“Are you still in pain, even though I just gave you some of my blood?”
He nodded, then lifted his gaze to hers once more. “Again, this won’t be simple, and you could get hurt in the process. There will be times when I’ll be completely out of control, do you understand?”
“You’re talking about your recovery process.”
“I am.”
“I know and I’m still okay with it. I just need your promise that if we do this, you’ll help me look for Zoey.”
He met and held her gaze for a long moment, as though considering all that she’d said. She sensed not so much his deliberation as a rebuilding of his commitment. “We’ll need to find the extinction weapon,” he said at last. “That’s the commitment I need from you. We’ll hunt for both, for Zoey and the weapon, whatever it takes, but I can’t let my father get hold of a weapon that has the capacity to destroy every last vampire on the planet. Do you understand? Will you make that commitment to me?”
She didn’t hesitate, not for a second. “Absolutely.”
He put his hand to his chest. “I can sense that you’re speaking the truth.” He rose slowly to his feet, this very na**d man, this powerful warrior.
He overwhelmed her as much by his sheer size as by the strength of his commitment to end Daniel’s reign of terror.
He held her gaze. “Then I’ll bind myself to you.”
She dipped into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out the matching blood-chain. “Let’s do it.”
* * *
Lucian struggled to remain focused on the human and on her intentions. His thoughts wanted to fix themselves exclusively on Marius’s death and his burning desire to hunt Daniel down and destroy him. But he couldn’t do anything until he got out of this prison, which meant he had to turn his attention to more immediate issues, like the weapon and to helping Claire find her friend.
He met her light-brown eyes again, caught by their unusual shade, and dipped his chin once. She extended her hands, and as he lowered his head to give her a better angle he felt the vibration of power that both sets of chains held.
She quickly slid the second chain over his head, lowering it onto his neck. Her gentle touch reminded him that for over a year he’d known only brutality and isolation.
He met and held Claire’s gaze once more, but this time she came into sharp focus. Her auburn beauty struck him all over again; he had the sudden awareness that if circumstances had been different, she was exactly the kind of woman he would have gone for.
She blinked several times as she searched his eyes. “Rumy showed me pictures, but you’re so tall in real life.” He watched a blush suffuse her cheeks and sensed a rippling of interest. She found him attractive.
Her gaze skated over his face, then down his neck. She touched his chain and gasped softly. “The vibrations have really grown stronger.”
“They have.” He leaned close, sniffing her neck and her cheek. “There it is again. You smell like sweet herbs. Your blood tastes like that as well.”
Her hands found his arms and slid over his biceps. “Lucian, this is so strange. I can’t believe how much I’m feeling from you right now. It’s as though I know you.”
He nodded. “Same here.” The sensation disturbed him deeply. She threatened him in a way he couldn’t quite understand.
When she pulled away from him, her lips were parted. “I think I’m in trouble here. I’m feeling things that don’t seem appropriate. Is it the chain-bond?”
He shook his head. “I’ve been told that the bond can only reflect what’s already there.”
She blushed again. “Oh, I see. I guess that makes sense.”
The next moment, a jolt of something powerful passed through him.
Her eyes went wide. “Did you feel that?”
He nodded. “Almost like a steel door slamming shut. It’s the bond.”
“I feel so strange right now. More than just human.”
“That would follow. You were siphoning some of my power before, but now it will become a strong, steady flow. Your vision will improve as well.” He glanced down at the powerful chains that held him captive. “And now we’ll see if the bond will be enough to take care of this part of the equation.”
He focused on his manacles, on the charge Daniel had placed within the chains. If they hadn’t been preternaturally enhanced, he could have broken out of them two seconds after they’d locked in place. But Daniel’s power had made them impervious to his natural strength.
He let his newly enhanced power flow, and little by little he felt Daniel’s locking mechanism give way. He applied the full force of his ability, but the resistance to his effort stunned him.
“I can sense what you’re doing. I might be able to help.” Claire placed her hands on his arms, and that small touch caused his power to surge. The next moment the charge within the shackles fizzled. A little more pressure and the manacles split apart, falling off his arms.
Claire squealed her excitement. “Yes!”
Adrenaline spiked and his heart rate went through the roof. “Hell, yeah.”
He repeated the process for his ankles. Once the shackles fell away, he was free.
He stepped away from Claire and turned in a circle. “I haven’t had these off in a year. Now just like that, they’re gone. They’re f**king gone.”
Suddenly he glanced toward the entrance to the cell. “Daniel’s coming.”
Then without warning, his stomach seized once more. Drawing away from her, he doubled over, the pain like fire through his abdomen.
* * *
Claire saw that Lucian’s blood-madness issue had just resurfaced. “How do we fix this?”
“It’s not going to be simple. I’ll need to feed from you again soon. But right now I can’t even move.”
Suddenly she heard running down the hall, as well as Daniel shouting. She couldn’t mistake his voice. He must have divined that Lucian was close to making an escape.
She embraced Lucian and extended her disguise to envelop him as well. “We have to leave.”
“I can’t, not yet.”
She felt the level of his pain. Once more he was almost paralyzed.
“I have you hidden behind my disguise, but can you at least move with me, away from the shackles on the floor?”
He nodded. “I’ll try. Just pull me, if you can. I’ll see what I can manage.”
She took his arm, tugging at him. He started shuffling so that she was finally able to get him back near the wall where she’d originally been standing.