The locked door cost Collin half a second, if that, but Al was already in the room wildly casting silver chains at Eric. The chains danced as if they were alive and wrapped themselves around Eric's shoulders, pulling his arms snuggly away from me. When Collin entered the room, the first thing he did was pull me away from Eric, but my feet wouldn't move. The room swam and I fell to the floor. Collin looked down at me, concerned, but he had to help Al. It appeared that Eric was shirking off the chains.
"Pull them! Now!" Collin yelled. The noise of chain rattling and the screams of Eric drew attention to the restroom. Soon there were voices demanding we unlock the door, followed by the pounding of fists when we didn't comply.
Al pulled her chains tight at the same time as Collin. It was like watching someone trap a dangerous animal. Eric snarled, and his eyes burned bright red as he tried to lash out at them, but he was unable to because his arms were bound tightly to his side. It seemed like it was over, but I knew it wasn't. Power was wafting off of Eric - it had to be. I was still enthralled with him, watching his every movement - neither hoping we'd catch him or that he'd free himself - it didn't matter to me. I just felt the need to watch him; to watch his smooth muscles flex as he twisted and turned under the chains. No one noticed me sitting there. Collin thought I was hurt. Concern spilled through the bond from him, but he didn't realize what was wrong with me or how severe it really was.
Pulling the chains tight - a movement that normally burnt a Valefar's flesh and beat them into submission - was the action that killed the rest of my plan. At the yank of the silver chains, they constricted tightly around Eric's entire body, hissing while they burned welts into his flesh. But the chains didn't hold. The added stress from yanking the chain caused the tiny links that made the silver chain to shatter. There was a spray of tiny silver pieces as they tinkled and clinked, and they fell to the floor.
Al and Collin stared at each other in horror.
Eric lunged for me, and I did nothing to stop him. He laughed and slid his bleeding thumb along my lower lip. Without a thought, eagerness overcame me and I ran my tongue over his precious blood, wishing I could have more.
Collin screamed as he flung himself at us, but Eric laughed, "She's mine now."
Collin's hand wrapped around my wrist, but he was too late. I was already dissolving as heat flashed through me. Collin's wide blue eyes watched me in terror as I was carried away in Eric's arms.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Effonation sucked when I didn't have a lethal poison lodged in my chest, but doing it with the sapphire serum made it unbearable. My body resisted the pain as long as possible, but it was impossible to ignore. Fighting the pain quickly drained every drop of energy I had, and sleep began to paw at me, making my eyelids droop. My head feel too heavy to hold up. I passed out as soon as the pain from the heat stopped. Drowsiness overtook me and I felt my body go limp in Eric's arms. I was too out of it to be terrified. Nothing mattered at that second. I was too weak and the pain from having my skin spliced off left me numb this time. Semiconscious, I felt Eric carrying me as he clicked through a door and laid me down where I slept like the dead, unaware of what has happening.
Sleep was scaring me more and more. Every time that healing sleep was needed, my dreams grew stranger and stranger. This time was no different. When the darkness cleared, I found myself in a grand room. The intricate marble floors gleamed under candle light. High on a shelf, I spied the only object in the entire room - a gleaming ruby challis. Suddenly, my mouth was filled with sand and the tiny grains flowed from my lips and onto the floor in front of me. As soon as I decided that I needed that cup to fill with water, the sand stopped. I moved toward the shelf and felt a long black ball gown swishing around my ankles. I looked down, realizing I was wearing a tightly laced black corset with large stone decorations that flowed into the black skirt.
Ignoring the gown, I reached for the crimson cup on the shelf. My fingers wrapped around the cold crystal, and I peered inside. It was filled with silver liquid. Putting the challis to my lips, I drank greedily until the shining liquid was gone. At first, the liquid quenched my thirst, so when the cup refilled, I drank more. But after two cups of the shimmering silver drink, it turned rancid in my mouth as it solidified. As I gagged on the course drink, it felt like I was going to vomit. Opening my mouth wide and dry heaving, the contents of my stomach finally erupted in the form of black feathers. Grackles erupted from the feathers and flew from my mouth making hideous screeches, as they flew away. When there was nothing left to heave up from my stomach, I looked at the cup in my hand. It had turned into a snake and coiled around my shoulders as if it knew me.
I screamed, trying to take it off, but a voice said, You cannot deny what you are.
Confused I stopped struggling and looked up. The snake had melded with my skin, and it bared its poisoned fangs. The rest of the snake's body dissolved into mine. Slack jawed, I watched in horror as my skin was replaced with cold scales, and my eye teeth grew into long, curved fangs filled with venom.
Sweat covered my entire body as I sat up screaming. White sheets were stuck to me, and sweat dribbled down my temples. Wildly, I threw back the blankets, remembering what happened, and tried to stand. My body protested and I fell to the floor, landing square on my hip. Tears streamed down my face, as a hand grasped my arm and picked me up. Before I knew what happened, arms were around me and lifting me back into the bed. There was such a thick haze over my eyes that I could barely see anything. Blinking back tears, I looked at the person standing next to me.