Notes: This may be a bit of a strange chapter, but I was in the mood. This was all be explained later in the story, so bear with me please ;) thanks for all the good reviews, you are great!
Chapter 7
I woke up again with a jolt – well, woke up, I kind of slipped back into my body – and immediately sat up straight, breathing heavily. What the hell had happened? I – wait. GODDAMMIT!
I was bound again. This time, there were my handcuffs, and a new chain, this one around my neck. How dared they! The chain wasn't very thick or heavy, but it was definitely strong and uncomfortable. Well, alright, there was some kind of collar around my neck and the chain was attached to that, but still, how dared they!
I was sitting against a tree trunk a few meters away from the main camp. In the time I was… well… out, they had made a big fire in the middle of a couple of trees somewhere in a desert. At least, that was what it looked like. As far as I could see from my sitting position, the place we were camping had a lot of hills, and a LOT of sand. Somewhere in the distance a couple of trees could be spotted, like the ones we were camping next to.
I examined the chain binding me a little more, and found out that it was connected to the tree behind me, but somewhere high up. It was pretty long, as well. I could stand up without problems, and I could even walk a few paces. I cursed my handcuffs for about four minutes and then sat back down, realizing I was hungry and cold. Those men were all sitting next to a big fire, but I wasn't. I was wearing a leather jacket, but it was still kind of cold, while it had been too hot in the afternoon. The sand was cold, and the feeling inside of me was cold as well. The knowledge that Nero had been hurt so easily and that my captor was stronger than anything I'd ever seen chilled me to the bone.
'Here.'
I looked up with a hostile expression. One of the younger men I had seen before was standing in front of me, holding out a blanket. I didn't take it from him. Instead, I studied him. His eyes were bright blue and quite innocent, and his younger exterior made him seem out of place. I guessed he was about Nero's age. His hair was blond and short and rested on his forehead, making him appear even younger. He was wearing earrings and a necklace with a tooth of some animal. His full lips were firmly pressed together when he looked down at me.
He beckoned with the blanket. 'Take it. The night's just begun, and it will be cold.'
I looked down at my handcuffed hands and lifted them for him to see. 'I'm afraid taking it will be difficult.' I pulled up an eyebrow to show him what I meant.
He squatted next to me, and my first instinct was to scoot over, away from him, but I resisted it. Instead I watched with interest as he conjured up a small key from one of his pockets. He took one of my hands and pulled it forward, pulling me with it. His hand was warm as it touched my skin, and I found myself longing to wrap him into my arms, to get his body temperature close to mine.
I was either very cold, very delirious, or very weak when it came to hot guys. Because he really was handsome. Young, cute, muscled, and slightly innocent. That seemed like a perfect combination, didn't it?
He inserted the key into the lock of the handcuffs while holding my hand. 'Miss Scargill, I'm Ryan, and I'm supposed to take care of you while you are captured. Whenever you need something you can just call me from here, and I will come to you,' he explained while he took off the handcuffs. As soon as he released my hand I pulled my wrists toward me, rubbing them in turn, to get the blood flow back to its full capacity.
'I will provide you with the best aid I can, but you must understand I cannot do everything.' He looked me in the eye while he said that, and I had to admit he stopped my breath for a second. But then I smiled a weak smile at him and looked into his pretty, emotionless eyes. 'So you're my babysitter?' I asked, thankful for him being not rude and creepy.
He didn't nod or shake his head. Instead, Ryan looked away from me to the camp and back. He bend forward, leaning close to my ear, and whispered, 'Kieran's message is still the same. We're doing this involuntarily. Most of us.' His voice let a little bit of emotion seep through when he said that, making him sound even younger.
I looked at him curiously. Words formed in my head and I uttered them without thinking them through. 'Will you protect me?'
Ryan took my hand again, quickly glanced over his shoulder to check if anyone was watching and then his innocent eyes stared into my not-so-innocent ones. 'It's my duty.' Then he got up without looking at me and he swiftly walked back after throwing the blanket in my lap.
I kept staring at his back until he sat down next to the fire again. Tearing my gaze away from him I let my mind wander freely.
