“To be fair,” he said mildly, “if you weren’t such a stubborn ass all the time, and actually gave into one of your desires instead of fighting it like a toddler fights naptime, maybe we wouldn’t be here.”
I gasped. “You asshole!”
“Moira. Look at you now. You can barely stand up because, once again, your stubborn ass refuses to do anything for your own good. What good are principles if you don’t survive them?”
“Your blood didn’t last as long as the last time when I was consuming human blood.”
For a while, after Fee had slammed into me, I didn’t need to drink blood at all, but the cravings and need came back with a vengeance when I was forced to drink from Cernunnos after Mom wounded the god with a fae weapon that could have killed him.
Cernunnos purged his power from my blood afterward, and I think it might have done something to me. Ever since then, things were different.
I was different, and I couldn’t ask Fee. Technically, the phoenix was dead. Her spirit was still active within me, but we couldn’t speak to each other. Not in words.
“And now you’re holding a black magic spell inside you while your Ethan tries to remember why the hell everything is so screwed up.”
“Something like that.”
“Alright.” Cernunnos crossed his ankle over his knee. “Let’s go through this, then. You were consuming human blood, correct?”
“You know I was.”
“And you had fatigue and low energy.”
“Yes, but it wasn’t as severe as now.”
“But you had a long period where you didn’t have to consume blood at all.”
I didn’t think he knew about Fee, but there was no way to tell.
“I went much longer without consuming any, yes.” My cravings were still there. I was part vampire. Those would never go away, no matter how much I wanted them to.
He snorted. “You might be dying, and you still cling to your secrets.”
“I’m not dying,” I snapped. Even though I felt like I was dying, all I needed was blood. I’d be good as new once I topped up.
I hoped.
“You might be.” Cernunnos sighed. “Look, Moira. Obviously, something happened. I may or may not have had something to do with that.”
“You always have something to do with it.”
He grinned. “How can I help you if you won’t tell me what I need to know?”
Evie popped back in with two bags of blood. “Godsdammit,” she growled. “You better not die on me.”
She blinked when she saw her dad sitting next to me. “Did she drink?”
He gestured at me. “Do you see her up doing a jig?”
Evie sighed and handed me a bag. “Drink.”
I sank my teeth into the bag and drank the first, followed directly by the second.
“How long does it take?” Evie asked. She was wringing her hands with worry.
“A couple of minutes.”
Cernunnos scoffed. “Normally, it’s instantaneous.”
