Page 114 of Wounded Soul
Ian should feel something, but... he couldn’t let himself react to anything until he knew for certain about Jesse. “Raph?” he urged, needing him to hurry up.
Ian shifted to the side to get a better view as Raph turned to Jesse.
Fucking hell.Jesse.
Blood covered his neck and his chest, a large gash across his throat the cause.
“No.” Ian covered his face with his hands, not wanting to see the evidence for himself.
“Raph, look,” Lys whispered, an urgency in her voice that caught Ian’s attention.
“Fetch me some blood. Now!” Raph roared, and Ian’s head snapped up, eyes wide.
Raph knelt on the floor, jeans stained with Jesse’s blood as he held his wrist over Jesse’s mouth, feeding him his blood. Lys took over after a few moments, and Raph sat back on his heels.
“Is he alive?” Ian hardly dared hope.
“Barely.” Raph grim expression told him how close Jesse was to death. “We need more.” He glanced up and met Ian’s gaze. “I can’t ask you—”
“What do you need?” Ian would do anything.
Raph nodded as two of the guards rushed out of the door. “They’ve gone to get blood, but he needs it now. I’ve given him all I can.”
Ian stuck his wrists out. “Take what you need.”
All bloodlust forgotten, Ian winced as Raph bit into his wrist and held it over Jesse’s mouth. Ian watched him like a hawk, searching for any signs that Jesse wasn’t dead, but he didn’t so much as twitch. “Are you sure he’s not...?”
Raph nodded. “Yes.” When Liam took Ian’s place, giving Jesse his blood, Raph scooted back. “Look.” He pointed to Jesse’s hand.
Ian stared, wondering what he was looking for, but then he saw it: a slight tremor in Jesse’s fingers, so slight he’d missed it at first. “Fuck.” His voice broke on a sob. “Come on, Jesse.”
The guards burst in with blood from their supplies, and Ian stepped back out of the way as Raph and Lys took over again.
It took two more bags of blood until Jesse’s eyes fluttered open and his wound had healed sufficiently for it to stop bleeding altogether. “Hey,” he murmured when his gaze landed on Ian.
“Oh, thank fuck,” Lys breathed, but she hung back, letting Ian go to him.
Ian sank to his knees beside him, taking his hand as best as he could. “You scared me.”
Jesse managed a weak smile. “Sorry.” He seemed to notice everyone else around him. “Is it over?”
“Yeah, it’s over.”
“Peter?”
“Dead.”
Jesse’s smile faltered. “I’m sorry it came to this. But I’m not sorry he’s dead.”
“I know.” Ian squeezed his fingers. “Neither am I. And I’m so fucking glad you’re okay, but you need to drink more blood, Jesse.” He picked up a fresh bag and handed it to him. “You need to heal. Then—” Then what? Go back to his cell? Ian closed his eyes, frustration seeping into him.
“Hey.” Jesse’s voice was soft, coaxing. “Ian, look at me.”
Reluctantly Ian opened his eyes and met Jesse’s gaze. “I wish you didn’t have to go back to that fucking cell. I wish you were coming home.”With me.
“I know. Me too.” He glanced off to the side as Watts gestured over to him. “I have to go back. That was part of the deal, but Raph says there’s talk of them reducing my sentence.”
Ian shot Raph a glance where he now stood with Liam, watching them. He gave Ian a slight nod in affirmation.
