Darker Blood

Chapter sixty-six

Inori pov~

My body was aching when I finally got up, weakly, rolling from the sofa onto the ground, groaning at the impact that burnt like frostbite in every place that touched the ground.

Is that normal?

As I tried to get up, the pain worsened and I cursed into the carpet at the freezing tension that just wanted release. I clenched my fists in an attempt to give the tension somewhere to go, but the pressure only made the aching worse, and I cursed out loud.

"It's okay, it's normal."

I recognised the quiet soothing voice that had surely talked down world wars. I couldn't raise my head from the ground out of fear that it would only hurt more, and Jin knew that, his arms gently wrapping around my torso and pulling me up from the ground, letting me sit back on the sofa.

He looked like a mess. Hair dishevelled, eyes swollen and devoid of any sign of life or emotion, skin paler from his refusal to eat, lips chaffed and bruises adorning the skin on his arms from the emotional toll alone.

I swallowed hard as I looked up at him, too scared that any other movement would only burn me more. Why is my own ice hurting me?

"You're still in the early stages of this power. Unless you give it some use until your body learns how to control it and only develop it when needed, the excess power will hurt the host."

So pretty much I'll only stop feeling pain when I use the ice?

He nodded once, eyes flickering down to the white frost covering my hands, my fingertips completely out of view from the depth of ice gathered there. My first reaction was to scratch at the side of my hand to produce light, and a spark appeared every time I did so, but the pain only seemed to worsen and Jin pulled my hands apart so that I couldn't continue.

"No, that doesn't use enough energy. You need to aim for something big."

"I don't understand why all the ice has gathered-"

"Jungkook fed off of you. As generous as your offering is, your body automatically went into defence mode."

I tried to pull my hands away from his grasp but he refused, pushing my hands against his stomach. His dead eyes sparkled with something I couldn't quite name as he spoke.

"Practice your attack on me."

I gaped, trying harder to pull away from his impossible hold. "No, there's no way, the ice, it'll kill you-"

He laughed humourlessly, a cruel sound. "Do you really think a little ice could possibly kill a born vampire as old as I am? Ice won't kill me, believe me, I've tried before."

I swallowed hard, hands going limp in his hold. "I can't hurt you, I just can't."

He tilted his head to the side in a calculating manner, eyes closing for a long moment. "I hurt you by biting you, this can make us even. How about that?"

"You're insane."

He let out a breath of a chuckle that contained no soul, no feeling whatsoever. "Give me your best shot."

I followed his orders, holding my hands together through the pain, thinking about the cold, about what the shard might look like, what it would feel like to let it pour out of my burnt hands. I released the tension, and his grip on my hands tightened. I looked at what I had done in horror, expecting to see his pain-twisted face, blood dripping out of his stomach.