Page 35 of A Vampire Bewitched
“Because if we let every Vlad, Count, and Elvira make vampires willy-nilly, the population would quickly get out of control and we would run out of humans to eat.” Aiden said as matter-of-factly as if he’d been asking her to pass the salt.
Nik scowled at him. “Anyway, when Luukas found out, the male who did this was tried by our Council and sentenced to death by fire. Leeha was spared. At the time, we believed she wasn’t to blame for his actions. We’ve since learned she was not as innocent as she appeared.”
Pausing to gather his thoughts, he stretched his long, muscular legs out in front of him and crossed his ankles. Emma’s eyes flickered over his body, and he bit back a smile as she tore them away and asked, “What made you reconsider?”
“We found out later from the servants in his household he had raised Leeha to believe she would one-day rule by Luukas’ side. We’ve no clue where he got that idea. He’d taken her from her human family when she was quite young; he’s the only parent she remembers. When she turned about 14, he began preparing her to be queen. He abused her as no daughter should be abused, and justified it by telling her she needed to have sexual prowess to be able to win over the Master Vampire.” Nik flashed his fangs, his lip curling up in disgust.
“So vampires do have relationships with other vampires?”
“No. Never. Which is why we were so shocked when we found out what he'd been telling her. Sometimes they’ll, uh, hook up, but they never stay together in a long-term thing. Once in a while though, a Vampire and a human will mate.”
Little lines of confusion appeared between her brows. “But aren’t humans just food for vampires?”
Nik’s blue eyes burned fiercely into hers. “Not always, no.”
“See, Em…I feel like I can call you ‘Em’ now…Is that okay?” Aiden blurted out. At her distracted nod, he ignored Nik’s scowl and repeated, “See, Em, vampires don’t mate with other vampires because they can’t sustain each other. We can feed off of other vamps, it doesn’t hurt us, but it’s kind of like eating a rice cake. You can’t live off of it. We need viable, live, human blood to survive. And since feeding and sex are so closely intertwined, it makes sense to have a human if you want a significant other. Personally, I find monogamy quite boring, I would never tie myself down to just one flavor, but to each his own.”
“But Nik drinks donated blood, from a bag.”
Before Nik could defend his actions, Aiden added “And you can clearly see how he suffers for it.”
Nik shifted uncomfortably as she scrutinized him from head to toe.
“He looks fine to me.”
“Thank you.” With a smile for Emma, Nik flipped off Aiden.
“What does the human get out of it? Other than being a food bank?” Emma asked.
“What do they get out of it?” Aiden exclaimed. “They get protection, a longer life! They get to stay young, and beautiful! And, love,most importantly, they get to experience mind-blowing vampire sex.”
“What Aiden is trying to say,” Nik blurted, “is if a human is taken as a vampire’s mate, he or she will actually exchange blood with the vampire. Not as much as we drink, of course, but a little of our blood will go a long way.”
Emma made a face. “That’s so gross.”
“Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, poppet.” Aiden waggled his eyebrows at her.
She looked at him like he was nuts and turned her attention back to Nik. “So, what exactly would your blood do?”
“Um. Well, if we exchanged blood, I would be able to find you anywhere. I would be able to protect you should anything ever happen. Also, my blood would keep you young and healthy, and you’d grow stronger than a normal human. You’d never get sick. You’d heal faster. You would be as immortal as I am as long as you were with me.”
“As long as no one cut off your head or ripped out a vital organ.” Aiden chimed in.
“What would happen if I stopped drinking it?”
“You would begin to age at that time, picking up right where you left off.”
While Emma mulled that over, Nik tried to get the conversation back on topic, “Anyway, all this stuff isn’t important for you to know right now.”
“Mmmm, I don’t know.” Aiden tilted his head and tapped a finger against his chin in mock consideration. “I think it isveryimportant for Emma to know all of this ‘stuff’, and the sooner the better the way things are going.”
He ducked to the side to avoid the water bottle Nik chucked at him. It hit the floor and rolled toward the front of the plane. He gave Nik a hurt look. “You know, I’m beginning to feel a bit unappreciated here. I think I may just go hang out with pilot Bill for a bit.”
Shaking his head in disbelief at Aiden’s back, Nik waited until the cockpit door clicked shut before continuing. “So, long story short. Leeha decided to take it upon herself to make her father’s wishes come true. Luuk went to meet her one night, and we haven’t seen him since.
Emma looked down at her folded hands, then back up at Nik. “But, how do you know for sure Leeha has him? Could something else have happened?”
“Maybe. Except she called and told us she has him.”
