He nodded, his face grim. It was nice that he was taking this as serious as he was. If nothing else, maybe he would take the information I’d given him and prevent Victor from reaching his goals.
“When’s the last time you ate?”
I thought back. It couldn’t be a good thing that I couldn’t remember. Was it last night when I woke up or before then? Usually I wasn’t this careless.
“Maybe when I woke up last night or before I slept the night before. It’s kind of vague.”
“That’s not enough. Not by half. You should be drinking blood three or four times a night. Preferably straight from the source.”
That knowledge did nothing for me right this instant.
“Well I didn’t,” I snapped defensively.
“Your reserves will be critically low from what essentially amounts to starvation. I’m guessing your healing is sluggish.”
I gave a wordless nod.
“You don’t make this easy.”
Yes, because I asked to be taken hostage by a deranged werewolf.
His mouth firmed as if he’d come to a decision.
“You need a boost to your base power to counteract the lack of blood. It should be enough to allow you to survive the day.”
I opened my mouth to ask how we would do that then paused, not liking the way he watched me. Avidly, like he was waiting to pounce.
I stepped over a fallen log and kept walking, forcing myself to take my fear out of the equation to look at the situation objectively.
Everything I’d heard about vampires said they weren’t known for their altruism. They weren’t the worst thing out there, but they weren’t boy scouts either. It would be in their character to take advantage if they could.
As my mom would say, “beware of people baring gifts. There’s always a string attached.”
“How would you suggest I get this power boost?” I asked, stopping to turn and watch him carefully.
His eyes narrowed slightly in victory. I would have missed it if I hadn’t been looking so closely.
“I could give you a boost,” he said, smiling charmingly.
It was a devil’s smile, smooth and slick and just waiting to lead me to the path of my own destruction.
“At what cost?” I asked.
His smile turned wide and laughing. “So suspicious already. The cost is minor I assure you.”
Sure it was, right until it bit me in the ass.
I tilted my head back. He had me over a barrel and knew it.
Bastard. I leveled a stare at him, my expression saying I wasn’t buying his platitudes.
He cocked his head and gave me another cocky grin. “I’ll need to intertwine my power with yours. It’s been known to have side effects.”
My eyes narrowed. “What kind of side effects?”
“Does it matter? You’re facing death if you don’t do this. Whatever reasons you have for refusing contact with us, they’ll be moot if you’re dead.”
He was right, as much as I hated to admit that fact. I could refuse and take my chances with the sun, even I could admit death was almost certain if I took that route, or I could take what he was offering and hope I figured a way out later.
