Normally when Frankie moved this fast, Snod couldn’t see anything. Now he found that if he focused
his eyes, he could see the streets and buildings as they breezed by, and he knew exactly where they
were going.
Home.
Frankie brought Snod inside the apartment, blinking away to grab a large bottle of blood. He handed
it to him, urging, “Drink. You’ll feel better.”
Snod eagerly tipped the bottle up, chugging it back. It was bitter, cold, and not nearly enough. He
wiped his mouth, licking at his hand as he gasped hopefully, “More?”
“Yes,” Frankie promised him with a kiss. “Much more.”
“What about you?” Snod questioned. He didn’t know how, but he knew Frankie was drained and
hungry. “You gave me almost all of your blood... you need to feed, too.”
“I’m fine,” Frankie chuckled, kissing Snod’s cheek. “Trust me. You need it a lot more than me, Obe.”
While Frankie exchanged text messages with Lorenzo to check on everyone, Snod ended up drinking
every drop of blood in the house. His hunger was sated for the time being, but he didn’t feel satisfied.
Frankie took him into the shower to get him cleaned up, pulling away his battle-soiled clothes and
tugging him under the spray of hot water.
Snod could feel every individual drop as it hit his skin, nearly overwhelmed and clinging close to
Frankie.
“I’ve got you,” Frankie whispered, his green eyes brighter than ever. “I promise I’m going to take
care of you.”
“Does it always feel like this?” Snod asked quietly.
“Like what?”
“Like...”
My body is ready to explode, I can’t feel anything, but I feel everything, it’s all so loud and bright
and it’s too much, and I’m still hungry...
“Yes,” Frankie assured him. “It does, but it’ll get better. I’ll make sure you get enough blood. The
most important thing right now is making sure that you’re fed.”
Snod sighed contently as Frankie began to wash him. He could hear the bubbles of the lather popping
softly and he leaned into Frankie’s adoring touch. It sounded like music.
“I still remember what it was like to be born again,” Frankie said with a bittersweet smile.
