Pain Free, and a Celebration Ravens Snippet

It's Sunday night, and I am migraine-free for the first time in weeks. At this point in time, I consider Botox to be the best discovery on the planet, and I've bouncing around the flat like a bunny on extra-strength carrots; the sheer relief of not feeling miserable is indescribable. 

Next week I get to write again, and function like a normal human, (well, as normal as I'm ever going to get) and hopefully this means I'm migraine-free for another year or so. 

To celebrate, here's another wee snippet from the WIP. Usual warnings apply - still to go through final edit, possible typo's, and definite strong language.

Enjoy!

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Mariah crawled backwards to him and circled her forefinger in the air, one eyebrow raised. He nodded. Every moment they were on the roof without a dampening spell meant the danger of alerting their attackers to where they were, and he felt the quick prickle of the spell she laid and pushed against it gently with his mind.  It would hold for a while.

"Quickly!" Jadah hissed from behind them. "It won't take them long." She looked at them bleakly. "They have your scent."  

"What are they?" Mariah asked.   

"I'm not sure," the spirit said. "But if they get hold of you two we are totally and utterly fucked. You need to get off this roof."  

"We could hold them off here for a while," Carmine said.  

"I'm not sure Amber could hold them off," Jadah said, and Carmine felt himself pale.  

"They have the streets blocked," Mariah said. "We'd need to get to across town using the rooftops."  

"No," Jadah said. "Too noisy, and these things are too fast, and smart enough to have thought of that. They have traps set up over the next three blocks in every direction."  

"They were expecting us," Mariah said. There was a cold, hard ball of fear and fury in her gut. "They expected hawks."  

"I reckon so."  

"If we can't outfight them or outrun them, we're running out of options here." Carmine said.   

"I can show you how to hide," Jadah said. "But it's going to hurt."  

"Oh, good. One of those."   

The two females rolled their eyes at him and he shrugged. "What do we need to do?"  

"You need to trust me," the ghost said. "And you need to bleed. Both of you." 

Jadah took them over to the chimneystack with its cold gray stone. "Cut the backs of your hands, your forearms, temples, and the back of your necks. Long and shallow; this could take a while and I don't want you bleeding out." 

Mariah and Carmine looked at each other.  

"Me first," Mariah said eventually, and held her hands out to Carmine. He pulled out his boot dagger and began to cut, swiftly but carefully. He hesitated when he got to her face. 

"I'll heal," she said softly. "And next hunt will see the scars gone." 

"Doesn't mean I have to enjoy it," he grumbled. 

"Hurry up!" Jadah hissed, and they both felt the spell at the top of the stairs fail. The raiders were outside the room beneath them. 

Carmine bent over and kissed Mariah on the forehead, then made the last three cuts and slapped the knife into her hand. 

She worked faster than he had.  

"You need to bend down so I reach your neck," she said. 

The door shield fell and they both staggered. 

He took the blade from her and swiped it across his own neck. 

"Idiot man," Mariah said.