Free Moonlight by Katie Salidas Page B

remembered, it looked as if the wolf wanted to tear it off. I wouldn’t have been surprised if all that was left was a ruined stump.
    The all-over pain was so acute that it drowned out all other senses. My body screamed so loudly that I couldn’t hear anything else around me. I didn’t dare open my mouth, fearing the sound would actually escape my body and give away the agony I was in.
    Aiden’s deeply concerned face appeared above me. His dark eyes pleaded for forgiveness without having to hear him speak the words. He shook his head and gently swiped a hand across my forehead. I might not have been able to hear, but I read his lips well enough.
    “Sleep, babe,” he told me. “It’s going to be all right.”
    I wanted to believe him, but I knew my body had taken too much damage.
    Aiden brought a cup of what felt like boiling liquid to my lips. He tried to pour it in, but the moment my mouth opened the sound I’d been fearing came roaring out. Without wanting to, I was screaming at the top of my lungs. The hot liquid bubbled and gurgled in my mouth. It stung my cheeks but never made it down my throat. I screamed and screamed while Aiden frantically tried to silence me. Eventually, someone else entered the room. I felt a pin prick and something cool traveling into my arm. The cold spread up to my shoulder, then into my chest. With the pain numbed, for the moment, exhaustion could finally take hold; and being too weak, I succumbed and fell back into the abyss.
     
    ***
     
    That unrelenting pain woke me, but it took all the strength I had just to open my eyes. Alyssa stood over me this time. How long had I been out? The effects of whatever drug I’d been given had worn off, but I still felt raw. My body was done. Spent. Used up. Trashed. Useless.
    “Can you hear me?” Alyssa said.
    I couldn’t hear, but I read her lips loud and clear. I tried to open my mouth but my lips wouldn’t move. When that failed I tried to nod my head. Nothing worked. I found the simplest of movements to be impossible.
    Why can’t I move?
    “Can you talk?” she asked me.
    I struggled just to blink my eyes. I couldn’t move a muscle, but every one still ached. Pain was the only thing holding me conscious.
    Alyssa turned away from me. She was talking to someone, but I couldn’t move my head to see who.
    This was unnerving. I hated this painful state of limbo. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t react to anything. I couldn’t even blink my damn eyes. Was I going to remain in this perpetual state of pain and nothingness? Was I a vegetable? My heart began to race. At least one part of me was reacting properly.
    When Alyssa turned back to me, she looked as if she were about to cry. Her jaw tightened.
    I’m going to die. I just knew it. This was the end. I was too injured to heal. My body was finished. I should have never agreed to do this. Where was Aiden? Maybe I could find some way to tell him I love him before I died?
    As I was mentally saying my goodbyes Alyssa did something strange. She lifted her wrist to her lips and bit down. Blood dribbled out of the side of her mouth and down her chin. She pulled her wrist away and let the blood drip down on to my chest.
    What the hell? Alyssa is a vampire. Why is she bleeding on me?
    Before I could put two and two together, I felt a tingling sensation. Where her blood touched my skin, it brought relief. Cooling relief. Strange, but also so wonderful. I tried to forget that the source of this relief was blood, vampire blood, and just revel in the respite it brought..
    “We’re trying to heal you.” Alyssa looked me in the eye as she said this to ensure I could read her lips.
    We?
    Then I saw him. Lysander. He stood next to Alyssa, unbuttoning the collar of his shirt. He smiled at me, and I caught sight of his sharp fangs. For a brief moment, I wondered if he were going to attempt to turn me to save me; but instead of biting me, he bent his head to my chest and began lapping up the blood