Page 37 of Valley of the Shadow
“Did Lucien… I’m trying really hard not to feel like this is a shallow grave, but it kinda is, George.” She flexed her fingers and her toes. “Except the shallow grave feels supergood. Like that feeling of jumping into the pool the first day of summer.”
“He said it would be the easiest way for you to wake. That you’d be most comfortable here. Was he right?”
“I think so?” She shuffled her shoulders into the bed of dirt and felt the ground form around her. “Whoa, that is so weird. How am I doing that?”
Baojia smiled. “That would be a question for Lucien.”
“Did you wake up— Whoa.” She sat up. “More blood.”
“Good.” He held out the cup for her to drink, and Natalie swallowed gulp after gulp of the thick liquid.
“Oh, I really do not like that, but I do.” She licked her lips and tasted earth and iron. “You drink that every day?”
“It’s blood, Red. I drink it about two times a week. You know that.”
“Right.” She swallowed hard. “I mean, it feels good, but it doesn’t taste good.”
He frowned. “Really?” He took a tentative sip from the cup. “Tastes normal to me.”
“Ugh.” She made a face. “Really?”
“Really.” The frown stayed. “So… wait. This doesn’t taste good to you? Not at all?”
“No. I mean, I want it, but it doesn’t taste good.” She took another long drink. “What is it?”
“This is normal human blood. Donated. It’s fresh even. We saved the preserved blood for when you needed it later. This is from… Well, it’s from a willing donor.”
She waved a hand. “Yeah, maybe don’t tell me that right now.” Her skin prickled and itched. It didn’t feel bad, just… “I don’t know how I’m feeling right now.”
“That’s perfectly normal.” His fingers tentatively ran over her bare shoulder. “Do you remember last night?”
“If only you were asking me that because I got rip-roaring drunk instead of having all the blood drained from my body.” She shook her head. “I don’t remember much actually.”
“That’s not uncommon.”
“I remember Lucien biting me, which was weird. And like… not sexy at all. He’s such a doctor.”
“Yes, he is.”
“And then I remember… I think I just fell asleep. Did he use amnis on me?”
“I believe so. It soothes the normal human reactions to having the blood drained from your body.”
She put a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes again. “Wow. Yeah. Superweird.” The burning in her throat spiked, and she felt her fangs grow long. “Oh my gah. More blooh. I nee more blooh.”
This time, Natalie drank and she didn’t stop. She couldn’t. She drank and drank and the blood didn’t taste good, but it was satisfying. So much more satisfying than anything she had ever drunk in her entire life, and she just needed a river of it poured directly into her mouth like a waterfall of bloody goodness.
After she’d drunk what felt like the entire weight of her body and more, she took a breath. “Oh, that’s so weird.”
“What?” Baojia was cleaning off her face with a warm, wet cloth.
“I don’t feel full. I mean, I kind of do, but mostly I just feel…”
“Hmm?” He was intent on his work, dabbing at her face and lips, trying not to rub her sensitive skin.
Natalie felt her fangs drop hard, but her throat wasn’t burning. She stared at Baojia’s mouth, the fine curve of his upper lip. Her eyes trailed to his neck. His shoulder. They dropped down to the line of dark hair that ran down his belly, and an unrecognizable sound left her throat.
He stopped what he was doing and met her eyes. “Did you just growl at me?”
