Page 6 of Caller of Crows
Trying to strike a deal with a vampire was exactly the thing that had gotten him into this mess, but he didn't know what else to do either.
So when an unknown vampire entered his room with a food tray, Sven decided he would pounce on his chance.
"Free me," he said, "and I'll let you bite me."
The vampire set down the food tray, turned to Sven, and shot him a surprised look. She was beautiful, with long silver hair and pale skin. Not Sven's type, but definitely attractive, like all these damned vampires were.
After a moment, she laughed. "You say that so casually. You're not scared of a bite?"
Sven looked aside. "I've been bitten before," he admitted. "So you wouldn't be my first."
This seemed to catch the vampire off guard. "You're joking," she said. "What vampire would bite a mortal and let him go?"
Sven grimaced because he did not have a response for that. He remembered the vampire who'd attacked him five years ago because the scene kept replaying in his dreams, but he could never figure out why, after everything, he'd woken up on the cold forest floor all by himself.
He'd been incredibly lucky somehow. "Maybe my blood doesn't taste all that good," he suggested, though he didn't believe that himself. Altair certainly hadn't acted like Sven's blood was disgusting.
The memory made Sven shudder. Altair looked way too fucking erotic with Sven's blood on his lips.
"I don't know about that," the vampire lady said, pulling Sven out of his reverie.
"You could find out," Sven tempted her. "Untie me, and then bite me."
"What's to stop me from biting you right now?"
"Altair wants to sell my blood," Sven said, working against the tightness in his throat. "I'm sure he wouldn't be pleased if you just helped yourself." He was making assumptions, and he wasn't sure if those assumptions were true, but Altair hadn't bitten him. He had to be thinking that Sven's blood was too valuable to be wasted.
The pretty vampire raised an eyebrow at him. "If you know my orders, why do you tempt me with treason? Do you truly believe I would betray my coven for a few drops of your blood?" She came closer to him.
"No one would have to know," Sven said. "I only want to be out of these chains for a little bit."
The vampire laughed again, then shook her head. "Your smell would cling to me, mortal, and besides, I wouldn't go against my lord's orders even if you offered me something a lot better than a snack. You won't find anyone in this coven who will, so you might as well stop trying."
Sven's brows furrowed. No one in this coven would betray Altair? "Is he that scary?"
The vampire's look turned scathing. "There's a difference between fear and loyalty, mortal. What, did you think we can't have morals just because we're dead?"
Sven's face heated. He had thought that. To be honest, he still thought that—and he didn't know if this vampire was the kind that could read thoughts or not, but she seemed to be able to tell what was going through his mind because she turned around and left the room. "Hope you enjoy your meal," she said on the way out, though she must have known that there was no way for Sven to reach the food tray in his current position.
He was still tied up, after all.
Well, fuck.
It seemed things never ended well for Sven when he tried to deal with vampires.
The food sure smelled good, too. He glanced over at the tray. A burger with fries. The meal had probably been prepared for him by the club's kitchen and it looked as if it had just the right amount of grease to be absolutely delicious.
He wasn't about to reach it, though.
Idly, he wondered if the vampire lady had looked at him the same way Sven looked at the burger now. A tasty snack out of reach.
As he lay there, lost in his thoughts, he heard a sound from outside the door. Footsteps, slow and deliberate. His heart pounded in his chest. Was it Altair? Was he coming to check on him? Sven braced himself for the worst, but to his surprise, the door opened and yet a different vampire walked in.
This one was a man, with sharp cheekbones, flaming red hair, and piercing blue eyes. He was dressed in all black and carried himself with an ease that made Sven think he was used to things going his way. This stranger wasn't the coven's leader, obviously, but he must be somewhere up in the higher ranks.
"So you're the mortal Alt dragged in," the vampire greeted Sven.
Sven swallowed hard. "Yeah, that's me."
