Page 30 of Queen of the Crimson Throne

He shook his head, turning his head away from me. “No. I won’t feed from you. Not like this.”

“Luka.” I let out a long breath from my nose. “You’re injured and need blood, feed from me for fucks sake.”

“No.” Even in his distressed state, his words were firm. Leaving no room for argument. I sighed. I didn’t have time to argue with him.

“I’ll be right back.” I stood, brushing my hair from my face with the back of my blood-stained hand. “Try not to die while I’m gone.”

I sat in the chair in the corner, watching Luka as he slept on my bed.

He was clean now, as was my bed. After Nico arrived and got Luka to feed from him, much to Luka’s protests, Nico and Declan cleaned him up. Now he was asleep on my bed as he recuperated.

“How long had he gone since feeding?” I asked the two males who resided next to me.

Nico shrugged. “I’d say three maybe four weeks.”

“He’s been trying to stretch it as long as he can,” Declan added.

“Why?” The two shared a look, a silent conversation occurring between the pair. “For fucks sake, one of you spit it out already.”

It was Declan who finally spoke. “You can’t figure it out?” I glared at him, my eyes narrowing into slits.

“He only wants to feed from you,” he finished.

My throat dried. “What do you mean?” I choked out.

“I don’t know, it’s some weird vampire shit. But once a vampire takes a liking to a certain person’s blood they have a hard time feeding from anyone else.” Nico leaned back in his chair. “He used to not mind the taste of our blood, but now he says he hates it. That it tastes foul.” Nico waved his hand around dismissively.

“But why wouldn’t he feed from me when I offered?”

Declan shrugged his shoulders, his wings twitching with the action. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“I think he’s afraid he’d take too much, and in his delirious state he wouldn’t be able to stop himself,” Nico mused.

I opened my mouth to respond but stopped at the sound of sheets rustling. Luka’s eyes fluttered open like he knew we were talking about him.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Nico cooed. “Glad you could join us.” Luka sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

His eyes scanned the room, his brows furrowing as he tried to figure out where he was until his gaze landed on me.

Nico and Declan stood abruptly, making their way towards the door.

“We will leave you to it.” The wolf looked between the two of us. “You have a lot to talk about.”

“But you will be filling us in later,” Declan added, giving Luka a stern look as he passed.

The door clicked shut behind the pair as Luka and I continued to stare at one another.

“So—” he finally said. “I owe you an explanation.”

“You mean an explanation as to why you showed up at my door, delirious, covered in blood, not healing, and barely conscious, refusing to feed from me even though that’s what you needed? Why ever would I need an explanation for that?”

I stood and started pacing. Now that I knew he was okay, my anger was rising to the surface. Why did he think he could show up like this? This wasn’t who we were anymore.

We were partners in an agreement. Not friends.

“I went back to the witch Scribe.” I froze, whipping my head towards him.

“You did what?” I seethed.

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