Bagged blood never was, but it was getting worse.
Nothing measured up to the three drops of Finn I’d tasted.
“I take it your meals are getting more and more unpleasant?” he asked, cutting open the bag, pouring it into a wineglass for me.
The dark red liquid called to me. My stomach cramped, and my gums ached.
“How do you know that?” I demanded to know as I reached for the glass and downed half of it in one big gulp. The coolness made me shudder. Blood was supposed to bewarm, not cold as ice, but the metallic taste hitting my tongue eased the burning in my stomach.
I quickly downed the rest of it, working hard not to throw up at the wrong temperature and consistency.
Aries was watching me like a hawk, his eyes narrowed to slits, red bleeding into his otherwise bluish-gray pupils.
“Just a hunch,” he said before he swiftly took the glass out of my hands to get me a refill. “It lines up with everything Bennie here has been telling me.” He gave Bennie a feral grin, and I shuddered.
“Sorry, man,” Bennie said, no doubt sensing my unease. “But I had to talk to someone, and since Aries isn’t affiliated with any clan, I thought he’d be the safest choice.”
“Ahh, yes.” Aries rolled his eyes. “Vampire politics have never held any shred of interest for me. I find them quite dull. And since vampires live a lot longer than humans, their political schemes are even more boring than everything the humans can come up with, purely because they take so… fucking… long.” He rolled his eyes dramatically, then handed me the glass back.
I braced against the cold and drank another sip. With the worst of the burning gone, I managed to drink more slowly, swiveling the glass in my hand between sips.
“Okay. So, you know what’s going on with me? Or rather, thereissomething going on with me? I’m not just some crazy, obsessed fucker?”
Aries let out a throaty laugh, pointing a finger at me. His nails were painted dark red, almost the exact color of blood. Very clichéd, but I had to admit, it worked for him. “I like you, youngling.” He shook his head in disbelief at what he was saying. “As for your question, you might very well be acrazy, obsessed fucker, as you call it, but not without reason. To make sure my assumption is correct, please, in your own words, tell me about your Finn.”
I took my time, took another sip of blood, and cleared my throat before looking at Bennie for reassurance. He was weirdly quiet, but one look at his face told me he was as relaxed as he could be in the vicinity of a vampire who didn’t belong to his clan.
If he’d had a clan, that was.
Bennie and I were more of a duo.
“I’m sure Bennie already told you plenty about him,” I said, unsure of what exactly my sire had said and how much I had to reveal.
If Bennie had talked to Aries, he didn’t consider him a threat to Finn, but I wasn’t willing to take that risk.
“Yes, I think Bennie relayed the important facts, but I want to know more about the way youfeel.I swear, I have no ill intentions toward your Finn, youngling. I don’t need to know his current whereabouts or his address.”
I let out a breath and nodded.
“Okay, so… uhm… it’s like… I need to see him?” I started. “Like, I can’t stay away for long periods of time. I need to check on him and make sure he’s safe. Otherwise, I get really anxious.” I blew out my breath. “And if he’s behaving recklessly, I get mad. Really fucking mad.” I thought of the way he’d almost keeled over into traffic tonight. “I want to throttle him for not taking care of himself properly and for not fucking listening to me.”
Aries let out a throaty laugh. “I thought your sire said you hadn’t talked to him prior to that… mishap in my club. And he said you haven’t talked to him since.”
Fuck.
Bennie looked at me expectantly, and I felt like I was ten years old again and had just been caught stealing cookies out of the jar.
“Uhm… I haven’t really talked to him,” I said, rubbing a hand over my face. Fuck. This was embarrassing. I hadn’t even wanted to admit that much. “But I might’ve left notes on his door.”
Bennie groaned, but Aries just laughed again. “Notes? Do tell, youngling. What did those notes say?”
“I might’ve told him his iron levels were too low and he needed medical attention. Which he did not get until he started puking blood this evening.”
“Is he okay?” Bennie sat up straighter.
“He’s at the hospital. And I’d really like to go back and check on him, so can we get on with it?”
Aries sighed. “You take all the fun out of my little game of twenty questions. But fine, if he’s really your mate, I know I can’t keep you from him if he’s unwell.”
