But, as expected, this confusion turns to anger pretty quickly. They arestarving. This is a bad thing for vampires and an even worse thing for scions. It’s not a good look nor does it foster patience.
So they start bitching. I let them do this for several seconds, then put up a hand. “Silence.” Which makes them stop, because obviously, I pushed their mute button. I needed to tell them about draining Paul to get them on board, but we’re not going to discuss it further. Time is ticking and Paul’s death awaits us. I didn’t have to tell them anything, I could just direct them to do what I want, but Paul is part maker. I hate that, of course. But it’s true. So I need them committed to this task. I need them to resist him. One of them alone could not harm Paul in the least. But all of them, plus me?
We’ve got this. As long as they stay focused.
So I focus them.
“Line up right here.” I point to the cave floor in front of me. “It’s time to feed.”
There are about two seconds here where they check themselves, making sure they heard me right. Then they clamber into line, pushing and fighting a bit as they jostle for position.
I beckon the first in line forward and he covers the few steps between us licking his fangs, hunger in his eyes.
My smile is wide as I place my hands on his cheeks. “Pledge yourself to me, son. Pledge yourself to me and meonly, and you may drink my blood until you’ve had your fill.”
He blinks, stunned. “My…fill?”
“You can take as much as you like. Take it all, if you can. I’ll make more blood.” He leans in, but I stop him with a flat hand on his chest. “First, you pledge.”
“I pledge, my lord! I fuckin’ pledge!”
I take a claw, swipe it across his neck, open it up, let the blood spill until he collapses, and then I bend down, open my wrist, and let my blood pour into his mouth.
I look up at the stunned scions waiting in line, slack-jawed and wide-eyed. “Don’t worry,” I say, my voice soothing and calm now. “This won’t kill him. I am merely replacing his inferior blood with mine. And you all will get the same.” I narrow my eyes. “If you pledge.”
They nod, but not enthusiastically. Most of them are staring at the man on the ground at my feet. He’s not moving. The blood I’m feeding him is pooling into his mouth, un-swallowed. So they are not convinced.
Fools.
It takes several long and painfully stress-filled minutes for the blood to drain out of this scion completely. But drain out it does. By this time, he is a shriveled-up husk and nearly unrecognizable.
The watching scions start murmuring, but then, just as they are losing all hope, this one coughs and sputters. Blood comes flying out of his mouth.
His eyes open, focus on mine, then he comes at me like a fiend, grabbing for my neck.
Of course, he will not be feeding on my neck. I press my wrist into his mouth and he grabs at my hand instead, sucking on me, drawing out my blood in long drinks the likes of which he’s never experienced before.
It feels good. So I smile and sway on my feet a little.
I don’t know how long it takes before he is full. Twenty or thirty minutes, maybe? Then he stumbles away, presses his back up against the cave wall, and slides down it, slumping into himself like a heroin addict.
I look back at my waiting scions. There are dozens of them, so it’s gonna take a while. But after waiting thousands of years, what’s one more day?
I beckon the next in line with a crooked finger and he attacks me while I laugh and cut open his neck to drain him dry and fill him back up.
