Page 116 of Nocte

We’ll sin together, her and me.

We will sin together, and no one will tell us right from wrong.

No one will rule over us again.

So, I press my blood between her lips, and I command her, “Drink!”

She does. Slowly and weakly, lapping at my wounded skin. She cringes in disgust. Then gasps. Takes another delicate sip. So fucking delicate she is. Making sure not to hurt. Making sure not to bite and tear.

She feeds from me, and I am the one who is hungry. She presses her lips to me, and I am the one who craves more. More.

I would let her feed from me for an eternity if she wanted to.

“Drink,” I tell her, and she does.

And she heals.

Color returns to her cheeks. The wound on her chest ceases to bleed. The one on her wrist remains, but that’s because she’s taken only a few drops. She needs more. Don’t know how I know that.

I can feel it, the resistance in her to clamp down over rent flesh and truly feed.

“Drink,” I tell her, sinking my hand through her hair and seizing a handful of it in a fist. I press on her skull. Will her to take.

But she is stubborn as hell, my fae. She writhes until I let her go. Those black eyes fixate on mine, her lips smeared a vibrant, ruby red.

An oddity, this moment is. A momentous, strange moment, though I’m not sure why. It takes my brain seconds to process it. Then I realize:thisis the first time in decades I have seen my own blood. Bright. Wet. Red.

So many years since I’ve seen it outside this hollow shell.

How many exactly? Too many to count. Too many years to stomach spent in Cassius’ domain.

But I am free…

Alone in my skull, I can think and only hear myself thinking back. Me…

And her. She dwells in this space with me, unobtrusive. A quiet, pensive thing. Her thoughts are whisper-soft and thread together like brightly colored ribbons. Just out of my reach, but distinctive from my own.

She is not like Cassius. She shies away in her own corner of this shared, false collective. Even in her own mind, she’s used to shirking and hiding.

Until now. Our eyes meet, and I can sense her intentions clearly. Guilt and regret. She fed from me. Took from me. It is only fair that she gives me something in return.

“Stupid,” I tell her out loud, pressing my palm to her cheek. “Stupid. You owe me nothing.”

Because all of her is already mine. I’ll take every last piece. She will never wander alone again. Whether or not she wants to. I will keep her.

Or will I? Cassius was one to take and keep his captive toys on invisible chains. I am not him. Never will be.

But Iwillkeep her.

I just can’t make her stay. She is right; this must be an exchange. A melding of bodies and minds.

“We share everything,” she murmurs against my fingertips. Without meaning, too, my thumb seeks out the corner of her mouth, feeling my blood drying there. The scarlet hue seems at home on this mouth. It belongs here. On her. In her. In me.

An exchange is what she craves. That way…

We don’t own each other. I am not Cassius, and she is not the monster Altaris claimed she is. Fine.

I relent. I press my forehead to hers and let her have her wish. She wants to exchange. My blood for hers. I’ll let her. I’ll bite her. Drain her.