Snippet Saturday!

[agilebrit]

I'm having hell of a time deciding which snippet to post. So...have, er, this one!

To set the scene, Ben is strapped to a table by twelve points, needles in both arms, wrapped in a wolfsbane net that is growing roots into him and dumping painful (to put it mildly) toxins into his system.

Ben...

That was Janni's voice. Soft hands in his hair, soft lips on his. Oh, god, was she here? Had to get her out. Couldn't move, not even to open his eyes. Should warn her, then, but couldn't talk either.

He sensed her being ripped away from him, heard her shriek cut off in mid-cry, smelled her blood, felt its warm spray across his face and chest.

Wrenched awake.

Angeline stood beside him with a hand on his cheek. "That looked like a bad one," she said.

"Don't touch me...and get out of my head," Ben rasped, without opening his eyes.

"Oh, I'm not in your head, dear puppy, not yet. But I know a vivid nightmare when I see it." She removed the hand. "I can take them away."

"Can you take...yourself away? Let me die in peace."

"You don't have any peace. You're in ghastly pain, you're having nightmares and panic attacks, and that wolfsbane isn't going to kill you gently." Her nails stroked the inside of his forearm. "I'm willing to help you with all that, but you have to give me something in return."

"I'll give you the finger." He did so. Weakly.

She exhaled against his throat. "See, Benji, this is why I like you. Even in a situation like this, you're spunky." Her canine nicked him under the ear, and her tongue flicked out and licked away the blood that welled up. "I could just take what I want, you know. The fact that I'm asking is something of an honor."

"Honor among vampires." He almost laughed, but it turned into a cough. "That's new." Memories of Idna, who hadn't asked. "Have I mentioned that I hate vampires? And that you're not helping? Because I do, and you're not."

Comments

[vikkymouse.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is a great. I like the little things, like her dog related comments to Ben. This is very nice.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The process of breaking him just a little more every time he has a crisis has been...interesting. I don't even know what's going to happen when he capitulates completely.

And, yeah, I've pretty much taken the dog metaphor and beaten it into the ground with this one. It's a whole culture on the vampire side of this sort of prison island--werewolves are dogs, and food, to them. Not necessarily in that order. ;)