Crave (Tainted Angels Book 1) (13 page)

“Wake up, you stupid fuck!”

I sighed at the disturbance in my head and pulled Willa’s body closer to me, the soft curve of her sweet backside moulding to my body perfectly. I’d never felt more sated in my whole existence, the amazing sex we’d experienced giving my body a mind-blowing feeling of fulfilment.

“Rax!”

“Shh,” I grumbled, shaking my head to disperse whoever was in there. Every muscle still tingled delightfully, my veins still warm and the habitual agony, for the first time in a long while, gone.

The serenity in my mind was too pleasurable to wake from and I scowled when the voice disturbed me yet again.
“WAKE THE FUCK UP, YOU COCK SUCKING ARSEHOLE!”

Snapping upright at the vehemence in the strangely familiar voice and scanning the room quickly, my eyes struggling with the light that streamed through the window, I found the room empty, apart from Willa who was sleeping soundly beside me.

However, a gasp shook me when I caught sight of all the blood. It was everywhere, varnishing the bed, the headboard, and the wall above the bed. Unable to move as panic set in, my eyes slowly dropped to my hands, my body shaking in horror at the glaze of dried blood covering my body.

Very slowly, dread creeping through me, I turned my gaze to Willa.

The room spun around me, my frantic heartbeat making me dizzy and lightheaded when her pale skin – also layered in a mass of blood – looked translucent with the scarcity of blood in her body.

“Oh God,” I choked out as I grabbed hold of her. Her body flayed limply as I shook her. “Wake up, Seraph. Wake up!”

Her lips were pale, white almost, and I couldn’t hold back the sob of despair as her lifeless body refused to give me any hope. “Oh God, what have I done?”

“You took too much, you selfish bastard!”

“Delilah?” I looked around the room for the foul-mouthed succubus but it was still empty, the only heartbeat my own, the race of it making my head throb.

“And here was me trying to help you! I’m gonna gouge out your fucking teeth with a rusty blade for this!”

“Where are you?”

“I’m too weak to materialise. I can’t help her like this.”

“Is she …” I gulped. “Is she … dead?” I whispered the last word, wincing as I waited for her reply.

“Yes.”

The frantic thump in my chest ceased as my heart seemed to disintegrate inside me.

“We need to hurry.”

“What do I do? Tell me!”

“Give it back to her.”

I frowned, shaking my head. “I don’t understand. Just giving her blood won’t bring her back, you stupid …”

“Say it and I’ll make sure to hack your dick off with a blunt saw while I’m seeing to those greedy fucking teeth,”
Delilah snarled.
“Give her your blood – now!”

“But I’m only me, I’m not a healer!”

“But she is, you fucking dunce. And your bloodstream is full of her own essence!”

“You think it will work?”

When she growled in frustrated anger, I hastily sliced my wrist with my teeth and held it over Willa’s mouth, tilting her head back to open her oesophagus. Grumbling when it just dripped, I tore at my flesh harder, willing it to flow faster as her lips tinged red with my offering.

“What now?” I asked.

“Now?”
Delilah whispered.
“Now we pray, Halam.”

B
ranches both hindered my way and cut into my skin as I moved farther into the forest. It was dark, the way through the mass of undergrowth obscured by the trees looming eerily overhead, the density of their leaves restricting any light that attempted to filter through, and generating mysterious shadows to guide me along.

My skin prickled at the chill in the air, my breath misting before my face with every one of my deep exhalations. Despite the icy air, my clothes stuck to my skin with the perspiration painting my body.

I appeared to be alone yet I could hear the scurry of tiny footsteps all around me.

“Hello?” I called, frustrated that whoever accompanied me refused to make themselves known.

I stumbled, tripping over a gnarly root as the mist swirled around the lower half of my legs, cloaking my path. I wasn’t sure what I was rushing for, but I felt that I needed to. It was important.

Pushing through a wall of tree limbs, the darkness suddenly opened up into a huge clearing, a small area of grass completely, and quite beautifully, surrounded by a deep stillness of crystal clear water. Rays from the sun beat down, the openness providing as much warmth as it did light.

A man, alone and quiet, kneeled on the ground, his head dipped and his long hair falling over his face. He shivered and wrapped his arms around his midriff before looking up to the sky.

My heart stilled when the curtain of his shocking white hair fell back over his shoulders, revealing his handsome face to the sun. He looked familiar, the strength of his nose and contours of his cheekbones drawing my attention.

A gust of wind flowed and caused the leaves to rustle around me, my body once again shivering with the cool air. A bird high up in the sky soared and swept between the clouds, its fluent dives bringing a smile to my lips. The man stood, his long legs uncurling from under him slowly as he lifted an arm, his fingers stretching towards the bird as if he called to it.

“Hello?” I tried again, but he didn’t appear to have heard me. Instead his attention remained on the bird as it dipped and glided towards him.

Every part of me stilled in amazement when the winged creature drifted down and landed in front of him, her beautiful majestic red wings folding into her back.

“My love,” he whispered, his soft voice carried by the breeze to my ears as his hands pressed against the rosy pink cheeks of the angel, and his mouth softly pressed against her full red lips.

Delilah.

“Delilah!” I called out, my heart weeping with sorrow. I knew of their fate to come, their suffering, and witnessing the way her lover had gazed at her hurt deep within me. “Delilah!”

“Shh.”

