Page 64 of The Human’s Heart

He blew out a breath. “Good.”

“That’s a great sign.” Zay’s Uncle Toby—my… sire?—turned so he was facing me a little, still sitting on the bed beside me.

It was lucky the bed was big enough for all three of us. Honestly, it was probably big enough to fit another person… not that I wanted anyone else in here with us. It was kinda strange that I didn’t find Toby being in the bed with us odd at all. Like, why? Two days ago, I would’ve been pretty freaked out by that.

“It’s your sire-fledgling bond,” Zay said in my head. “I’m not even a part of that bond, but I can still feel it and sense it between the two of you. It’s been… difficult, but I think if I couldn’t feel it myself, I might’ve attacked him already.”

I wanted to roll my eyes at that, at the fact that he was so overprotective, but I couldn’t because I knew I’d feel the same way if the roles were reversed.

I nodded. “Makes sense, I suppose.”

“Definitely a good thing.”

Toby said, “Alright, I want you to concentrate on your fangs. They’re probably burning right now because you’re hungry.”

He held up his wrist and began going over some safety precautions like where exactly to bite so you didn’t bleed someone out or something and not to drag my fangs along their skin or I’d open up a huge wound and a ton of things like that.

And then he held his wrist up and said, “Alright, go on.”

I recoiled. “You… you really want me to try that? After you said I could make you bleed to death.”

“You can’t make me bleed to death. I’m a vampire.”

“Yeah, but what if I like, hurt you, and you lose all your blood?”

“I have plenty of blood bags down here in that little fridge over there.” He gestured across the room to the small appliance beside a large dresser. “If I lose too much, I can replenish myself immediately, and my viramore is right upstairs. He can be in here in a second’s notice if I need him. This is the whole reason fledglings practice on their sires before they start trying it on humans and other beings. Vampires can handle it. There are no worries there, kiddo.”

“Are… are you sure?”

“Absolutely positive. Now go on.” He held his wrist in front of my mouth again.

I wanted to protest, but I could hear the blood pumping through his veins and smell it through his skin, and I wasn’t sure anything—other than Zaos himself—had ever felt so tempting. I had to drink. I had to feed.

I wanted it.

A small hiss came out of my mouth as I opened it, and the sound surprised me, but it sure as hell didn’t stop me from grabbing Toby’s arm and biting right into his wrist. He didn’t even flinch, although I knew I hadn’t bitten down with any finesse whatsoever. He’d warned me that it would take practice to make it completely painless, and I grimaced to myself at the thought of hurting him.

As if reading my mind, which he obviously couldn’t, he gave my back a light rub and quietly said, “It only stung for a moment, fledgling. You did good. You did really good.”

I hummed my appreciation of the praise, closed my eyes, and drank.

By the time I finished, I was so full that I felt sleepy again.

Toby helped me lie back as he said, “Get some rest. Zaos and I are going to eat something while you sleep, but we’re not leaving the room. Uncle Thay will open the door to bring Zay some dinner, but he won’t enter, and we’re not going anywhere. Is that okay?”

“Mhm.”

Zay kissed my forehead. “I love you.”

“Love you too.” I sounded almost drunk. I was suddenly so tired, so I let my eyes close, trusting them to watch over me.

This whole waking up starving thing and then immediately falling back asleep was getting old. I’d done it so many times I’d lost count. I thought I was on the eighth or ninth time, maybe?

But I was determined to stay awake after feeding this time.

As soon as I finished, I licked Toby’s—or should I call him Uncle Toby?—wounds to seal them, let him go, and then leaned into Zay without looking since I knew he’d be right by my side.

He kissed my temple as he wrapped an arm around my back. “Do you want to lie down?”