Eva was the first to pull away. Her eyes darted between Lucas and me before she turned slightly to stare at Lucas's stepfather. Swallowing, she slowly got up and leaned down to press two fingers against his neck.

A low gasp fell from her lips as she snatched her hand away.

"Eva?"

Shaking her head, she turned and glanced around the room. I caught the panic on her face before she could mask her expression. Something wasn't right but before I could start asking questions, Eva took control of the situation.

"We need to get out of here," she muttered as she glanced around.

"There's a first-aid kit in the bathroom, doll," Lucas said softly. "Second door on your right."

He wanted me to leave. I clutched at the hem of my shirt and swallowed the lump rising in my throat. Now wasn't the time to start sobbing. Eva was right; we needed to leave before someone sees us.

Without glancing at either of them, I got to my feet and made my way to the bathroom on shaky legs. It was small with no window. The bathtub was filled with water and towels had been set out on the cabinet next to the basin. Wallpaper was torn at some places, revealing the cracks in the walls underneath.

My eyes dropped to the dirty green tiles under my feet for a few seconds before I glanced around again. He hadn't said where to find the first-aid kit. The last thing I wanted to do was touch anything else.

Licking my lips, I walked over to the cabinet and hesitated a few seconds more before I opened the door. It creaked loudly, making me wince. The cabinet was a mess. There was no first-aid kit in it or anywhere else in the bathroom.

My eyes snapped to the doorway when Lucas appeared. His eyes locked with mine for a second and then dropped to the floor as he stumbled forward, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

"S-see if you can find a big towel t-that you'll be able t-to wrap a-around my back and waist."

"There's no first-aid kit," I told him as I grabbed one of the towels that had been set out. "I can't find it."

"It doesn't matter."

I grabbed the largest towel and turned to find Lucas leaning over the bathtub, hands clenching and unclenching around the edge. My eyes trailed up and locked onto his back. Bile rose in my throat. I spun around and hurried over to the toilet just in time to empty my stomach.

When I was done, I flushed the toilet and turned back to him but avoided looking at the wounds in fear of puking again.

"I-I found a t-towel."

"Will it fit around me?" he asked.

I nodded. "It s-should."

Lucas turned his head to look at me. "Wet it but don't dry it out too much."

My brows dropped into a frown. "Why? You—"

"It'll stop some of the bleeding and prevent the wounds from tearing when they take it off," Lucas explained. "Believe me, doll. This is not the first time something like this has happened."

The scars he had on his back, I realized. So his stepfather had given them to him. Why hadn't his mother stopped him? Had she been abused too? Had she been the one to heal those other wounds?

I snapped out of my thoughts when Lucas suddenly crumbled to the floor. Letting out a cry, I dropped to my knees and reached out to steady him before he could fall backwards and onto his wounded back.

"T-towel."

Blood instantly started to soak the towel the moment I wrapped it around his back. How it was going to stop the bleeding, I had no idea but I kept silent and watched him worriedly.

He was paler than he had been moments ago. Sweat slowly rolled down his temples. For a moment our eyes locked before his closed again as he dropped his forehead onto my shoulder.

I reached up a shaky hand and pressed it to the back of his head. If we hadn't came, what would've happened to him? Would I have seen him again? My stomach twisted as tears filled my eyes. He was barely managing the pain as it was how could he have suffered through it before?

"Lucas?" I whispered.

He hummed but didn't lift his head.

I paused, unable to remember what I wanted to ask him because I was hit by a sudden thought. There was a way I could help him heal—something I had wanted to try before but was stopped. Grayson wasn't here to give him blood and there was no guarantee that he would offer to do it again.

Such severe injuries were fatal to humans, I wasn't going to stand back and watch him suffer.

I pushed him back gently and made my way back over to the cabinet where I searched through the rumble for the small box of blades I'd seen. Pulling one out, I dropped the box and hurried back over to him.

"What are you d-doing?" he rasped, brows dipping into a frown.

"I'm going to help you heal."

"Ariana—"

I pressed the blade to the meaty part of my arm near the elbow and cut. A hiss fell from my lips as pain shot through me but it only lasted a few seconds before it faded.

"Drink," I ordered as I raised my arm and pressed it to his mouth.

For a moment I feared that he was going to push me away, but then he surprised me. Lucas obeyed my order; he parted his lips and hesitantly started sucking on the wound. A low moan fell from his lips as his eyes fluttered closed. My body jerked when he suddenly gripped my arm and pressed it tighter against his mouth.

His fingers dug into my skin painfully as he sucked harder, trying to draw more blood from the wound that was already healing. Lucas's hold slowly loosened. He raised his head and licked the blood smeared on my arm before he looked at me.

"You blood tastes as sweet as I knew it would."

He thought about the way my blood would taste? I frowned and was about to ask him what he meant when Eva entered the bathroom. Later, once we were back home, I would ask him about his strange words.

"Here, put this on." She threw a grey hoodie at me and dropped one onto Lucas's lap. "We need to act as normal as possible when we leave. You can walk can't you?"

"I—"

"Good," she interrupted him with a growl. "The car is parked across the street a few houses down. Let's go."

***

Lucas managed to stay on his own feet all the way to the car although it was a stumbling walk. If anybody was staring out their window they would think that we were just a group of drunken teenagers.

I climbed into the back with him as Eva got behind the wheel again. Our eyes locked in the rear view mirror for a moment before she started the car and pulled away from the curb. She was acting strangely.

My mind snapped to Lucas when he lowered himself and rested his head in my lap. A sigh fell from his lips as his eyes fluttered closed. He was wearing a hoodie too that was damp from where the towel was wrapped around him.

Was my blood healing him?

Swallowing, I reached up and ran my hands through his sweaty hair. My stomach twisted with fear. I could have lost him without knowing. Now Oliver wasn't our only problem, we had to worry about Lucas's stepfather too.

"What are we going to tell them?" I asked Eva.

She didn't answer me immediately. "We. . .heard something and went to check it out. It's when we found Lucas. Is he still awake?"

My eyes dropped and then darted back up to hers. "No."

"Make sure you stay with him," she ordered as the car slowed.

"Why?"

"Because all three of us need to have the same story or we are going to have to explain what really happened."

I licked my lips and glanced out the window. What if we messed things up? My stomach twisted in dismay when I took in the trees lining both sides of the road. We were almost there. Would anybody be awake? What if they catch us pulling up? How were we going to explain things then?

"Don't say anything," Eva growled from the front. "I'll do all the talking; just make sure you listen so you don't fuck it up."

I flinched at the harshness of her tone. "I'm sorry."

"You don't mean that."

I didn't since I wasn't sure what exactly I was apologizing for. Letting out a sigh I focused on our surroundings instead.

"W-what about his stepfather?" I asked softly after a few minutes of silence.

"I'll take care of it."

I had no clue what she meant, but it gave me a bad feeling.