A strong whisper in my ears, a warm breath over my face, and firm hands grasping my cheeks.

Trying to breathe under the tightness in my chest, I gasped for air, my lungs refusing to expand and refuel.

“Breathe, Seraph!”

Rax!

My nerves felt over stimulated, electrified, and I thrashed beneath his hold. He wanted to take it all – again. The greedy son of a bitch wanted everything, his selfish hunger sending me into a panic the more he held me down.

“Let me go!” My eyes refused to open but my whole body shook beneath him, trying to be free of him. “LET – ME – GO!”

I sensed him back away, horror controlling his loud breaths. “I can feel your hatred.” His voice was a choked whisper, alarm loud within him.

My ears caught the soft closure of a door before I once again gave in to the fevered restlessness of sleep.

“You must run!”

“Never,” Delilah choked out, tears running down her face as she held on to her bleeding lover, the pool of his blood soaking into the deep yellow gauze of his shirt. “Strauss,” she sobbed, her hands on his pale face as he rested his head on her lap. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Your father will hunt you, my love. It is too risky.”

“I don’t care!” she whispered frantically, her lips pressing against the deep lines on his head as she flattened the inside of her wrist to his mouth. “Drink, my love. Drink.”

“I can’t.” Strauss shook his head, his eyes wide and horrified.

“Please, trust me.”

“It is forbidden. This is the reason he created the rareness of your essence, so we can never …”

“Strauss, I love you. My soul belongs to you. It can never hurt you, my love. Trust me.”

Blinking up at her, Strauss released a moan of pain then closed his eyes. I flinched when he bared his teeth and shivered as they sank deep into Delilah’s vein.

And as Strauss’ eyes slid my way, the pure blue pupils a window to his soul and the mirror image to mine, my own soul broke down and wept.

“Willa!”

My eyes opened to the frenzied tone of my friend.

Frannie smiled at me, wiping my forehead with a cool cloth. “You were dreaming.”

I frowned. It had felt more like a memory than a dream, each of my emotions pained by the lovers’ despair.

“How are you feeling?”

Pushing my body up, I glanced at my surroundings, surprised to find that I was in my own bed.

“Where’s Rax?”

Frannie shrugged. “I have no idea. He called me, told me to come here and take care of you. I’m surprised he isn’t here to be honest. I thought …”

“Don’t let him near me!”

Frannie’s eyes widened at my distress as I gripped her warm hands in my own cold ones. “He … he …” I couldn’t voice what he had done. A part of me knew it was the beast that had taken over him, my blood a temptation even Eve could never distance from, but I couldn’t say it didn’t hurt. Lincoln had been right.

Frannie stiffened. “What?” Her voice was gruff with suspicion, her narrow eyes unable to camouflage her growing anger. “Did he hurt you?”

Looking away from her, I shook my head. “No.”

What the hell was I supposed to say to my friend,
‘Oh he didn’t hurt me but he did drain me’?
I couldn’t hurt Frannie more than she was hurting already. She’d lost her mate just four months ago, to a halam no less. I’d been surprised by her friendliness towards Rax and his friends. Frannie had the biggest heart I’d ever witnessed, and I knew she had put Felix’s death down to the job, not the Gehenna. And strangely enough, I didn’t want to alter her feelings towards them. I knew without a doubt that if I was to offer myself to another Empyrean that they would struggle not to drain me as well.

Looking up to the ceiling, I sighed, cursing my creator for making me the way I was. Life, or rather our existence, was difficult enough as it was without the added danger of being eaten alive. And if I was honest, it hurt that I couldn’t trust anyone, even my friends. My family.

“I have to get to work.” Frannie grimaced. “Do you want me to wait until Lincoln gets back?”

Shaking my head, I smiled to ease her worry. “I’m fine. I have something I need to do anyway.”

She narrowed her eyes again, regarding me. “Does it involve trouble?”

Unable to stop my smile from turning into a grin, I winked at her. “Does it ever not when it involves us?”

She laughed, nodding, “Then I’m not sure I want to miss out on the fun.” She grabbed her bag and jacket from the chair in the corner of my room then kissed my temple. “Will I see you at Fred’s later?”

“Count on it.”

“Good. Be safe. Love you.”

Returning her sentiment as she closed the door, I shut my eyes and rested my head back on the headboard. I was exhausted, my body weak, but weirdly, my blood felt energised. Unable to pinpoint exactly what it felt like, I could only explain it as ‘strong’, its pump around my body fortified and fervent, especially to say a few hours ago my veins had been parched and tight.

“Delilah?” I whispered, leaving my eyes closed to the dim light in the room when my head throbbed at the intrusive brightness.

I could sense her reluctance. It both saddened and maddened me.

“Please.”

I smiled softly at her when my body trembled and she appeared beside me on the bed, her legs up and her face down as she picked at her deep red nail varnish.

“Mistress,” she said politely, not meeting my eye.

For a moment, my mouth too dry to talk, I remained silent and stared at her beauty. However, taking a deep breath, I slid my hand between us and gently pulled her fingers away from her nervous action. “I’m not your mistress, Delilah. I think we both know that.”

Her throat dipped and her eyes slid to the other side of the room.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I didn’t think she was going to answer me at first, her horror at my wisdom making her uneasy and apprehensive, but then she sagged, giving into what she could no longer deny.

The tears in her eyes hurt my heart when she turned to look at me. “I was so frightened to tell you,” she whispered.