A Love Soaked In Blood

chapter 6

I open my eyes and blink several times to adjust to the dark, I'm lying on my bed.
How long have I been unconscious? I check the time. It's 3 am
Six hours, that's a lot.
I sit up, I can hear the servants shouts from downstairs, playing poker as usual, I slide to the right side of my bed and get up. I walk in the dark -short of the moonlight- to my window and open it, the cool breeze lets itself inside. I glance down at the kids playing hide and seek, their parents instructing them not to go far, several ladies are chatting and laughing while some brought a book to read outdoors.
I walk back to my bed and sit on the left side but I nearly fall off it by what I see.
Elias is sleeping in a sitting position, his head is resting on his locked hands which are placed on my bed, next to where I was sleeping and next to where I'm sitting now.
How didn't I feel his presence? No, why is he here?
I'm really pissed off at him but he looks peaceful when he is sleeping, I run my hand through his soft black hair and he wakes up immediately, he catches my wrist as he lifts his head to look at me.
Oh crap I got caught doing...why on earth did I do that?
I yank my hand away but he doesn't let go, he even pulls me closer to look me in the eye, dead serious.
He also looks pissed off.
"Your father said that your knives, how should I phrase it? Let's say suck up at least a liter of your blood" he grits his teeth and tightens his grip on me "have you lost your damn mind? Are you that keen to prove yourself to the limit to kill yourself?"
A sharp exhale escapes, I'm definitely still pissed off at him because father hasn't met him for more than one day and already impressed him.
But I took years
"What I do with myself is none of your business servant!" I yell "why do you care?"
"Unfortunately I have to" he scoffs "because if you die I'll die and your freaks will feast on our blood, pretty sure you ordered them to attack my people as a punishment for your death, not to mention the fact that we will be doomed if you act irrational like that when we go to the humans area"
Irrational?
"Let go of me!" I yank my hand again but damn he is like a stone he doesn't even budge "the last thing I need right now is being lectured by you!"
His gaze softens but not his grip and that's enough.
"Servant, let go--"
He covers my mouth with the other hand, stopping me from finishing.
I'm just about to bite his palm with my fangs when he suddenly leans in, close enough for me to see what seems like concern in his eyes.
"Don't" he hisses "don't force me away, let me inspect your wounds to see if I healed them all completely" he removes his hand from my mouth and I stare with obvious confusion. "You healed me?"
Damn it that means he--
"Yes and before you start having stupid thoughts, I asked one of the maids to keep holding your dress so only your shoulder and ribs are exposed" he says then lets go of my wrist and starts palming my ribs, pushing in just a little "does it hurt?"
"No" I reply, ignoring heat I feel on my face. I didn't notice that my wounds were already healed when I woke up.
Because I'm a dhampir, it takes me a whole day to heal myself, while the others can do it in a couple of hours, minutes even depending on how deep the wound is.
So yes, it's impossible for me to heal the cuts in my palms, which Elias has moved his inspection to them as he folds my hands open, an injury in the back of my head, a wound in my shoulder and a broken rib in six hours.
He lifts a hand and slides it through my hair and I flinch, his fingers caress the back of my scalp, sending shivers down my spine. What's wrong with me?
He drops his hand then points at my shoulder "if you don't mind"
I unzip my dress to the half and pull down the upper part of it a little -which I see a maid has sewed the ripped part of it- careful to expose nothing but my shoulder. It's perfectly healed like it wasn't sliced some hours ago. Impressive.
"You're fully healed" he says, meeting my eyes, the moonlight illuminating his silver ones beautifully.
I pull up my dress and zip it back "what about you? Did you heal yourself?" I ask and realize it now, why he was sleeping next to me, elites are the only ones who are able to heal others but the effort is draining because it requires a good amount of magic.
He is an elite.
And he healed us both, the thought itself is exhausting.
"Yes, though the one on the back took a lot of time" he says with a grin but it's soon replaced by that hint of concern.
The room is quiet for a moment, then he is about to say something when the door slams open "Sylvia!"
Elias stands up and moves away as father storms in to stand in front of me "why on earth did you ignore my command? Your body can't handle such blood loss do you have a death wish?"
Here he goes again, whenever I do something he thinks is foolish or ignore his command. He keeps going on how I should think better, what if that and that happened, blah blah blah.
But I admit, I'm surprised he didn't step in, guess he wanted me to suffer the consequences of my stupidity myself.
"Are you even listening?" He glares and I get up, glaring back "I am"
We are shooting glares at each other before he sighs and runs a hand through his hair "at least I will be sure you won't use that power when you are with the humans because it will give you away" he sighs again then holds a gentle palm to my face "I know you're strong, but there are limits. It will kill me if you die, I can't lose you too"
Sorrow twists my heart and I look away, feeling my eyes sting.
"Can you promise me to be more careful from now on?" He asks in a pleading tone.
"Yes, I promise" I can't argue with him when he is like this.
He nods then lets go, heads to the door and leaves.
I throw myself on the bed and cover my eyes with my arm "I want to be alone for a moment"
I hear footsteps before they fade when Elias leaves my room.
I curl a fist and blow out a shaky breath, fighting that sting in my eyes.