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"It was my fault, Kitten Biana said we needed to drain the poison You were unconscious, seely dead I was… not myself I did not stop to consider the fact that once we drained the blood and you woke, you would be beyond conscious control"

I blinked at hi If he hadn’t considered ould happen when they drained me of blood… He must have been frantic About ize for going crazy and clawing open someone’s shoulder? Sorry didn’t really cover that

Nathanial carried me to the recessed shower in the corner of the rooave out he lowered lass shower door closed

Closed, with hi?" He couldn’t be in here He needed to leave Like now

He didn’t

He adjusted the shower knobs, and streams of water jetted from the walls and the shower head "We are both covered in blood, Kitten It needs to be washed off" As if to illustrate his point, he drew a finger through the tacky ht, shower Got that part But you have to get out"

"Can you stand?" he asked and I frowned at hirowled under ue After all, he had a point--we both needed the shower It’s efficient The fluttering inI was ready to accept his help Hisas he leaned down He gathered me in his arround

Water poured overpink as it rinsed blood fro into my eyes, and Nathanial turned us so I wasn’t directly under the shower head The jets of water froainstThe already blood-sodden dress grew heavier as the lining soaked in water, the ruined ht

"Drink," Nathanial said I expected hi his throat

"Uh…" I’d have rather taken from his wrist The neck was h

"Nathanial, I don’t think…"

"It is not an option Not anymore" There was more force, more command, than I’d ever heard in his voice His tone ht, but at the sarew frantic inhis words, to the strength in the arand coher My toes left the floor and slid across the tops of his dress shoes His throat was so close My heart crashed against the front of hagainst ers trembled as I peeled away the collar of Nathanial’s shirt Then I hesitated A fresh bite decorated his throat, the edges torn in a jagged line down to his collarbone

I touched the puncturemy claws in such a delicate area Nathanial drew a sharp breath, and I dropped my hand

"I did this?"

"You were not yourself"

No No, I wasn’t And aze

"Put ht enough to verge on pain "No," he whispered "No I al Healthy Take from me, Kitten Please" The please was a frayed whisper, like his heart was breaking with the word

As confused as I felt, I knew one thing: I did not want the heart pounding against me to break

My lips parted, and my mouth sealed over the pulse in his neck His ars slid into his skin A wave of tension flowed between our bodies Then I lost le heartbeat, I was so deep inside his mind that I felt my teeth in his throat as if it were my throat The woile, and I was so very frightened for her The world shifted, hisme away I fell into his memories

Tatius holds her and she quivers in his arers in his mesh shirt No She is supposed to be ht

She leans into his chest, content, sated No, not quite content Yes, remember who you are, Kitten Re slammed in my face, Nathanial expelled my mind from the memory and I slipped into another

Tatius stands in the center of the rooers in his hands

Bodies litter his wake, bodies of people I’ve known since I was a child He turns, his gaze falling on me as he considers whether I will live or die He lifts the dagger--