Page 30 of The Rising Dark
Michelle shook her head, as if in disbelief.“I still forget how old you all are.”
With the pressure of battle fading, Lavinia’s hunger returned with a vengeance.It wasn’t the hunger for food, for sustenance, but for blood.She closed her eyes, suppressing the thirst.It could wait.
“Are you all right?You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine.”
“Do you need to bathe in the moonlight, or whatever the doctor said?Does that help?”
“It helps with regeneration, but I’m alright for now.Just hungry.”
“Want me to get you some food?”
Lavinia smiled, softening at the earnest care Michelle was offering.She could easily see her now as she would be at her job.Kind, compassionate, but with a backbone of steel that wouldn’t abide any nonsense.She must be an excellent nurse.Had already proven to be a great nurse for Pina, actually.
“Hungry for blood,” she explained, almost apologetically.
“Ah,” Michelle said, realisation dawning.She was quiet for a moment, then said tentatively, “Should I see if Zachary is around?”
“No, thank you,” Lavinia said.“He will need some time after providing for Pina.We don’t take a large amount of blood, but it can take its toll.”
“Right,” Michelle nodded, her brows furrowed.She looked adorable when she frowned, the skin above her nose wrinkling.Goddess, Lavinia must have gotten star-struck, she was turning sentimental.
“What if,” she said slowly, “you take my blood?”
Now it was Lavinia’s turn to frown.“You can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because.”It was a childish answer, Lavinia realised, but the tangled ball of feelings within her wouldn’t unravel sufficiently for her to express why it horrified her to accept Michelle’s offering, so freely given.
Michelle wasn’t taking it.“That’s not a reason.”
Lavinia sighed in frustration, picking at her gut feeling.“It wouldn’t be right.”
“Do I need to do something special?Or do you only drink a particular kind of blood?”
“It’s not that.”Lavinia looked at her.She was wearing the maroon jumper again.It must be her favourite.Lavinia thought it might be hers too; it brought out the warm tones of her skin.“I’m supposed to be protecting you.”
“And you are,” Michelle said emphatically.“Trust me, I’m incredibly grateful.There are a lot more things out there than I ever realised, scary things, and I know you’re doing everything you can.But you have to let me take care of you, too.”
A pang shot through Lavinia’s heart.“That’s not how this is supposed to go.”She had always had these clear boundaries, this impenetrable wall.Being part of the Sisterhood was more than a job; it was a calling.And whenever they came across civilians, they did what they could, accepted their thanks, and faded back into the night.Never before had she gotten attached.
But then again, Michelle had been special from the very start.Lavinia had never brought a human to Thornblood.Looking back at it now, why had she done that?Why had she had this feeling in the pit of her stomach that she had to keep Michelle close?Why had it only grown stronger over the last couple of weeks?
“The only thing that matters is what you need.And if you need blood, and I have blood to spare, well…” Michelle shrugged.“I don’t see why you can’t take it.Assuming that I won’t get a nasty infection from your saliva.”
“No, no.I’m sure the good doctor could tell you why exactly, but that’s not an issue.”Lavinia closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath.She could hear Michelle’s heartbeat thrumming steadily, her blood rushing through her arteries and veins.She let herself imagine the taste of her on her tongue, how it would feel gliding down her throat.Drinking blood was a sensory pleasure like no other, except perhaps sex.There was an intimacy in feeding on someone’s blood, someone’s life force.Most vampires had trusted familiars to provide for them.For rogues, drinking blood was a dynamic of predator and prey, of rapacious taking.It was a perversion of the symbiotic relationship between vampire and willing donor, which strengthened intimacies and often created familial-adjacent ties, like with Zachary and his family.
Drinking from Michelle would be yet another step closer to a dangerous precipice.Lavinia couldn’t afford to lose herself in this human, as enticing as she was.
“Maybe later,” she hedged, cursing herself inwardly for her cowardice for not rejecting the offer outright.Still, part of her was not quite willing to let go of the dream of piercing Michelle’s soft skin with her teeth, of her gasp as the short burst of pain would turn into pleasure.“I’m going to have a shower first.”She had to wash off all the gore.
Michelle narrowed her eyes.“Alright,” she said, her tone somewhat sceptical.For a second, Lavinia felt as if her motivations were crystal-clear to Michelle, that she could see through her with ease.Like Michelle could read her mind.
Of course that was impossible, but it was a disconcerting feeling to be so scrutinised by a human.Lavinia was used to carrying a whole world of knowledge within her that most humans would never uncover, unless introduced to it through legacy.Yet here Michelle was, having stumbled into her world through a twist of fate.
She shifted her stance, her hip complaining.The doctor had been right—there was some instability there.She wouldn’t be in any shape to fight for at least a couple of days.In normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be much more than a nuisance.Her Sisters would take over any tasks that needed to be done until she recovered.She would have a dull week of desk work, no one’s favourite, causing nothing worse than some boredom.But right now, they were looking at some kind of unprecedented warlock/rogue duo whose killings were becoming increasingly frequent.On top of that, an unusually large group of rogues had settled close to the mansion and had somehow evaded detection until now.
