Page 29 of Blood Bought

He hummed, then took my arm and steered me toward the kitchen. “You’re putting off hangry energy, Ad. Same temperament Alaris gets when he doesn’t eat right. When’s the last time you had a full meal?”

“Not that long. Yesterday, maybe? I haven’t been that hungry,” I admitted. “I guess my appetite hasn’t quite been right lately.”

Kell squeezed my elbow as we ducked through the doors to the kitchen, then held his finger to his mouth to keep me quiet as he rattled off a command to the chef for a dish I’d never heard of before. Curious, I watched and tried to rock up on my toes to see better – but Chef’s body was a little too large and not a very good window, so I couldn’t make much of anything out.

“What is it?” I whispered, earning myself stern, pinched brows and a shake of his beautiful head. “Sorry.”

He steered me back out and plopped me down on one of the tables. “You’ll see in a few minutes. For now, why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you? It’s weird as fuck that I can’t hear you anymore, but I get it. I’d hide my thoughts too if I were you.”

“You would?” I fidgeted, wondering just how deep they’d gotten into my head. “Hypothetically... why? Just in general, or my thoughts specifically?”

“Yours specifically. Seems like you were working through quite a bit up there, and I don’t know. I wouldn’t really want an audience when grieving for my family, being scared out of my mind and wanting to get railed by someone I had no business being attracted to,” he said. “Most people are just thinking about food, sex, or blood. You’ve got a lot going on.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You’re right, I have no business being attracted to him.”

“Him?” He squinted, tilting his head. “I meant me, Addy.”

“Kellian!” I laughed, smacking his shoulder and shaking my hand out as pain lanced through my bones. “Ugh, you guys are so hard.”

“You have no idea.”

I laughed a little harder and buried my face in my hands. “I didn’t mean it like that. You’re not as hard as rock like I expected, but... definitely not as pliable as humans, either. Remind me never to punch any of you.”

“Oh, Adalind. You’ll have bigger concerns than how tough our skin is if you punch a vampire. Trust me on that. But seriously, don’t act like you haven’t wondered about all three of us.”

“Fine, it’s not like I can deny it. But I hate it. I feel so... guilty,” I admitted. “Like being attracted to him... to all of you... somehow makes this all okay.”

Kellian huffed, then tapped the table as he chose his words. “The two aren’t mutually exclusive. Especially with vampires, I mean... none of us are perfect. Bloodlust tends to make us a little crazy, and it was only in the last thousand years or so that our kind evolved from alley-stalking brutal zombies. Some of us have come further than others, but y’know how it is.”

“Ciro. He hasn’t?”

“Nah. The whole Hunter line is like that. Generation after generation, and not just for Veresians. The Draterion clan has been the same, and I’ve heard that the vamps across the Great Sea aren’t any different. Hunters have to be brutal to keep us alive. It’s sort of an unfortunate side-effect of our condition. If we don’t have enough food, we starve to death. They lack the compassion that the rest of us have acquired through ruling and living with humans, wolves and witches. I know to you, that might sound unbelievable because you haven’t found a whole lot of compassion here, but it’s true. You’ll see it one day.”

Compassion had only come in short little glimpses, but for some reason, I believed him. I touched the bracelet to remind myself that he wasn’t influencing me in any way so this belief was genuine, and though I knew there was a possibility that I believed it simply because believing was easier... it felt right. “So Ciro and Alpha Dregan, they’re necessary evils?’

“Exactly. Without them, like I said, we’d starve. But before that would spell our end, we’d massacre pretty much everyone out of hunger. If you think what your ancestors did to this planet was bad, it would be nothing compared to what a hoard of starved, crazed vampires would do. The wars alone when the wolves and witches and whoever else try to stop us would be devastating. Ciro’s brutal ass ensures we get just enough food that we don’t go down that road.”

I sucked in a breath, feeling a little better. “So baiting is a necessary evil. I can live with that. Thank you, Kellian. You didn’t have to do this.”

“Don’t thank me just yet... wait, thank me now.” He grinned at someone over my shoulder, and I turned just in time to see Chef place a giant platter in front of me. It looked like a roll of dough slathered in white cream, so I raised my eyebrows and waited for one of them to explain.

“This is a smothered burrito. Stuffed with meat and peppers and cheese and veggies, covered in the most delicious queso you’ll ever taste. I’m a little offended they don’t have burritos down south, but I blame that more on Draterion influence bleeding over the border than anything,” he said flippantly. “Go on. Take a bite.”

I carefully cut a piece off with the knife I was provided and took a bite, and my taste buds exploded. I moaned louder than any bloodwhore in the castle as I chewed, and I wasn’t exactly proud of what happened next.

Idevouredthat thing.

Kellian giggled but didn’t say a word as I scarfed down bite after bite until I felt bloated as hell, then slid a goblet of water toward me. “Drink. I’m glad you liked it. Maybe now you’ll be a little less cranky.”

“What the hell was that noise?” Renzo asked, peeking his head in.

“It was the satisfied noises associated w—”

“Fucking burritos. Goddamnit, I miss food.” He helped himself to the seat next to me and stared at the crumbs on my plate longingly. “That moan was divine, Addy. Give me one more, please?”

I blushed furiously, nudging him a little softer than I’d done to Kellian. “It’s gone, sorry. Should’ve been here earlier.”

“Fuck me,” he muttered. “I was hoping to make Ris jealous by telling him I heard you moan.”

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