High Stakes

•V•

A deep, male groan awakened him.

It wasn't until Lucien peeled his eyes open that he realized the sound had come from him. He immediately clenched them closed again as whatever light was in the room where he lay seared into his already throbbing head. He tried to move, but a sharp pain on the right side of his ribcage stopped him, as another, louder groan rumbled from his chest. He gripped his hands into the cushions beneath him, and once his fingers traced over the holes that the vampire's claws had punctured into the fabric, he knew immediately that he was back at the cabin.

His entire body hurt. The worst of it seemed to be at his right ankle, which felt like it had been gripped in a vice. He attempted to move his foot, but the pain that radiated up his leg from the injury made him cry out, and he felt himself break out into a cold sweat as he tried to focus on taking in the breath that had left him.

"If you were really so determined to kill yourself, wolf," the vampire spoke, from somewhere close by, "you should've just told me. I could've taken care of that much more efficiently."

Lucien's heart leapt into his throat. He cracked his eyes open, holding up a hand to shield them from the firelight that still blinded him. He spotted the vampire sitting in the chair nearby, half of his body hidden in the shadows, watching. With much effort he managed to push himself mostly upright against the armrest, wincing as his ankle slid painfully across the couch. It was then that he noticed he was still completely naked, only a thin blanket barely covering his lower half.

And then the full weight of everything that had happened hit him all at once. He had killed his best friend. The ache that gripped his chest became so much worse than what he felt in his body as he broke, struggling to breathe through the sobs that escaped him in waves. Sanctum was right. He had wanted to die, and now that he hadn't, he didn't know how he would live with himself.

"Why?" he asked through the tears, his voice dry and raspy from disuse, "Why did you save me?"

The vampire hadn't moved, making no effort to speak or console him, simply sitting by as he got it out of his system. "I've been asking myself that very same question."

Lucien wiped at his face, trying to calm himself. "How long have I been here?"

The vampire sighed, shifting in his seat as he rested his head in one of his hands. "You've been unconscious for four days. I honestly wasn't sure whether or not you were going to make it."

Lucien blanched. He remembered none of it. "What happened?"

"You tell me," Sanctum snapped. Gone was the playful teasing, and the flirtation. He sounded furious. "I found you a few miles away, lying naked against a tree, damn near frozen to death. You were a bloodied mess. Your pulse was so slow that I couldn't hear it at first, and I thought..." The vampire paused, as though he were having trouble getting out the words. "I thought you were already dead. And if I hadn't found you when I did, you would have been. Even if the exposure hadn't killed you, some creature would have tracked the scent of your blood and eaten you soon enough."

"Maybe you should've let them," Lucien muttered, as he looked down at himself, noting the cleanliness of his skin, and despite the numerous purple bruises, there wasn't any sort of wound that would've made him bleed. He was just about to question it when Sanctum seemed to notice where his attention had gone.

"I took the liberty of cleaning you up. And I healed you as best I could," the vampire told him, his temper seeming to wane just a bit even though his piercing glare remained.

Lucien raised his head in surprise. "You healed me? How?" He tried to keep his thoughts away from the fact that the vampire had most likely had his hands everywhere on his naked body.