Soulstone by Katie Salidas Page A

point upwards. “Hold out your wrist, please.”
    I did so without hesitation. The knife’s edge was very sharp. I barely felt the slice as she opened my veins. Blood pooled to the surface of my skin and drizzled down my arms. She twisted my wrist, positioning it over the over the saucer, allowing my blood to fall on the crystal.
    To my astonishment, as soon as it touched the stone, it disappeared as if it had been soaked up by a sponge.
    Shock widened my eyes, and I stared down transfixed by what I’d seen. As my blood drained out and was soaked into the crystal, I felt the pulse of Lysander’s energy strengthen. It was as if he were really drinking the blood and taking the energy from me. I suppose he was, but just to see it disappear into the crystal made it such an abstract concept.
    My wound healed quickly, but the crystal had not filled up. “How much blood does he need?” I asked.
    “That’s been the problem we’ve run into. He can drain a human and still need more.” Nicholas stepped up to the table and knelt. He held his wrist in offering to Ariana. “Vampire blood goes much farther. We’ve all been pitching in.”
    She cut into his wrist, and again I watched as the blood was absorbed right into the crystal.
    “I can’t believe you all kept this from me. All those weeks,” I said with astonishment rather than the anger I’d previously had.
    “We didn’t want you worrying any more than you already were.” Nicholas looked down on me with mournful eyes.
    “I’m a big girl. I’d have rather known than been kept in the dark. But thanks for the concern. Your heart was in the right place.” I smiled at him, a genuine and happy smile. No matter how much shit he gave me, I knew Nicholas really cared, and that meant a lot to me.
    An awkward silence fell across the room. Nicholas cleared his throat and turned to Santino. “Care to add a few pints to the cause?”
    Santino grumbled something about wasting time, but he too knelt down next to the table and offered his wrist.
    After the three of us had shared what we could spare, the crystal appeared more red, but it still had not filled all the way to the top.
    “Does this mean Lysander is getting weaker?” I asked.
    “There’s no way to know. We’ve never seen a crystal prison before.” Nicholas looked to Santino. “Have you ever come across such a relic?”
    “I’m afraid not. The only unnatural prison we’ve ever heard rumor of was the Pandora’s Box. But, you all know how that one works.” He turned to look at me. “Where would that be, anyway?”
    “Safe,” Nicholas said with a note of finality.
    “Good,” Santino replied with equal tone.
    Nicholas stood and brushed his hands off on his jeans. “Well, while you girls rest up and stay warm by the fire, Santino and I will head back to the preserve and get the others. They should be ready to go by now.”
    Santino stood and headed toward the front door. He peered through a curtain covered window next to it as if looking for someone or something. “I don’t think it is safe to leave the girls here. Nor is it safe to bring the others back and work from this house while the Acta Sanctorum is actively pursuing us.”
    “And where should we work from? This is our home… for now,” Nicholas replied.
    “We are defenseless in the daylight,” Santino said matter-of-factly. “All it would take is for the Acta Sanctorum to find this home and wait till daylight to torch it. Where would you all go then? Will you run out into the street to be shot by their soldiers, or stay and burn in the basement?”
    He had a good point. I’d forgotten how ruthless the Saints could be in their methods when hunting my kind.
    “And where do you suggest we go?” I asked.
    “Back to the wolves.”
    “They’re not our guard dogs,” Nicholas said.
    “Yeah, and if you didn’t already know, this is their city, not ours,” I added. “We don’t order them around. It works the other way here.”
    “You