“Bonded.Mielix zan. Imprinted. It’s a vampire thing. If you feed from another male right now, he’s going to come out of this and go ape shit.” Although Apollo kind of wanted to see that considering the male was down for the count.
Then again, he had no interest in stitching up another because a bonded male vampire had torn through someone else.
“Okay, here’s what I’m going to do.” Apollo quickly took Mirakel’s pulse, then turned back to Briony. “I’m going to bring in blood and force-feed it to him if I have to. That should tide him over enough to wake him up. At that point, you’re going to feed from him. Then in an hour or so, when you’re both a little more stable, he’ll feed from you.”
She nodded but he wasn’t sure she’d heard a thing he said. Based on the way those amethyst eyes were locked on Mirakel, she was still trying to process the fact a vampire had bonded with her.
When she didn’t say anything, Apollo stepped out to retrieve the blood. When he returned a minute later, Briony was standing beside Mirakel’s bed, brushing his hair back from his face. While there was still concern etched on her pretty features, there was something else. Approval, maybe? Hope? He had no clue, honestly.
It didn’t take much to get the blood bag prepped and the tube pressed against Mirakel’s lips. Apollo started the process by squeezing the bag, allowing several drops of blood to hit the male’s tongue. That seemed to do the trick because Mirakel’s head turned as he sought the source of the nourishment, his lips wrapping around the tube like a straw.
Damn good thing Amethyst had insisted they start storing Fae blood as a backup. She was brilliant in that regard, always thinking ahead, hence the reason they now had numerous bags stored in a refrigerator in the storage room.
“Here.” He urged Briony to take the bag. “When he comes to fully, which he will in a minute or so, I want you to make sure he finishes this.”
“Okay.”
“And when he asks, which he will, assure him that this is your blood.”
“Is it?’
Apollo cocked his head to the side. “Yes. I’m not an idiot.”
“Oh.”
Yeah, it was clear she had no idea how this whole bonding thing worked. But since this truly wasn’t his area of expertise, Apollo didn’t feel the need to explain it to her.
“Like I said, I want you to wait an hour after he finishes that. Then you can feed from him. And the cycle can begin all over again.”
She at least had the decency to appear sheepish.
Leaving the two of them to it, Apollo stepped back out into the hall. He strolled over to the computer, pulled up the number to the Lair, and snatched his cell phone from the table. Punching in the digits, he hit the call button.
“What?”
The voice that sounded on the other end was familiar, and it drew a smile out of him.
“This is Apollo. I wanted to let someone know that Mirakel’s over here taking up space in one of my beds. He passed out from lack of feeding. It’s being taken care of, but in case you cared.”
“Fuck you, Doc. We care.”
Apollo chuckled, enjoying the fact he got a rise out of Blaz. Then he hung up, wondering just how long it would take the vampire to storm his way into the infirmary and give him another piece of his mind.
He honestly hoped it didn’t take long. As it was, it had seemed far too long since the last time they went toe to toe.
Stand. Sit. Stand. Sit.
Blaz had alternated the motion repeatedly for the past two minutes, his feet not quite giving in to the idea of going to the infirmary.
Damn doc. What the fuck?
He peered into the parlor, where Kidel and Huracan had taken up a game of darts. For a brief instant, he considered telling them about Mirakel, letting one—or both, hell, he didn’t care—haul their happy asses down to the infirmary to check on the male.
But no.
Oh, hell no. His body had other ideas, and for some fucked-up reason, it thought he should be the one to head over.
Blaz peered down at his crotch. “No,” he told the damn appendage that was starting to rise in anticipation.
