Chapter 4
"Rowan!"
Merlin supported her as she let out another scream of agony, pain searing across her chest like a knife tearing through her flesh. As Rowan's green eyes swam with tears, Merlin noticed changes that weren't so obvious, things he hadn't noticed at first.
Rowan had always been skinny, but now her bones were almost poking out through the skin. Her usually white skin was now grey and almost translucent. And her eyes were filled with hunger, like a peasant who had never seen food in his life.
She was thirsty for human blood.
"Rowan, when was the last time you had blood?" demanded Merlin. Rowan muttered something to the floor, her head bent so that her long ringlets covered her face. "Rowan, tell me!"
"A month," she whispered, choking on her words. Merlin reached for the knife on his bedside table and raised it to his neck.
"No!" cried Rowan, realising what he was about to do. He stopped, the knife halfway to his throat.
"You know you won't kill me, Rowan," said Merlin, pulling her closer. "You need blood or you'll die. And I can heal."
Rowan held her breath as he made a slit, determined not to smell the blood. Beads of blood appeared at the incision, glistening like miniscule rubies. When Rowan could no longer hold her breath, she inhaled the scent of Merlin's blood.
His blood smelled like the most mouth-watering meal ever, yet made Rowan's heart beat faster. It still wasn't right though. As if to clear her mind of any doubt, Merlin gently placed a hand under Rowan's chin and lifted her head up so he could kiss her.
"No!"
Rowan was up against the wall in a flash, gasping for air. She couldn't do it. Not with Merlin…
"Why demanded Merlin, getting to his feet. "I love you, Rowan. And you love me, don't you?"
Rowan ignored his question. "We couldn't. I'll mature in a few years, and stop ageing. You'll get older. Do you really want that? I'm expected to marry a vampire and have children. I'm condemned to be a monster forever, but you… you have a chance of life, of being something."
"You're not a monster!" Merlin almost shouted. Rowan winced as she hid the pain that was growing inside her stomach, burning more with every second. "Please Rowan. I love you. You love me, don't you?"
The plead in his voice as he repeated the question made it harder for Rowan. She choked back tears as she whispered her last hurtful, untrue words, the pain bringing a comforting blackness as she lost her senses were lost.
"I don't love you, Merlin."
She crumpled to the floor, writhing in agony. Her starvation was slowly and painfully beginning to kill her.
Press it…
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