Chapter 33 Blood And Consequences

Chapter 33 Blood And Consequences
Lena’s POV

My hands were still shaking.

I didn’t even realize it until I looked down and saw the faint tremor running through my fingers stained with blood that wasn’t mine.

“Lena… what the hell were you thinking?!”
Adrian’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and furious.

I turned to him slowly, my chest rising and falling unevenly. My heart was pounding, but not from fear. From anger.

“What I was thinking?” I repeated, my voice low, dangerous. “He stabbed her, Adrian.”

Behind me, Zara let out a weak, broken gasp. That sound alone was enough to snap whatever restraint I had left.

I dropped to my knees beside her immediately.
“Zara… hey, hey, stay with me,” I whispered, my hands hovering over her body, not even knowing where to touch without hurting her more.

Blood. There's too much blood.

It soaked through her clothes, pooling beneath her, dark and thick. The metallic scent filled the air, choking me. Her skin looked pale… too pale.

“She’s losing too much blood,” I said, panic creeping into my voice despite my effort to stay calm.

Adrian ran a hand through his hair, his jaw clenched tight.
“You shouldn’t have stabbed him,” he snapped again, but there was something else beneath his anger now.

Worry. I shot him a glare.
“And what was I supposed to do?” I snapped back. “Stand there and watch him kill her?”

Adrian didn’t answer immediately. For a second, just a second, his expression faltered.

Then he exhaled sharply.
“Listen to me,” he said, his tone shifting into something more controlled. “You need to get Zara back to the academy. Now.”

“What about him?” I asked, my voice tight as I glanced at Professor Hawthorne’s unmoving body.

Adrian’s eyes hardened. “I’ll handle him.”

Something about the way he said it made my stomach twist. But I didn’t have time to question it.

Zara let out another weak groan. That was all it took. I slid my arm under her shoulders carefully, lifting her as gently as I could.

“Hold on, Zara… please,” I whispered.

Her head lolled slightly against me, her breathing shallow.
“I’m not… dying today,” she muttered weakly, attempting a smile.

My chest tightened.
“You’re not,” I said firmly. “I won’t let you.”

Adrian stepped closer, his hand briefly brushing my arm.
“Go,” he said.

I didn’t wait another second. The journey back to the academy felt like forever.
Every step was heavier than the last.

Zara’s weight in my arms wasn’t the problem, it was the way her body kept going limp.

“Stay with me,” I kept repeating, over and over again.

Her breathing was getting weaker. Slower.
Wrong. And that’s when it hit me. She wasn’t healing.

Fuck! She's not a werewolf!

Her blood just kept flowing.

“No… no, no, no,” I whispered, panic rising like a storm inside me.

There was only one option. One person.

I didn’t even knock. I burst into Raphael’s space like a storm.
“Raphael!”

He looked up immediately, his sharp eyes narrowing.
“What…”

Then he saw Zara. And everything changed.
“What happened?” he asked, already moving toward us.

“She’s dying,” I said bluntly, my voice shaking despite my effort to stay composed. “She was stabbed. She’s not healing.”

Raphael’s gaze darkened as he examined her wounds.
“She’s lost too much blood,” he muttered.

“I know,” I snapped. “That’s why I’m here.”

He looked at me. And I knew he already understood what I was about to say.

“You want my blood,” he said quietly.

“Yes.”

The word came out without hesitation. Without doubt. Raphael exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.
“It will heal her,” he admitted.

“Then do it.”

“It won’t be that simple, Lena.”

I stepped closer to him, my patience snapping.
“I don’t care about simple!”

His eyes flashed.
“You should,” he said sharply. “Because vampire blood doesn’t just heal. It changes things.”

I froze.
“What do you mean?”

“If she survives this, she might… crave it,” he said. “Vampire blood is addictive. For humans. For witches. Even for wolves.”

I swallowed hard.
“And if we don’t do it?”

Raphael didn’t hesitate.
“She dies.”

Silence fell between us. Heavy. Suffocating.
I looked down at Zara. Her chest barely moved now. Her lips had lost all color.
And suddenly, the choice didn’t feel like a choice at all.

“I don’t care,” I said firmly. “Do it.”

Raphael held my gaze for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
“Fine.”

Everything happened fast after that. Raphael bit into his wrist without hesitation. The scent of his blood hit the air instantly.
“Hold her up,” he instructed.

I did, lifting Zara slightly as he pressed his bleeding wrist to her lips.
“Come on…” I whispered. “Zara, drink…”

For a second, nothing happened.
Then her body suddenly jerked. Her lips parted slightly. And she drank.
Relief flooded through me so fast it almost made me dizzy.

“Yes… that’s it… keep going…”

Raphael’s expression remained focused, but I could see the tension in his shoulders.

After a few moments, he pulled his wrist away.
“That’s enough.”

I held my breath. Waiting, watching and hoping. And then Zara’s wounds began to close. Slowly at first.

The bleeding stopped. Her skin regained color. Her breathing deepened.
My eyes widened.
“It’s working…”

Raphael exhaled.
“Yes.”

A few seconds later, Zara’s eyes fluttered open.
She blinked up at me.
“Wow…” she murmured. “I feel… amazing.”

I let out a shaky laugh, tears stinging my eyes.
“You almost died, idiot.”

She smiled weakly.
“Details.”

Then, as if nothing had even happened, she sat up. Fully healed. No wounds. No blood. Nothing.
Like it had all been a nightmare.
I stared at her in disbelief.
“You’re… okay?”

“Better than okay,” she said, stretching slightly. “I feel like I could run a marathon.”

Raphael crossed his arms, watching her carefully.
“The healing worked,” he said.

Zara turned to him with a grin.
“Thanks, vampire boy.”

Then her eyes flicked to me. And that teasing look I knew too well appeared.
“So…” she said slowly, “where’s Adrian?”

I blinked.
“What?”

She smirked.
“You were crying over me like a widow, but I know you were also thinking about him.”

“I was not!”

Raphael scoffed lightly.
“She was,” he said.

“Traitor,” I muttered.

Zara laughed softly, then winced just a little like her body was still adjusting. But she was alive. That’s all that mattered.

I exhaled deeply, finally allowing myself to breathe.
“It worked…” I whispered again.

Raphael nodded once.
“Yes.”

But his expression didn’t look fully relieved. If anything… It looked like he was already thinking about the consequences.
And somehow, deep down, So was I.