Page 47 of Blood Day: Part One
So instead of demanding that she return the favor, I cupped her cheek and rested my forehead against hers. “I think it’s time for a bath.” A novelty I doubted she’d ever experienced at the university. I didn’t know much about the grooming habits at the school but suspected the showers were communal and supervised by hungry lycans.
“A bath?” she repeated, her alluring irises studying mine.
I smiled. “Yes.” It seemed like a suitable way to thank her for her bravery. She might not have interpreted it as such, but she would learn eventually.
Something I could expedite if I kept her here for the remainder of her schooling.
I already had to keep her here for a few days to hide her miraculous recovery, and also to help her ride out the aftereffects of my blood.
“Stay here,” I told her.
Not that she had anywhere else to go.
Then I rolled off the bed and ventured into the bathroom to begin pouring a bath. The tub was an indulgence I hadn’t really spent much time in, preferring instead to shower quickly.
But it seemed appropriate for Lily.
It would take a while to fill due to the massive size, which was a good thing because I needed a few supplies that weren’t in my room.
I left my quarters and ventured into the hallway and searched a few other guest rooms. All of them were equipped with accommodations similar to my own—a large bedroom framed by a walk-out balcony, an adjacent seating area, and two en-suite bathrooms that rivaled the size of most bedrooms.
I finally found what I needed in the fifth set of rooms that I checked. The supplies appeared to be relatively new, suggesting they’d been added recently by one of the staff. There probably hadn’t been enough for all the rooms, or maybe they were keeping the extras in storage for future requests from visitors.
I could technically have called one of the staff to the room to do all this for me, but I preferred to handle my own affairs.
Which was why I rarely interacted with the small group of human servants living on this property. I left the management of their activities to their vampire warden, Adrienne.
She hated her job.
She hated her life.
Mostly because she was no better than a servant here.
She’d not been happy with me moving in, but she’d quickly realized I didn’t require much. I barely ate, my age requiring little sustenance to survive.
However, I’d ordered blood products for both of us to keep her from eating the staff—something she’d been doing while maintaining this vacant palace for the last century or so. I imagined it was quite stressful to be in charge of such a space, not knowing when someone might pop in for a visit. It meant she had to keep it meticulously clean and ready, regardless of how many resources that wasted.
And she had a minimal budget to arrange it all.
Hence the reason I’d sponsored the food.
They were all blood slaves whose souls were practically broken from their lives of servitude. Not my favorite flavor. But I had Adrienne turn them into staff over the last few years, thus allowing me to take their blood donations in intervals rather than all at once. It ensured they stayed alive, gave me an endless supply of sustenance, and allowed for more help around the palace.
Positives all around.
I had never understood the point of overindulgence and wasting life, something I’d made very clear to Adrienne when I’d purchased the food stock.
And she’d taken my word as law.
I’d otherwise left her alone, a reaction she seemed grateful for, as she returned the favor in kind.
However, I might need to ask for some additional products to be delivered soon. Like more bath salt.
Assuming I intended to keep Lily here.
It was an idea I pondered on my way back to my room, where I found Lily lying stiff as a board on the bed.
“I said to stay, not to freeze,” I told her conversationally on my way to the bathroom. “Why don’t you follow me and check out the bath?”