He's with Kieran. Is he an ally? …he will protect me, and give me aid. I think that counts as an ally. And how about Wolf?
I frowned while tucking the blanket closely around me. The man named Wolf certainly held no grudge, and I was sure I hadn't imagined the compassion in his eyes. He was not like that creepy guy who had sort of threatened me, anyway.
That guy! Shivers ran across my spine just thinking about him and his bright green eyes. I had to watch out for him. He was not impressed by Kieran's leadership if he had dared to go up to me like that, and that was worth thinking about. Was he not afraid of Kieran's power? Did he have authority?
Whatever the reason, this guy was dangerous.
A few minutes later my stomach was growling and my arm was hurting. I gasped for breath several times when a particularly painful sting ran through my arm. Fuck demons. They sometimes had poisonous claws. I was guessing mine had had them. Crap!
I clasped my jaws shut tight. I wasn't going to scream or moan or whine. No way.
After a few agonizing minutes I couldn't take it any longer. I started unwinding the bandage, slowly. And gasped again. Some patches of my skin were sticking to the bandage. That was bad. Very bad.
Suddenly a pale, cold hand grabbed my arm gently and pulled at it. I looked up, frightened, and saw a red glint in the darkness at eye height. Kieran.
His deep voice reached my ears. 'Let me.'
I released the bandage and sat back against my tree (yes, my tree), watching Kieran squat in front of me, studying my arm with interest. 'A demon's attack?' he asked, his deep voice emotionless.
I nodded, trying to ignore my heart, which was in my throat because he had frightened me with his sudden appearance. 'Yes. Yesterday.'
Kieran proceeded with unwinding the bandage. I clenched my teeth together when it hurt, but then, finally, the bandage was off. Kieran threw it on the ground carelessly, still focused on my arm. Then he tore his gaze away from my arm to stare into my eyes. 'You're friends didn't notice the poison?'
Poison! Ha! I was right! …Uh… hmm. Bad. 'N-No. They didn't.' Should they have? Should they have like… smelled it or anything?
'Hmm,' Kieran said. 'Now, what I'm about to do may seem strange, but I assure you it is necessary.'
'What are you going to do?' I started asking, but when I came to 'What – ' Kieran dipped his head to my arm and started licking the wound. I opened my mouth in amazement and trembles were sent down my spine. Kieran's tongue was somehow rough and raspy, and it hurt a bit while he licked the scratches, but it did make them feel better.
I closed my eyes and leaned back, focusing on the sensation. It made me feel weird. Very, very weird.
The handsome creature's tongue reached the end of the scratches and stopped licking. I opened my eyes a slit to see what he was doing and found red, fiery eyes inches away from mine. I gasped and stiffened (which hurt my arm) and tried to retreat, but couldn't. My tree was in the way.
Kieran's mysterious eyes were unreadable. They stared into mine with an expression I couldn't identify. Then he retreated slowly, his hands dropping my arm gently. 'I need to make preparations,' he said, his voice barely registering. 'I will be back in half an hour, and I will take the poison out.'
Then he was gone. I stared at his back with my mouth slightly open, wishing for – wait, what? No, I wasn't wishing for him! He kidnapped me, he handcuffed me, he was utterly gorgeous and I wanted to kiss him!
I opened my eyes wide. No I didn't. It was just the effect of the stupid licking. It had enthralled me somehow.
I started shaking my head. I was getting worse and worse. First I was attracted to Ryan, who I didn't know and who could be a giant asshole who would betray me for all I knew, and then I wanted to kiss my abductor, who had seriously injured Nero and who had kidnapped me because of – probably – some stupid stone.
That plainly sucked.
And apparently literally as well. Because when Kieran came back, he had my dinner with him (a small piece of meat, a chomp of bread and some cheese, and a small flask of – well, something alcoholic) and carried a small bowl, and when he explained to me what he was going to do, I was astonished.
'But isn't there another way?' I asked, desperately NOT wanting to feel the urge to kiss him and – er… do other things to him – again.
The red eyes just familiarly stared into mine again. 'Like what?' He almost sounded amused.
