“No, but a little vampire-er, dravenkin blood might make me into one of them, and I’d like to enjoy the sun for a couple more decades.”
“One of them? Your tales of ‘vampires’ must be different than the dravenkin. Their blood doesn’t create more of their kind, but if you drink enough of it, you can get impressive strength and speed.”
“How much is enough?”
“About a cup.”
A door at the rear of the room opened, and a pale woman in a sleek waitress outfit slipped out. She walked as lithe as a cat, and her eyes were as blood red as those of Adrien. The woman grasped a tray above her ample assets, accentuated by the tight clothes, but they hardly bounced as she glided toward us. Her beauty caught the attention of more than one patron, who admired her before their dates gave them warning looks.
The woman stopped at our booth and previewed the tray for us. A wine bottle and two empty glasses were perched on its top. “Would you like some refreshment while you wait?”
“As much as you can give us,” Marc answered as he took the bottle.
“Patrons are not allowed any more than one bottle, sir,” she told him as she set the glasses down in front of us. “Please enjoy.” She slipped away like a ghost.
And just like a ghost, she left behind a feeling of rising horror inside me. My eyes were glued to the bottle and the dark contents I glimpsed through the cloudy glass.
Marc poured two glasses and held one out to me. The contents were a distinct dark red, almost black, and a rusted odor filled the air. “Try it.”
I tamped down a rising bile in my throat and leaned back. “I don’t think I’m very thirsty.”
He drew it a little closer to me, and his eyes twinkled. “You’d be surprised how good it tastes.”
I stared at the surface of the contents. “Are there side effects?”
“Nothing outside of the strength and speed. Here.” He tipped his finger into the cup and held the finger over his palm. A small droplet fell into his hand. “Try it.”
I examined the droplet a moment longer before I reluctantly dipped my finger into the liquid. The drink didn’t have the congealed texture of blood, but the unmistakable odor invaded my nostrils as I lifted the droplet to my mouth. I took a deep breath and licked my finger.
The liquid was surprisingly thin and easily slid down my throat. I had to tamp down my gag reflex, and my stomach gurgled when the blood hit the rest of its contents. A moment passed before I stared down at myself.
“Is something supposed to happen immediately?” I asked my companion.
“Not with that much,” he told me as he pushed the rest of the cup closer to me. “Try new things.”
A heavy sigh escaped me as I took up the glass. “New things in a new world. Everything will start getting boring because it’s so new.”
He grasped his glass and leaned back, studying me. “I don’t think you’re the type of woman who lets things get old.”
I wrapped both hands around the stem of my glass and blinked at him. “What makes you say that?”
“The look in your eyes,” he mused as his blue orb examined my face. “Baba saw it. I see it. It’s a thirst not only to survive, but to thrive. Someone with that hunger doesn’t let themselves wilt under new circumstances. You thrive under them.”
I dropped my gaze to the contents of my glass and sighed. “I wish the stuff I was thirsting for wasn’t so unusual.”
He held up his glass to me and smiled. “A toast to a thirst that I hope shall never be quenched.”
I sighed and tapped my glass against his. “To adventure and getting out of all of this alive.”
Marc downed his drink while I took a long sip. The blood didn’t taste quite as bad as the first droplet, and I found myself licking my lips.
And then licking more. And more. Before I knew it, I had emptied my glass. That’s when I began to feel the effects, and some of them weren’t all that pleasant.
Chapter 19
I sat up and shifted in my seat as my body began to stir. It was a strange sensation, as though something was moving around inside me. I furrowed my brow and set my glass down to rub my arms.
Marc frowned as he laid his glass beside mine. “What’s the matter?”
