Page 9 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Thrall

Her eyes flew wide and I could see every fleck of gold in her amber irises before I turned and locked my room with the solid iron key Hayes had given me.

“Hello,” I said when she continued to stare. It was probably a shock to see such a young undead vampire, so I allowed her a few more seconds before I started to get annoyed.

I could hear her pulse fluttering and when my lips parted it only grew faster at the sight of my fangs, larger than that of a living vampire. If she was a second year student, she’d know that she was lower than me on both the food chain and pecking order. Vampires were surprisingly big on etiquette and hierarchy, and I outranked her simply because her heart still beat and mine did not.

The girl gulped and a pretty flush rose to her cheeks. Normally I might not have noticed, but the other thing that made newly turned undead vamps dangerous? We got hungry. A lot.

“Can you tell me where to find Hayes’ room?” I said stiffly, trying to ignore the way my fangs had begun to ache and my hands trembled. The girl stayed quiet and I clenched my jaw before snapping out. “Now.”

The command at last seemed to unfreeze her and she pointed to a staircase off to my left. It was better than nothing, so I nodded and left as quickly as I could, lest I have another… incident.

It felt like the knot in my chest that was Hayes grew warmer the further up the stairs I moved, and I was glad this bond was at least good for something. There were rows of dark wood doors just like mine, generously spaced apart in the wide corridor and I paused before one that stood slightly ajar, the knot in my chest burning as if to confirm that this was where I was supposed to be.

I nudged the door open gingerly and stopped short, my bloodlust rising even as a wholly new hunger joined the first.

I’d found Hayes, but he was… occupied. Another living vampire with dark hair grasped firmly at Hayes’ pale shoulder, restraining him or holding him up, I couldn’t tell, as his lips worked at Hayes’ throat. It felt like my own shivered in response, remembering the sweet-as-sin taste of him as a possessiveness rose up in me, my lips lifting off of my teeth instinctively. The living vampires didn’t need blood until they died and rose as an undead, either through choice or accident, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t indulge.

The dark-haired man moved and my eyes drifted past the lips on Hayes’ throat to the cock slowly working its way in and out of his arse. Hayes flung his head back with a groan, the strong column of his throat beckoning me enticingly as a bead of blood dropped down. I remained frozen as the other man’s hand traced a confident pathway down Hayes’ surprisingly taught chest and down to his dick, fisting it even as the dark-haired man’s hips flexed from behind.

I should say something. Or I should leave. Either way, this wasn’t meant for me.

The man’s pace increased, his low moans raising the hairs on my arms in a way that I found utterly fascinating. Clearly some of my bodily functions still worked.

Hayes’ blonde hair was mussed and his cheeks were flushed pink, making him look oddly cherubic as his hand bent backward to grip the dark-haired man’s throat while they fucked.

I took a step backwards and his eyes flashed open, the cold blue meeting mine in something like resignation. As if he’d known I was there all along and had hoped he might be wrong.

“I’m sorry for interrupting,” I said as smoothly as I was able and the other man jumped, clearly not having realised I was there. “I’ll come back later.”

But my feet stayed rooted to the ground, like Hayes’ eyes had the power to hold me there through will alone.

He slowly pulled away from the other man and didn’t look back even when he murmured a protest.

“Hayes, what are you doing?”

Hayes didn’t reply to the other man, just moved closer to me. “I think I hate you,” he said to me as he stood inches away, seemingly unconcerned about his own nakedness. Truthfully, he had no reason to hide. With the blood smearing his neck and the flush from his cheeks spilling down over his chest, he was perhaps the most delectable thing I’d ever seen—until he opened his mouth. “I didn’t realise how different… how muchbetterthe bite was from an undead. The whole time his fangs were in me, all I craved was you.”

A thrill swept through me at his words, even if what he really meant was that he craved my bite and not me.

I took a step closer and his eyes darkened when I lifted a hand and tilted his chin to the side, exposing the clean holes on his neck.

The other man stepped off the bed, a warning on his face that looked like it was travelling to his mouth when he got his first proper look at me and his senses told him something he didn’t want to believe. He went pale, and I couldn’t stop my smile.

“You’re a vampire,” he choked out and I licked the small trail of blood on Hayes neck, making him pant.

“Yes,” I said, raising an eyebrow in question because it seemed like a given—thiswasa kind of school specifically for vampires? Then I held his eyes as I slid my fangs into the same place on Hayes’ neck, claiming the mark for my own and slowly swallowing as the other man stood rooted in place.Mine, I thought and Hayes frowned like he’d heard but he didn’t protest, just slid one arm around my waist as if the motion was automatic, tucking me closer before grimacing, like he was mad at his loss of self-control.

Whatever this bond between us was… I got the feeling it was going to be trouble.

Hayes’ grimace faded, replaced by a look of bliss as I pulled from him deeply, relishing the taste of him on my tongue. I was hungrier than I thought and when I pulled back he swayed. I swept my tongue across my mouth, eager to catch every precious drop, and there was a strange smugness in knowing that I made him feel so good he would have let me keep going. Even if it killed him.

“I’m just going to leave,” the other guy said and I stiffened, having forgotten he was there as the bloodlust took over.

As my emotions settled, the hunger within me sated for the time being, I could feel a little regret at my behaviour. They had clearly been… busy, before I’d charged in and taken over. But Hayes didn’t protest and the air felt heavier after the other living vampire left.

“Did you need something?” Hayes said eventually, voice flat. I would have thought he was unaffected by the blood exchange except for the blush that was deep on his cheeks and across the pale skin of his chest. I stopped my eyes from moving any lower, but I would have been surprised if he wasn’t hard. Bloodlust did interesting things to the body—both living and dead, it seemed.

“Well, I was mostly looking for information, but I suppose I should thank you for breakfast too?”

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