“You did not tell me it would ruin my sex drive. Ryder and I have barely had a chance to do the good and plenty with all the explosions and bites and power grabs going on.” I was talking about the troubles I’d had to deal with lately, but said that way, it came out kind of dirty. I didn’t care. I plowed onward. “No demon is going to get in the way of me getting laid.”
Everyone in the room stopped. Stared at me. Well, except Jame and Ben.
Apparently not having a soul also removed my filter.
I did not care.
Much.
Okay, it was getting kind of awkward.
Bathin’s eyes were wide and his grin matched. “Soembarrassing for you,” he breathed. “If only I’d gotten it on video.”
I flipped him off and he laughed.
“Shove it, Bath.” Then, to Mykal, “Just get the gear. Whatever Ben needs, we’ll do it.”
Mykal was out the door before I had finished the last word.
Vampires.
He was back before I’d even had time to take a drink of lemonade or interpret that look Ryder was giving me. Exasperation? Fondness? Horror? Glee? All of the above?
He mouthed,good and plenty?And raised both eyebrows.
“You first, Myra,” Mykal said, setting things up on the table in front of the couch, and then pulling the comfortable recliner closer to the table.
“Why her? Why not me or Ryder?” I asked.
“You’re soulless, Ryder’s tied to a god. Myra’s the most pure mortal out of all of you here.” He didn’t even look up. “Rossi, can you get me a blanket?”
Rossi didn’t look like he heard Mykal.
“Rossi?” he said a little firmer. Then he said a fluid word in a language I didn’t understand.
Rossi finally ticked his gaze away from Ben. He answered in the same language, one low soft word.
“Blankets. They’re going open vein for him.”
That pulled Rossi into a straight line. He removed his finger from the edge of Ben’s mouth, which was still latched to Jame’s arm, though I couldn’t tell if Ben was actually swallowing or if all that blood was just pouring out of Jame to soak the couch cushion.
What I did know was that Jame still wasn’t well enough to offer unlimited refills.
Myra sat in the recliner and Mykal leaned it back, then prepped her arm. He was good at placing a needle. Vampires always were. Myra didn’t even flinch.
Mykal rolled out the tubing and got it all hooked up, finally inserting a thin shunt into Ben’s arm.
“How long for each of us?” I asked.
“Just a few minutes.” He sat back and fiddled with the tube to make sure everything was in place. “His body should take over and draw on the blood.”
Rossi reappeared with a fuzzy blanket in a disturbing electric orange, which he draped over Myra’s lap.
“I don’t—” she started.
Rossi tucked it in on either side of her. “You do.”
She leaned her head back and winced. “Is this supposed to hurt?”
