Page 14 of Blood Bought

Things only got worse from there. Nesrin wasn’t exactly gentle as she scrubbed me clean – really scrubbed, between my toes and the soles of my feet, my armpits, my hair... between my thighs. It was the first time in my life that someone touched me there for any reason, and despite her professionalism and demeanor while doing it, it felt... good. Really good, almost as good as when I did it to myself. “Fuck,” I whispered, clenching my thighs a little bit and trapping her hand there.

“This constitutes as difficult,” she said quietly. “Can you please release my hand?”

I’d never been so embarrassed in my life.

I spread my legs and squeezed my eyes shut as I whispered a rushed apology, wishing I was a vampire so I could’ve teleported out of there and gone anywhere else.

Literally anywhere else.

She continued until she was satisfied I was clean, and just when I thought my embarrassment was over, she pulled a razor out of the bag she’d brought with her. I snatched it from her quickly and told her I’d do it myself, and she let me – but the inspection she gave me afterward had my cheeks burning and my hands shaking.

“You need lotion and we’ll get you into clean clothes, then do your hair and makeup and you’ll be ready to go,” she said matter-of-factly. “You go at sundown.”

“So soon? No one even told me what I’m supposed to do yet,” I reminded her, heart in my throat. “I’m not ready.”

Nesrin carefully helped me out of the tub and shook her head as she started slathering scented lotion all over me. “Go be pretty and flirty with the men and friendly to the women. You’re baiting for Heir Alaris, Heir Kellian and Master Renzo, so it shouldn’t be hard. Most folks around here know exactly who they are and the positions of power they hold, and I’ll be surprised if you don’t have a line of people begging you for a chance to be with them.”

“Menandwomen? Who are the men for?”

She straightened up and tilted her head. “I just told you. Heir Alaris, Heir Kellian, and Master Renzo.”

“Oh.”So it’s not just the Veresian women I have to compete with, it’s the men, too.My eyes widened.Whoa. Where did that come from? I’m not competing with anyone.I cleared my throat and dressed in the clothes she laid out for me, then sat as still as I could as she did my hair. “So I’m allowed to tell people the truth, then? About where I’m taking them and what will happen to them?”

“Yes. Blood takes on a sour taste when the people it’s being taken from aren’t willing or are unhappy. You’ll want to steer clear of anyone who looks like a junkie, as mind-altering substances have a negative effect on vampires. If a bloodwhore is high, it’ll burn the vampire drinking from them. It’s not pretty and always ends with death,” she explained.

Great, so now I’m supposed to be able to tell when people are high, too.I had a fleeting thought that I could bring a stoner back for them just to punish them for doing this at all, but I quickly reminded myself that I’d effectively become a murderer and from what I was hearing, these vampires weren’t as bad as I thought. If they truly cared about consent that much, then who was I to tell the people that consented that they shouldn’t do it?

The knowledge that I’d be allowed to tell the truth helped more than I thought it would, so I continued asking questions as Nesrin painted makeup on my face and adjusted my chest for me. Again, the touch was so clinical that it shouldn’t have felt good, but I was new at this and tried to forgive myself and simply keep quiet so I didn’t make her uncomfortable again when she was just trying to do her job.

“When I find someone, what do I do? Is there like a rendezvous point or will there be someone with me to take us back here?” I asked. “I don’t want to find someone and then look like an idiot just standing there.”

Nesrin put the finishing touches on my face and stepped back to look at me. “For this first run, you’ll have Malik and likely someone else with you. They’ll stay outside, so when you find someone, simply bring them out and they’ll handle it from there. You’ll be brought back here to your room and likely given a reward if Heir Alaris enjoys the person you brought, and if he doesn’t, you’ll be trained further on what he looks for in a bloodwhore and sent back out tonight. He’s... hungrier than most Obsidian vampires. Almost like a Faux.”

“So the ones who were turned... they have bigger appetites?”

“Sort of. Obsidian vampires can supplement blood with the same kind of food we eat. It’ll make them feel full and tide them over for a few days, but only blood ever really sates them. Fauxs can’t eat real food, so their only choice is blood. Alaris is somewhere in the middle. He can eat food, and often does, but he needs blood more often.”

I wanted to ask her why, but I assumed it was the same reason anyone might need more of something than their neighbor. It just... happened. “Thank you for telling me that. I’ll do my best... but I do have one more question.”

She sighed like she expected it to be an inconvenience. “I will do my best to answer. What is it?”

“If I’m allowed to tell people the whole truth about where they’ll be going and what will happen to them, why don’t the vampires just go themselves? Is it just a hierarchy thing where they think fetching their own meals is beneath them? I’m not trying to be rude by saying that, I’m... just trying to understand why bait is necessary at all.”

Nesrin stared at the ground for a moment and adopted the same look that Kellian and Elenor had when they were listening to someone I couldn’t hear. “I’m allowed to tell you that much. It’s a matter of appearance, really, and an added measure to ensure that anyone who signs up is truly willing. Vampires – particularly Obsidian vampires – are highly skilled in the art of persuasion. The humans in this area know that well, so they tend to feel more at ease when they’re talking to a human. If a vampire were to sit down and try to convince someone to come, there could be allegations that they coerced them into saying yes. Since humans don’t have that ability, it takes a certain level of liability off of the vampires who feed from them. Does that make sense?”

Honestly, I felt a little stupid for even asking. That should’ve been clear to me from the start, but nothing about this was turning out the way I’d expected it to. “Yes, it makes sense. Thank you for explaining. When do we leave?”

“You have one more stop to make first. It’s time for you to meet the bloodwhores.”

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