I frowned. 'Like… cut the poison out? Let it bleed out or something?'
The corner of his mouth pulled up. 'It hasn't spread yet, but it's starting. Bleeding you out is too dangerous. And would you rather I cut it out?'
I mumbled something unintelligible. Kieran's smile got wider and he gently took hold of my arm again. 'I thought so.' Then he bend down and – I tilted my head back and clenched my teeth shut – started sucking the poison out of the wound. I tried to keep breathing calmly and thankfully succeeded. I buried my nails in the blanket to keep myself from shivering.
Kieran stopped sucking and spit the contents of his mouth into the small bowl. I risked a glance at the bowl and saw the blood was very dark red and thick, while it came from my arm, meaning it shouldn't be like that, unless it came from my stomach. Translation: bad.
When his mouth touched my arm again I shut my eyes tightly, not wanting to see the somehow intimate exchange. Why did he make me feel like that? A few minutes passed while I tried to understand my feelings.
A shiver ran across my spine and Kieran paused in his fifth session. He looked up and when he smiled slightly his lips – full, handsome li- STOP IT! – were dark with my blood. 'Are you alright?'
I nodded frantically. 'Yeah. I'm fine.' Please don't stop. NO! Get out of my head!
His red eyes seemed to shimmer like the blood in the bowl, thick and strange. 'Are you in pain?'
I shook my head. 'No,' I squeaked, trying not to let my voice go ragged.
Kieran kept staring at me. 'I can't let someone else do this, because they might ingest it and they won't survive it. I will. Can you go on?'
I tried to analyze his face, but it had turned expressionless once again. 'I think I can,' I said, hoping it was true.
Kieran bent down again after a long stare, something like worry shimmering in his eyes for about half a second. Then it was gone again, and his soft mouth was attached to my arm once again.
The bowl was filled with black blood three minutes later. The blood whirled and turned in the bowl, never silent, although the ground wasn't moving. The next mouthful of blood Kieran spit out was the normal red blood again, and he bandaged my arm with new, clean bandage while I tried to get my breathing under my control once again. When Kieran was done, he stood up, taking the bowl with him, and stared into my eyes for a few seconds. 'You have interesting blood,' he said slowly, his voice soft and thinking.
I blinked. 'Ok. Thank you?' I wasn't sure what to say. 'Why?'
Kieran stood there with the bowl in his white hand. As I was watching, a drop of the black blood sort of jumped out of the bowl – that poison was crazy – and landed on his hand. It dripped down from his hand slowly, somehow making me shiver again. That beautiful creature has had my blood in his mouth. He had maybe swallowed some of it. It wasn't right. Somehow, this small thing – him maybe having my blood inside of him – didn't fit. I just didn't know why.
Somewhere deep inside something did know why, but I couldn't touch the reason yet, not at that moment. It was out of my reach.
Kieran put his finger into the bowl and slowly brought it up to his mouth. Quite slowly, he opened his mouth and tasted the blood again, licking his lips afterwards. The whole scene had me shivering, to be honest. My legs seemed to be turning to jelly after all these shivers, and, sure enough, I felt my knees shake and knew I couldn't stand up for a while.
'Oh, I know why,' Kieran assured me. 'Is that your question today?'
I thought about it and nodded. 'Yeah. I think it is.'
Kieran smiled and startled me by suddenly bringing his face close to mine. I hadn't even seen him squat! 'Your blood… isn't like the blood of other humans,' he said, expressionless eyes staring into mine as they always did. 'It's not… normal,' he continued slowly, tasting the word normal before speaking it out loud. 'I have tasted this sort of blood once before, but I can't exactly tell what it means. When I am sure of its meaning I promise I will tell you. ' He stood up as abruptly as he had bend down and before I knew it, he was standing a couple of meters away from me and my tree. 'Please eat your meal. We cannot use you weakened.'
I stared at his silhouette as he walked away and disappeared into one of the tents surrounding the fire. He had confused me multiple times in the last hour. I wasn't frightened – no, I was terrified that I might fall for the charms of my captor.
