Jewel of Darkness by Quinn Loftis Page A

her mouth to close though she had more she could have said on the subject. As it was, she was worried she might have already pushed too hard. To her surprise, Volcan just shrugged. He didn’t seem offended in the least by her accusations.
    “I hope you don’t think to appeal to my emotions.” He sounded amused. Jewel had to bite her tongue because it ticked her off that he could be so flippant about hurting others. She supposed as he’d been talking to her ― teaching her ― she’d pushed aside the fact that he was a murderer, traitor, and utterly malevolent. But now those attributes of the high fae came rushing back to the forefront of her mind.
    “Let’s get back to the lesson,” Volcan said as though talking to a class of students and not his prisoner. “As I was saying, Gypsy Healers can create. Your blood mixed with my own creates something very different than what your blood could create on its own.”
    The fae looked at her, obviously expecting some reaction. Jewel sat silent for several moments, contemplating. “Since a healer wasn’t born with magic in her core, could the flame be extinguished without killing the host?”
    Volcan’s sharp eyes snapped to hers. “I do not know and you are not going to find out.”
    Touchy, touchy, she thought. Before Jewel had time to react, Volcan had pulled a knife and slashed a small cut across her forearm. She swallowed down the gasp from the pain and then fought the urge to vomit as the cut brought back the memories of the time she’d been magically bound to an alter while Peri’s evil sister had cut her again and again, all the while drinking her blood. Volcan had just added to her already numerous scars, each a silent reminder of the horror she’d endured.
    When she opened her eyes, she saw a stone basin siting on the table where a book had been pushed aside. A small pool of red sat in the bowl and, seeing as there was no cut on Volcan, the blood had to be her own. He handed her a piece of gauze which she pressed over the cut.
    Volcan stood muttering under his breath as he held his hands over the basin. Quick as a snake, he slashed his own hand and allowed his blood to mix with hers. Though the blood was mixing in the stone basin, completely away from her, she still felt violated. There was something strangely intimate about the process. Trying to distract herself she asked, “So is the lesson over?”
    Volcan said a few more words and then turned to look at her. “No. This is your first practical lesson. You should pay attention. This will be very important to you. You see, the bonds between the canis lupus are, in essence, powerful blood bonds. Hence the need for the whole you bite me, I bite you, blood rites ceremony the wolves so cherish. Because the bond is powered by blood, the bond can be broken by dark blood magic. The wielder of the magic must be stronger than the bonded pair and use his own blood in the process.
    “But here is the important part for you. There is a difference between breaking the bond of two normal Canis lupus and breaking the bond between a Canis lupus and a gypsy healer. Had you spent more time with your new friends, you would know that a broken bond between two normal wolves can be repaired, with the aid of a gypsy healer no less. Such a blessing you are to your new found friends!”
    At this a wicked smile spread across the high fae’s face. His eyes flashed and Jewel shivered as she sensed a predator staring at her.
    “But the cross of a gypsy healer, well, it is a tough one to bear. Because unlike your furry friends, the bond between a healer and a wolf can be broken… permanently,” he finished in a near whisper.
    If Jewel had ever wondered what it would be like to drown while having her heart ripped out at the same time, she had a feeling she now knew. Just as her lungs seized up, cutting off her oxygen, her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. She felt as though someone was reaching into her chest cavity, wrapping