Soulless by Baggins T

Author:Baggins, T. [Baggins, T.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Lyonnesse Books
Published: 2013-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Shuddering, Nicholas brought up another mouthful of blood. When Ban tried to lift Nicholas's head, the man spasmed all over, back arching and eyes rolling back. The knot on the back of his neck where Ban had kicked Nicholas was filling rapidly, with blood or spinal fluid. He had only minutes of life remaining.

The double-bladed ring was too delicate. Drawing the long dagger he kept in his boot, Ban sliced his wrist vertically, forcing the jets of bright red blood between Nicholas's slack lips.

"Just last night I drank from an Old One's veins," Ban told Nicholas, lifting his head a second time to be certain the blood slid down his throat. Nicholas spasmed all the more violently, but Ban didn't relent. Reopening his healed wrist, he forced the wound against Nicholas's lips, hoping to feel his mouth latch on, feel him actively drink. Instead, Nicholas gagged, gurgling horribly as he brought up pink foam.

"If you swallow, you won't die. You must not die," Ban said, opening his wrist a third time. Nicholas's heartbeat was thready, his breath hitching and shallow, but the knot on the back of his neck stopped enlarging beneath Ban's fingertips. Had the rupture healed?

"When Sebastian made me, he did it in a forgotten garden, almost like this," Ban continued, unsure if he were talking to Nicholas, himself, or the Brethren, at least one of whom was surely watching. "He fucked me, drained me, then clasped me to his chest and made me drink. I thought he was the angel of death. I had a vision when I drank, that I was swallowing the river Lethe. That I was bathing in it. And it wasn't all a dream."

As he spoke, Ban worked, unwinding Nicholas's cravat, tearing open his waistcoat, ripping apart his shirt and pulling his boots and trousers off. When he had Nicholas naked, curled on his side like a newborn, heartbeat still erratic and breath very shallow, Ban drew the knife across his own throat so deeply, speech and breath were impossible. Dropping to his knees, he straddled Nicholas, covering him with the cool red spray until he saturated Nicholas's hair, face, chest, and legs. Willing himself not to heal too fast, Ban massaged the blood into Nicholas, pressing as hard as he dared, hoping the skin would drink in what Nicholas's mouth could not. Then, just as his breath returned but before the wound knitted back together, Ban put his throat against Nicholas's lips. The man's mouth moved, and he swallowed on his own for the first time. But then the wound sealed, and Ban, almost empty of blood, was seized by an ominous wave of dizziness.

I am not Sebastian. I do not survive by blood alone, Ban told himself. qi will be enough to spur me forward. The best, brightest qi I can find.

Tearing off his greatcoat, Ban draped it around Nicholas, pausing to kiss his cheek. Yes, his heartbeat was stronger. He would hold on another few minutes, perhaps even a quarter-hour.

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