“Sense what exactly?”
“Feelings, sensations. The more blood that’s exchanged, the stronger the connection.”
Snod hated that he was so fascinated. It also startled him that the Order apparently knew so little
about the creatures they had been hunting for so long.
“Fine, I don’t care,” Snod said quickly, shaking his head. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Wait! I still haven’t said that I’m going to do this,” the vampire argued. “A pity screw is one thing,
but you’re a friggin’ vampire hunter. Maybe I should just let you starve, huh?”
“You said you weren’t a monster,” Snod reminded him.
“How many vampires have you killed?”
“How many humans have you killed?” Snod snapped back.
“Asked you first.”
“Thirty-six,” Snod said smugly. “You?”
“Seven,” the vampire replied, his expression deeply wounded.
Snod was dumbfounded. How could the foul fiend have survived without killing humans every night?
“Now who’s the monster,” the vampire snorted, shaking his head dismissively.
Snod didn’t say anything, shifting against the wall.
A long drag of silence passed with the vampire seemingly lost in thought. He was perfectly still, so
motionless that he easily could have been mistaken for a statue.
Snod tapped his foot impatiently, his stomach gnawing at itself with hunger and anxiety.
“I’ll do it,” the vampire said at last, “but I have conditions.”
“And those are?”
“First, lose the stakes,” the vampire replied. “In fact, lose all of your weapons and any anti-vampire
voodoo you might be carrying around. I still don’t trust that you won’t try something.”
Snod leaned forward, taking off his tactical vest that held all of his stakes and throwing it down the
tunnel. He removed a large knife from his ankle, two more from his belt, and a bottle of atomized
silver spray. From around his neck, he pulled off his scapular, a religious charm designed to ward off
vampiric mind control.
Cleared of all dangerous objects, he held out his hands expectantly. “What else?”
“Second, you have to let me feed from you,” the vampire said. “I won’t drink enough to hurt you, I
promise, but we have to bond. It’ll make it easier... especially since it’s your first time.”
