Wildblood


 Contents
 
 Title Page
 Copyright Notice
 Dedication
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Chapter 13
 Chapter 14
 Chapter 15
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
 Chapter 19
 Chapter 20
 Chapter 21
 Chapter 22
 Chapter 23
 Chapter 24
 Acknowledgments
 Also by Lauren Blackwood
 About the Author
 Newsletter Sign-up
 Copyright
 
 
 
 Guide
 
 Cover
 Start of Content
 Title Page
 Dedication
 Chapter 1
 Acknowledgments
 Contents
 Copyright
 
 
 
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 Begin Reading
 Table of Contents
 About the Author
 Copyright Page
 
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 For anyone who needs this book as much as I needed to write it
 
 
 Some of the thematic material in Wildblood contains depictions of blood, gore, physical/sexual assault, sexual trauma, and death. For more information, please visit the author’s website.
 
 
 
 CHAPTER 1
 
 Bunny is getting strong for fourteen. It takes my whole weight to hold him down tonight, hands and chest on his back, knees braced against the dirt floor. My muscles shake from the effort.
 “You are loved,” I whisper, even though I can’t quite reach his ear like I could a year ago. “Come back, my little Bunny.”
 Maybe he can’t hear me—enough rain to drown the island pours from the sky, splashing through our glassless window as it slides off the tin roof, and he screams loud enough to wake the whole jungle, even a mile off.
 His wild blood flashes near my face—a small, bright yellow crackle like lightning—but his blood science has never burned very hot, so I ignore it. I focus on keeping him pinned, even with his kicking and cries. I stay on the side of his good eye, so when he wakes he knows me.
 Huddled on their floor mats, our ten hut-mates sleep through it, or at least they try. It’s the second time this month Bunny has raged. No one asks why anymore. A Wildblood’s science flares out of control with overuse, and everyone just waves it off as Bunny being a reckless kid. But I don’t think recklessness has anything to do with it.
 “I’m getting my promotion tomorrow, Bun,” I whisper, my voice harboring an edge of panic. “To team leader. Remember? Everything will be okay now.”
 Even mindless, Bunny knows I’m a bad liar. Everything won’t be okay. Not if he keeps overusing his science and making his blood go wild. Not if he rages and I can’t bring him back …
 His screams shut off like a faucet. My ears ring in their absence, but I don’t let up on my pressure. Not until his muscles soften, until he whines my name to make me stop. And then I lie there on his back to catch my breath, relieved to feel him breathe evenly, even if I can’t.
 He fishes for my hand in the dark, and his body only relaxes once he’s found it. I squeeze tight, shifting to lie beside him.
 “You scare me, Bunny,” I say, and pat his back with a force between a soothe and a smack. “You can’t keep raging like this.”
 “I have to rage, Victoria,” he murmurs, closing his one beautiful dark brown eye. “Rage is all I have left.”
 Rage