Page 50 of Captive
"I can smell him on you." Sebastian's voice remained carefully neutral, though something darker flickered across his face. "And your decision to walk away."
This knowledge of his private affairs should have provoked him. But something in Sebastian's tone conveyed more than calculation.
"Your senses get stronger with each transformation," Boarstaff observed, neither confirming nor denying what Sebastian claimed to detect.
"Everything gets stronger." Sebastian shifted against his restraints, the movement fluid despite his bonds. The rawhide straps had loosened slightly, adapting to his changing form. "Clearer. More... immediate."
That's when Boarstaff noticed the changes since his last visit. More brass components had fallen away, leaving small burnished pieces scattered around Sebastian's body. But what drew his attention was the subtle tremor in Sebastian's movements, the tight control in his expression - signs he'd learned to recognize during their feeding sessions.
"You need blood," Boarstaff said, stepping fully into the chamber.
Sebastian's eyes flashed in the crystal light, his fangs descending slightly before he mastered himself. "The transformations accelerate the hunger. Without mechanical regulation..." He didn't finish, but Boarstaff understood.
Without a word, Boarstaff approached. Sebastian's body tensed visibly, his breathing shallow and controlled. The hunger was stronger now than during previous feedings - Boarstaff could see it in the rigid set of his shoulders, the way his gaze fixed on the blade.
"How much?" Boarstaff knelt next to the bound vampire.
"More than before," Sebastian admitted, his voice rougher thanusual. "The brass that regulated my feeding responses is mostly gone. What remains..." He swallowed hard. "What remains doesn't control the hunger, only channels it differently."
"Still yourself." Boarstaff slowly offered his bare wrist.. "Show me you can control it without mechanical regulation."
The struggle was evident in every line of Sebastian's body. The hunger clearly burned stronger than before, yet something else fought against it; not artificial control, but something that came from within. His breathing steadied by deliberate effort, his straining against the bonds eased.
"There," Boarstaff said. "That's it."
Sebastian's gaze never left his wrist, but his movements grew more measured. The vampire took it with startling gentleness, his transformed hands cradling Boarstaff's arm as if it might break. There was a sharp pain as Sebastian’s fangs pierced his skin. It was still less painful than a knife cut though, more precise as well.
The first draw of blood made Sebastian's body shudder with relief. His eyes closed briefly, lashes dark against skin that looked increasingly human as brass components continued to fall away. The feeding felt different than before, more intimate somehow. Without synthetic regulation, Sebastian's responses were rawer, more genuine. Each swallow came with a sound of satisfaction that sent warmth through Boarstaff despite his efforts to maintain distance. Sebastian's tongue traced the edges of the cut with deliberate care, and by the time he finally lifted his head, Boarstaff found his pulse racing for reasons beyond blood loss.
"Your blood changes," Sebastian said finally, breaking the charged silence between them. "It tastes... clearer with each feeding." His voice had dropped to barely above a whisper. "Like something I knew before brass and steam. But that’s impossible."
The moment stretched between them, charged with something neither was prepared to name. Boarstaff was acutely aware of their proximity, of Sebastian's transformed eyes studying him with unexpected depth. Of the strange beauty emerging as brass fell away from flesh designed to hold it.
"Say what you need to say." Boarstaff kept his voice level despite the lingering warmth spreading through him.
"There are things in the citadel that shouldn't be there." Sebastian chose each word with noble precision. "Things that could be... retrieved, with the right knowledge. The right approach." He paused, something flickering across his features. "The timing would need to be precise."
"You offer information about your father's defenses?"
"I offer possibility." Sebastian's gaze never wavered. "Knowledge worth testing. Worth verifying before risks are taken."
Understanding struck. "The child you speak of in fever dreams."
"Among other strategic advantages." Sebastian's attempt at political distance faltered slightly. "The knowledge I offer has multiple applications. Multiple values."
"Always the noble negotiator." But Boarstaff heard the urgency beneath careful words.
"Especially without it." Sebastian's transformed eyes held something raw - something that spoke of choices beyond politics. "Some prices become clearer when artificial constraints fall away."
Boarstaff moved slightly, trying to create distance without being obvious about his body's continued response. The crystal formations embedded in the living walls brightened in response to his movement, casting strange patterns across the floor.
"You expect me to risk my warriors on information I can't verify?"
"I expect nothing," Sebastian replied, though his body tensed as Boarstaff shifted away. "I merely offer what I know. What might save a child from the fate I endured." His voice dropped lower. "From the fate thousands have endured since my father perfected his improvements."
The sincerity in Sebastian's tone caught Boarstaff off guard. The vampire had maintained careful distance in previous conversations, never revealing more emotion than necessary. This urgency felt different. Felt real in a way that challenged Boarstaff's remaining doubts. "I'll speak with Thornmaker about verifying your information."
"Time presses." Sebastian's composure cracked further. "The ceremonies begin at the double new moon. They will have stopped waiting for me to return. After that..." He swallowed hard, the movement accentuating the strange beauty of his transforming throat. "After that, she becomes like me. Like all of us. Piece by brass piece."
