Hours?
“Stay with me, human,” growls a low voice at your ear, and strong arms lift you from the floor.
You’re vaguely aware of the sound of distant voices, and of a familiar scent, familiar and comforting and yet so unplaceable, a comfort that wraps around you as you’re carried from the room.
The voices rise, but whoever’s holding you pushes past, carrying you out into the chilly, dark night beyond.
You shiver, and he lifts you higher against the heat of his chest.
“What the hell were you thinking, coming to a place like this?”
You whimper in response, still unable to form actual words. Unable to open your eyes.
Are you dying? It still feels like you’re dying.
The pain is fading, replaced with only a dull ache, but you can barely move, can’t speak.
It’s like you’ve been drugged.
But that can’t be.
You were bitten, not drugged.
“Just hang on, human,” growls the familiar voice. The voice that you’d longed to hear since he left.
“Ziros,” you whisper, voice cracking and hoarse as the darkness pulls you under.
When you blink again, you’re lying on something soft.
Your bed.
Somehow, you’re in your room.
You’re not even sure how Ziros got you inside, but that’s where you are. You’re in your apartment.
“Don’t move,” he growls when you try to sit up. “I’m going to suck the poison out.”
“Poison?” you whisper, finally finding the strength to speak again.
“Yes. That bastard was trying to knock you out. It’s a drug. Won’t hurt demons like him, but nobody else is immune.”
Nobody?
You want to ask, but you can’t seem to find the strength.
Your head is heavy, neck and throat aching as you lie back against your pillows, trying to stay awake as Ziros leans over you.
Is this a dream?
Is it a dream, the wonderful, safe feeling of his hand sliding behind your head, lifting it slightly, the other tilting your jaw.
“Stay with me, human. Don’t give into it. I need you to stay with me.”
“Mmm-hmmm,” you mumble, drifting back into the darkness that’s tugging you down.
But before it can pull you under, you feel a strange, strangely pleasant sensation drawing against your neck as Ziros sucks the poison out.
With one hand behind your head, he holds you against him, his mouth pressed to your neck, fangs buried deep.
