His eyes met mine, his pupils blown so wide they blended into the darkness overtaking his eyes. Not a hint of brown to be seen.
How long had it been since he had taken any thirst tonic? Hells, he had to be absolutely suffering. Has he been in pain this whole time? No wonder he was so… grumpy.
Vampires didn’t drink from other vampires unless they were closely bonded, and my instincts rebelled at the idea, but this seemed like the right time to make an exception.
It was a necessity. Nothing more, nothing less. Redd just needed some blood, and then he would be back to his normal self.
I couldn’t stop the feeling of warmth from spreading through me from head to toe. I had drunk from partners in the past, sure, but I had always regretted it. Relationships were never the same afterwards. I had never allowed anyone to drink from me, though.
I knew what was probably going to happen. I knew that the second his fangs pierced my flesh, I would probably cravemore. I knew that something wild and foreign would ignite in my blood, would burn through my flesh, and would convince my own fangs that they needed a taste as well.
The thing was, I didn’t care. I didn’t care what would happen, I didn’t care that this was something frowned upon, I didn’t care what any of the aftermath would be. I just wanted to ease Redd’s suffering, to give him some relief.
And maybe, I also wanted to satisfy my own selfish curiosity.
He would do the same for me, if the situation was reversed.
Silly, stubborn vampire. Should’ve drank the blue-hair thirst tonic when I offered to share.
I took a deep breath, pulling the air all the way to the very base of my lungs.
“It’s okay, Redd, just do it. Bite me.”
CHAPTER 22
Redd
The world was red. And death. And pain.
There was nothing but blood. Red blood, black blood, green blood. I saw flashes of it, dripping and thick and sliding down the back of my throat and filling me like a well. Filling me entirely. Infiltrating my every cell, my every thought, my entire being.
Pain.
Pain.
Blood. Need blood.
No. Not this blood. Not her.
Not the blood that smells like warmth and berries.
I snarled at the swirling thoughts in my mind.
“It’s okay, Redd, just do it. Bite me.”
The words pierced the haze I was trapped in. Fiella. This was Fiella. The feisty vampire that owned the trinket shop.
The woman I couldn’t seem to scrape my thoughts away from.
NO. That was the bloodlust talking.
My muscles were steel and concrete– it took the power of a thousand suns for me to slowly peel my hands from her delicate throat.
Must get off. Must crawl away. Must escape.
My vision was tunneled, but I knew I had to get away from the woman on the floor. I spit a mouthful of saliva off to the side, trying to force my fangs into retreating into my gums.
Long, delicate fingers wrapped around my wrist. My gaze snapped to a set of amber-colored eyes.
