Page 60 of Forced Bonds

That eased some of my worry. If Chris was okay enough to find me sexy, then it couldn’t have been too bad for him.

Denise’s hands were on Benji’s arm, one holding directly over the open wound, the other holding his shoulder. It was amazing to see her work like this. His skin was slowly knitting together, like tiny threads slowly finding their friend on the other side and hugging close. The golden glow of her healing magic made it look like the threads were made of pure gold as she worked, erasing the blood until there was only pink skin left.

“Knock, knock,” Jesse’s voice sounded from the doorway. “I heard a vampire was in need of healing. That couldn’t be the infamous Salizar, could it? The one who never gets hurt?”

I rolled my eyes at him. Jesse was my favorite human in the coven, and the only one I ever allowed to heal me if I could pick. Which was why he knew I rarely accepted a healing. He was my favorite because instead of his vampire, Gregory, having chased him, he’d been the one doing the chasing. When Gregory showed up with the human, telling us how even with his fangs out he couldn’t scare Jesse off, I knew Jesse was someone special. I hoped Benji and him would become close, mostly because of the simple fact that I knew Jesse would be a loyal friend to my human.

“Go,” Chris nudged me. “I need both of you at your best.”

I smiled and then followed Jesse into the other small room, heading toward the bed and lying down. I wanted this over with so I could go back to my men.

“I expect a proper introduction after this,” Jesse warned me, then cut through my pant leg, leaving the wound on proper display. It was worse than I’d thought. The whole wound was red, the skin puffy and irritated, and it was much bigger now that my black pants weren’t hiding most of it.

Jesse whistled at the sight. “So, this is the level of injury you need before accepting my healing touch. Noted.” Then he closed his eyes, his hands now on my thigh, and began working.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Benjamin

I was once again in that perfect place where nothing hurt. This time I sadly remembered why I was feeling so wonderful. I opened my eyes and found Chris and Zar next to me, they were smiling down at me with relief in their eyes.

“Hi there, handsome,” Zar whispered, making me smile.

“How’re you feeling?” Chris asked, touching my forehead gently.

“I feel amazing,” I replied honestly. “Are we home?”

They both nodded. “You’re in the medical room, to be exact,” Zar explained.

“Why not our room?”

“No one other than the three of us and the cleaners, are allowed into our wing,” Zar said. “You were also in a lot of pain so it felt best to get you healed as soon as possible.”

“But what about you?” I asked, sitting up. He was wearing a new pair of pants, so I couldn’t see his injury. “I want to see.”

“I’m fine,” he chuckled, smiling warmly at me.

I glared back. “I. Want. To. See.”

He seemed to realize that I might need to check that he truly was okay with my own eyes, because he dropped his pants, letting me see everything. Well, not everything, he was wearing underwear. The wound was closed but there was still slightly raised pink skin where it had been. “I thought vampires healed quickly?”

“We do,” he said, tugging his pants back up. “But when magic is involved, we don’t.”

“Magic?” I asked, tilting my head.

“Werewolf claws have magic in them, making the wounds they inflict more painful because of it. I wouldn’t have been able to heal on my own, but with a healer it will be completely gone within a week.”

I stared down at my own arm. It looked exactly like Zar’s thigh had, and I was still human. It was crazy to think werewolves could hurt a strong vampire like Salizar as if he was only a mere human.

“Come, my heart,” Chris said, taking my hand. “We need to eat some food and then I promised our vampire he could get a nibble in before bedtime.” I giggled as I was led out of the room, eager to see more of our new home.

“A nibble,” Zar mumbled behind us, but I heard the fondness in his tone.

Zar took over once we’d left the medical room, showing us the correct way to the kitchens. There were apparently three different ones. We were headed to the one closest to our wing. A human called Jesse and his vampire bonded Gregory lived close to us and used the same kitchen, which meant they would likely be there since it was breakfast time, something I hadn’t even noticed when I woke up. Chris had slept on a mattress on the floor next to me while Zar had sat in a chair and watched over us as usual, so we were all well-rested.

The kitchen wasn’t busy, per se, but it wasn’t empty either. It was huge, which meant the ten or so people in there made it look like nothing at all. There were two chefs who bustled around in the cooking part of the room, and then there was a long table in the back where eight people sat, only half of them actually eating. I could tell there was room for at least twenty-four at the table. We sat at the end, Zar in the middle, facing the others. He made quick introductions and I was glad most of them seemed understanding if we couldn’t remember their names at first. We had to learn around fifty new people and that was only the ones living in the mansion. The whole coven was much bigger.

Jesse was a human and one I liked right away. He’d talked eagerly about fishing with me, something Zar had talked to him about as Zar had gotten healed. A vampire called Hannah was into painting and had started a big project that Chris seemed interested in watching. He’d told us about wanting to learn to paint, but only time would tell if he’d enjoy it or not.