“I don’t understand,” Emmett said, looking confused.
“Giles isn’t a normal sanguine, Emmett.He’s much more vamp than most vamps, if you know what I mean?”
“Not really.”
“He’s strong, Emmett and very fast.You haven’t seen him in action but you have to have noticed he’s a bit…fangy.”
“Dear Lord help me,” Giles declared.“Emmett, what Bryn is so eloquently trying to say, and failing, is that I’m more akin to a true vampire than most sanguines.”
“Than any other sanguine,” Bryn clarified.
“Yes…but that also means that on occasion, when I’ve exerted myself, I need to consume blood.Fresh blood, from the vein.”
Bryn looked at Giles, then at Gunnar, then back at Giles.He’d been dreading this moment since Giles had arrived in Boston.It had been a year since his training ended, a year since he’d last done this, and he’d been perfectly happy to keep it that way.
“Okay,” Bryn said, rolling up his left sleeve with obvious reluctance.“Come here.”
“Bryn, no,” Giles said.“I won’t ask that of you.Not after—”
“You’re not asking.I’m offering.Grudgingly.Try to keep up.”
“You hate it.”
“I hate a lot of things about you,” Bryn said flatly.“But you’re verging on translucent at this point, and if something happens tomorrow, we need you functional.Not decorative.This isn’t the fucking Twilight saga.Don’t turn this into a damn drama.”
“I don’t give a fuck how hungry you are, Giles,” Gunnar snapped.“Figure it out.You don’t get to touch him.Not after what you put him through.”
“A blood bag might suffice,” Giles said.
“You need warm blood from a vein, so suck it up, vamp boy,” Bryn said from behind Gunnar.“Blood bags would leave you weaker and vulnerable if something went wrong.What happens when you collapse mid-fight because you were too proud to ask for help?”
Gunnar whirled around to face Bryn.“Are you out of your goddamn mind?After everything he did to you?The way he treated you in training?”
“Gunnar…”
“No.”Gunnar did his best impression of immovable granite.“I know what his ‘training’ did to you.This is a safe place.He doesn’t get to hurt you again.”
Giles flinched, but said nothing.
“Look,” Bryn said, his irritation building, “I know this is awkward.I know we all wish we didn’t have to do this.But, Gunnar, we need him alive and useful, not stubborn and dead.So let’s get it over with.”
“Over my dead body,” Gunnar said, stepping closer to Giles with predatory intent.“Touch him and I’ll tear your throat out with my bare hands.”
“Your conditions?”Giles asked Bryn, deliberately avoiding Gunnar’s murderous glare.
“Gunnar stays,” Bryn said without hesitation.“If something goes wrong, he pulls you off.And next time, figure out your feeding schedule before you get to the point of collapse.I’m not your fucking juice box.Gunnar, take a step back.This is my decision, much as I appreciate your willingness to dismember him.Maybe stick a pin in it and we can revisit that idea later.”
Gunnar growled but moved back.“If I so much as sense you’re taking more than you need, or causing him unnecessary pain,” he said, “I’ll make what you did to Russo look like a pleasure flight.”
Emmett’s eyes were huge.“You mean Giles is going to…” He made fang gestures with two fingers.
Bryn couldn’t help but smile.“Yes, Emmett, he is.Maybe you could create a nice chart for him to monitor his energy levels or something?”
“Yeah, I could figure something out.Oh!I could sync it to his phone and watch.”
“Great idea!”
Gunnar moved to sit on the couch beside Bryn, his body radiating tension as he positioned himself like a guard dog.His hand settled on Bryn’s shoulder, but his eyes never left Giles, tracking every movement.
