Chasing Demons (Book 2) Rated R

Chapter 14

Healing someone always took a toll on me, but right at that moment, I couldn't bring myself to care.

Not when every visible inch of Christian's skin was raw and blistered.

Even helping him down onto a bed in the hotel room Julian had secured for us caused him a lot of pain. I knew this because I could feel it, though he didn't say anything about it.

We hadn't taken any chances and the hotel we were currently occupying was on the other side of Bucharest, far from the church and the humans who'd attacked Christian.

Julian fetched more pieces of cloth at the edge of the bed and soaked them in aloe as requested.

"Hey, I'm sorry," Christian said, as I lifted his neck, which had finally healed from the blisters, and tucked a pillow underneath. "I'd never have bonded you to me if I knew this would happen."

"Shh," I said, wringing out the rags Julian handed me and placing some over the worst of his burns.

"How did this happen?" Julian asked as he nursed his own raw skin back to health.

I'd healed him first and though my magic was exceptional, I found that there was something about Holy Water that left a lasting sting.

"I was ambushed," Chris said. "They followed me here, from the cabin where the murders took place. There were at least a dozen of them."

"What did they want?"

Chris grunted, trying to use his arms to pull himself into a sitting position.

"Stop it," I told him. "Just lay here."

"The location of Reader Nation." He said, obeying and laying back down.

"What?" Julian stood and drew closer. "What could they possibly want with Reader Nation? Or know of it much less?"

My hands hovered over Christian, palms down. I had to get in there close to him to pour more magic into his wounds. The close proximity made me squirm.

A part of me wanted to wrap my arms around him and hold him tight. There were several minutes there, between the car ride across the city to this hotel room, where I thought he wouldn't make it.

"Don't know. But they were relentless," He cringed as I peeled back his shirt. His entire stomach had weeping sores on it, red and raw, probably infected.

The room swam for a bit and I had to clear my throat as emotion coursed through me.

Christian glanced at me and his Dannek blue gaze held steady to me, gauging my reaction.

I swallowed hard.

It was impossible not to care, not to feel something, knowing he was probably still in so much pain.

"Aimee..." He breathed. His hand twitched at his side, though he was unable to move it. "It's ok. You can stop worrying now."

I cleared my throat. "I can't do this if you're going to be intruding in on my thoughts. Get out of my head."

It came out sounding harsher than I'd meant. Or maybe I had meant it to be harsh. Rudeness was my best defense mechanism after all.

"Your stupid earrings don't work, by the way," I grumbled at Julian.

"Pish-posh. They work just fine. You didn't expect them to work against your bonded mate did you?"

I shot him a withering look and he looked away.

"Let's re-direct this anger to the real problem at hand. Nephew, did you tell these measly humans anything? I would understand if you did."

"Of course not," Christian replied, sounding offended. "But you need to warn them. I need you to go to Reader Nation and warn them to be extra vigilant. I don't know how these humans knew of our people but I have a bad feeling about it."