Page 131 of The Vampire's Seduction

“Did everyone make it?” Marek forced himself to ask. Olivia squeezed his hand under the sheets, and he sent her a grateful smile.

“Yes, but Aaron and Bianca are hurt pretty badly.”

The tight knot in his chest loosened. He’d have to do something big to repay everyone for their help.

We’ll figure something out,Olivia said.

“And the Hunters? What about Jiaren and his vampires?” he asked, not that he cared about their safety. He only asked in case they continued to post a threat. During the heat of battle, Nikolas, Andrea, and Rowan had held off the Hunters while he rushed inside the tower after Olivia, only to find Jiaren, the same vampire who’d orchestrated the destruction of the LA Ruins. Had Jiaren survived? He doubted Drakos would allow his loyal supporter to die. After all, Jiaren had broken two parts of the seal.

“When the tower exploded, they stopped fighting and retreated,” Nikolas explained. “I don’t think their plan was to fight us to the death. Once Olivia cast the spell, they were done.”

“Is everything alright?” Andrea limped into view. Her right shoulder was strung up in a makeshift cast which showed a hint of red.

“What happened to you?” Olivia asked, her concern shooting down the mating bond. At the same time, Nikolas scowled at her. “You should stay in bed.”

“I’m fine. Moving’s good for me,” Andrea said without her usual bite before addressing Olivia and Marek. “Glad to see you two up and about.”

“Not sure up and about is quite the right description,” Olivia muttered. “But we’re alive. Is the seal broken then?”

“Yes, I believe so,” Andrea confirmed.

“I know I had no choice. I had to free Betsy, but Drakos, he…he’ll hurt others. Because of me.”

Marek pulled Olivia closer to him and wished he could ease her sorrow and guilt.

“He’s not free yet,” Andrea said. “There are three more left. We don’t know when he’ll locate the next one or if he’ll be able to break it.”

Marek shot Andrea a warning look. The witch closed her mouth and cleared her throat. A heartbeat later, she asked him, “So, how areyoufeeling? Anythingstrange?”

“You know something,” Marek said. “Is there a reason this bottled blood tastes like shit?”

“Well, you transferred your life force to Olivia to save her in the middle of another complicated spell. I expect there to be some side effects. Is blood tasting weird the only thing?”

Marek took a second to catalog everything. Expanding his senses, he realized his hearing felt off. He could hear the noises outside, but it was a cacophony, and he couldn’t distinguish the number of people. Previously, even in his weakest state, he would be able to detect individual heartbeats effortlessly. He narrowed his hearing on Andrea and couldn’t hear her heartbeat even though she was less than five feet away.

His sense of smell was equally useless. He scented a general dustiness in the room but couldn’t detect the distinct scent of each person. When he stared at Andrea, he could no longer see her individual lashes. Not that he usually looked at everything in such detail, but he had been able to, if he wished.

And his body felt weak, not in the usual daylight-must-sleep weak. No, everything felt sluggish, like some connection between his brain and his limbs had been severed.

“I feel”—Marek’s brows furrowed as he searched for the right word—“human.”

“You mean, weak,” Nikolas clarified and oomphed when Andrea jabbed him in the stomach with her uninjured elbow.

“But not vampire weak.” Marek wasn’t sure how to explain it. He got out of bed and gestured to Nikolas. “Give me your weakest punch, like hitting a grown human male, but a little stronger.”

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” Olivia said, worried.

“I won’t hurt him,” Nikolas said and strode up to within striking distance. “You ready?”

“Do it here.” Marek patted his abdomen and braced himself. Pain exploded in his center as the punch hit, and he fell backwards on his ass with a curse.

Olivia scrambled to the edge of the bed and looked down at him. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he wheezed and struggled to his feet. He leaned against the wall as his vision swam. Fuck. His body didn’t feel like his at all.

“You didn’t have to hit him so hard.” Olivia glared at Nikolas.

“I did as he requested,” Nikolas said, his face confused as he studied at his fist. “Maybe I didn’t hold back enough?”