Page 47 of Wicked Allure
“To the crown,” Ramona murmured before taking a healthy sip from her chalice.
“The crown,” Dru echoed. She took a small sip then placed hers back down on the table. She swallowed and bit back a grimace. The blood smelled delicious, but for some strange reason the taste was off. It almost tasted as if it were sour. Were the berries they used to infuse with it not ripe enough?
“Is that not to your satisfaction?” Ramona’s perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched. The woman didn’t miss a thing.
Dru smiled tightly.
“It’s fine.” she lied.
“As I was about to say, we do need to speak about Tomesha,” Ramona continued. Her fake smile disappeared, and a seriousness came over her.
Dru tensed. What was it about Tomesha that had the woman glaring at her?
“What about her? I thought she wasn’t here tonight?” Dru’s gaze roamed the establishment again, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. Her heart rate increased at the thought of seeing the beautiful woman.
“I gave her the night off because of an issue,” Ramona stated curtly.
“What issue?” Dru snapped. She reached for the goblet to have something to do with her hands. She sipped and held back a shudder. She kept her face devoid of all expression. Would the woman get straight to the point? Why was she tiptoeing around whatever she wanted to stay?
“You almost bled her dry.”
Dru froze, a chilling sensation coursing through her body. Her heart skipped a beat as she flicked her gaze to Ramona. There was no way. She’d been careful when she’d fed. The urge had been strong. More so than she’d ever experienced, but there was no way Dru had taken that much from her.
“What?”
“I don’t need to repeat myself. She was found in her bed barely conscious and weakened. I’m just glad one of the other donors found her when she had,” Ramona said.
“Is she okay? Don’t your humans take kenaf weed?” The former healer in Dru came to the forefront. It may be a life that she’d left behind, but it didn’t mean she’d forgotten all of her training. Now she wished she’d woken Tomesha to assess her before she’d left. It was common knowledge that humans who donated for the first time may have some side effects. Either the euphoria was too great, which some could get addicted to, or their stores weren’t high enough beforehand and the donors could become anemic afterward—hence the importance of the kenaf weed.
Dru had thought the woman was sleeping soundly after the night of passion they’d shared. Her breathing had been even, her heartbeat had been slow and steady. Dru had been determined to leave, and maybe she’d misjudged Tomesha’s condition.
Now hearing what had happened, it was apparent she had.
“Of course they do. Don’t start questioning how my humans are prepared and ignore the fact that you drained her more than you should have. If you’d required additional?—”
“I did not. Tomesha was perfect,” Dru growled. She didn’t even want to consider another human. The only one she wanted was Tomesha. Dru blinked at the thought. She lifted the goblet and took a small sip.
Why were these feelings so damn strong for Tomesha? It wasn’t like she was Dru’s mate.
Dru froze in place.
There was no way.
Dru hadn’t entered the draft yet and didn’t know if she had a match out there. Was Tomesha her fated mate? Was she the one for Dru? Was this why the blood in this damn goblet tasted sour? She’d remembered how Lethia was unable to feed from another human once she’d met Alima. Even when she was mortally injured, the commander refused to take blood from a donor.
“Tomesha is something special. That’s why she’d been reserved for an honored guest. Now that she’s been fed from, I can offer her out. There are other vampires who will pay me handsomely for the opportunity to feed from her.”
“How much do I have to pay to render her services completely to me?” Dru asked.
Ramona’s eyebrows shot up high again. Dru knew what she was asking. She didn’t want anyone else to feed from Tomesha. Even thinking of it had her wanting to reach for her dagger.
“While I’m here in town.”
“Well, that is a hefty cost. Tomesha is one of my prized humans. I’ll have some disappointed clients,” Ramona said.
“Send them to me, and I’ll fix them.” Dru couldn’t care less if someone would be disappointed that they couldn’t feed from her human. She ignored the fact that she’d just claimed Tomesha as her human, but instead glared at the mistress. Tomesha was for her, and she’d be damned if another vampire’s fangs pierced her soft, delicate flesh.
The memory of the vampire female who’d tried to take Tomesha away when she’d been presented to Dru came to mind. She snarled at the thought of that woman touching Tomesha. Apparently, she was already familiar with Tomesha and wanted first claim of feeding from her. If she voiced her disapproval again while Dru was present, Dru wasn’t going to hesitate to take action.
