explanation.

Shaun’s eyes grew wet. He could hardly see Kit or Rake any more through the haze of red. “No,” he choked out. “Not DJ. He can’t be.”

“We’ll know for sure soon enough. Rake’s waking up.”

As Rake stirred, Shaun could only hope that he wouldn’t hate him for taking his choice away.

Chapter Twenty-One

Rake

Consciousness returned to Rake like the burst of a dam. He got to his feet before he knew where he was. The room came into focus, and he took in Shaun’s face, red with tears. Kit stood near the door to the room—Rake’s bedroom, he realised—with a look of anticipation.

“DJ,” Rake said, finding his mouth too full of teeth to speak clearly. He stretched his lips, wondering why it felt so odd. He tried again. “DJ’s a vampire.”

Shaun’s eyes went wide and his mouth opened, but Kit piped up. “Oh, that’s going to make this whole thing so much easier, actually. Shaun, do you want to do the reveal?”

“Reveal?” Rake asked, and this time there was a jolt of pain on his tongue. Touching his mouth, he tried to work out what was amiss. He froze when he touched a too-sharp tooth, hissing as it sliced into his finger like a knife through butter. Drawing his finger away, he looked at the red bead of blood in confusion. He used his thumb to wipe it away, and the incision disappeared altogether.

“Rake.” Shaun’s voice was tentative. “How are you feeling?”