“Good,” I said.
I removed the vial, and his posture loosened. I readied the second one and repeated the actions. Theo behaved similarly. He went completely tense and seemed like he was trying not to breathe in the scent of it. I frowned a bit. It wasn’t exactly the reaction I’d been hoping for, but it wasn’t totally bad either. He made no attempt to grab it from my hand, or lunge at me, or anything like that.
“Good.” I removed the vial.
“I didn’t know you were a doctor with a degree in vampire torture,” Theo muttered.
His tone seemed half-joking, but there was a note of seriousness in his voice.
“Do you want to stop?” I asked. “There’s still one more.”
Theo shook his head stiffly. “No. I can handle another one.” A sly grin crossed his face. “But probably no more after that, you weirdo.”
“All right. One more.”
I grabbed the final vial--the one containing my own blood.
I tried to complete the action like I was giving a shot--quick and painless. I lifted the cap, brought it in front of Theo.
“Urgh!”
Theo groaned and leaned back in the chair, his teeth gritted and eyes clenched shut as if in pain. I fumbled backwards and my pulse skyrocketed out of fear. I quickly put the cap back on the vial to try and muffle the odor.
Theo pinched the bridge of his nose. He stayed as still as a rock as he tried to regain himself.
“Are you okay?” I asked, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice.
It took Theo a moment to reply. “Yeah.” He pried his eyes open warily and shot me an incredulous look. “What the hell was with that last one?”
“Was it bad?”
“No,” Theo said quickly. “Not bad at all. But it was intense.”
I smiled grimly and rolled up my sleeve to display my bandaged forearm. “Maybe because it was my blood.”
Theo’s eyes widened. “Shit, Max… Are you crazy?”
“Maybe,” I admitted. “But it was worth it to prove your innocence.”
Theo seemed caught between anger and adoration. He slumped back in the seat and laughed tiredly.
“Did it work?” he asked.
I grinned. “Well, seeing as you didn’t steal it from me, try to kill me, or any other similar option, I’d say my experiment was a success.”
“So, I’m… I’m safe?” Theo murmured, look he couldn’t believe it.
I closed the space between us and kissed him. “Yes.”
He grinned and kissed my cheek. “Y’know what this means? We can go back and tell--”
At that moment, a loudslamshook the clinic. Something was moving through the building, almost too fast to register. Only seconds later, the door to the room flew open.
A dark blur whizzed past me. But the action startled me, and I yelped, stumbling backwards.
The vial flew out of my hands. I stepped on it and slipped, landing on my ass. The force of my weight busted the cap--and my blood spilled over the floor.
