Page 46 of Love Bites
"I can’t be certain,” Talon said. “I know what happens to vampires, but you're not a vampire. My best guess is that the baby would consume your blood supplies, killing you both." Talon's features hardened. I could tell he'd already decided he wasn't going to let it come to that.
"Okay," I said slowly. My thoughts kept flashing back to the blood I’d had at the bar and how it hadn’t been enough. "Where are we getting blood? Do I have to...?" I wanted to ask if Ihadto bite someone, but I couldn't even say it. How pathetic was that?
Luckily, Talon seemed to understand what I was getting at. "We can try bottled blood first."
"Is there a difference between... between..." Black spots danced in front of my eyes and I lost my train of thought as I tried to rub them away. Shit, I was used to feeling dizzy when I got up, but I wasn't even moving now.
"Collin?" Luke's voice. He sounded a bit scared.
Get it together,I told myself. I couldn't black out in front of my little brother. "I'm good." Opening my eyes again, I made myself smile at Luke, who didn't seem all that convinced. Nothing I could do about that now. I turned to Talon again. "How fast can we get a bottle?" Because there wasn't one in the apartment. At least I hadn't seen any when I'd scoured the place for food.
"Not fast enough." Talon eyed me critically. "I don't like the way you look."
Damn it, why were things going to shit so quickly? There was a voice in the back of my mind that whispered I shouldn't have let Talon drink from me, but I ignored it. Mostly because I had different things to worry about now. Like the way the vampire looked at my brother. "Blood is always most potent when it's warm from a living body," Talon said, his eyes still on Luke.
Nope. No way. No matter how badly I wanted blood. "I'm not going to bite Luke."
"What?" My little brother looked horrified. Apparently, he hadn't clued in to Talon's intentions until now.
"It's not happening," I said.
"Your brother might die," Talon said to Luke, completely ignoring my protests.
"I'm not going to die," I insisted, even as my vision threatened to fade out again. "Can't we just... go out and... catch a stranger or something?"
"Could you even stand up from the couch and walk to the door?" Talon asked. He had me there, because I didn't think that I could. At least not without faceplanting several times on the way. "I've seen this before," he continued. "I've seen how it ends, and I'm not going to let that happen to you." His fingers curled in my hair. I exhaled and let my head hang low.
"Get me blood that isn't my brother's."And do it quickly, please,I added in my mind, not wanting to admit my weakness in front of my brother.
"I’m okay with it," Luke spoke up, his voice small. "If I can help..."
"You can't be serious," I said.
"I am!" A look of determination took over Luke's features and I was surprised he didn't stomp his foot on the ground too for good measure. "If I was Remy or Jared you'd let me do it. Don't baby me. If I can help I want to help."
That... He wasn't entirely wrong about that. I did treat Luke differently from the others. Of course I did. He was the baby of the family. Even if he wasn't a baby anymore. I pinched the bridge of my nose against a wave of nausea. It was as if my body was trying to remind me that I didn't have time to overthink this.
Blood was blood, right?
Oh God.
Luke touched the side of his neck. "If you need to bite me, just do it."
I stared at my little nerd brother. Even if I agreed to this, how could I just...?
"It's okay." Luke gave a shaky laugh that betrayed his nerves. "You'll just owe me later. There's a fancy set of dice I've had my eyes on..."
"I'll buy you any dice you want," I promised, but still, I didn't know how to do this. I wasn't a vampire. I couldn't just bite people. It seemed fairly simple in theory. Just sink my fangs into his neck, right? Nothing difficult about that. But still I couldn't get myself to move. What if I bit the wrong spot? What if my teeth weren't sharp enough? What if I had to throw up the moment the first drop of blood hit my tongue?
You liked the wine that wasn't wine,I reminded myself.
I swallowed.
Talon rested a hand on my lower back. "Don't think too much about it."
"Easy for you to say." He must have done this thousands of times.
"Wasn't easy the first time." Talon lifted his hand to his mouth and bit his own wrist, causing streaks of blood to run down his arm.
