“She lost a lot of blood yesterday.” He motioned to the dark stain on the stone. Yeah, I wasn’t going to comment on the fact the stone had all but absorbed all that blood. The dark brownish stain was all that remained of my pooled blood.
“Then feed her, asshole,” Fin said abruptly, all trace of playfulness gone from his tone. “You can certainly spare a pint.”
“I’m not hungry,” I said before Maddox could snarl. The fact that the arm he had around me tensed and the rest of him seemed to vibrate suggested his rather vehement response to the accusation.
Fin jerked his gaze to me.
“And I don’t heal that way anyway.”
Head tilted, he stared at me. “You do realize you’re part vampire, right?”
“You do realize that’s an oxymoron, right?” What was it with people telling me what I was? “There’s no such thing as a part-vampire.” Hybrids didn’t exist. Do join the party line. Why else was I in this prison? Oh yeah, because I’d broken some covenant by existing.
Right.
“Agitation. Pallor. Exhaustion. Dissociation, bloodlust, and madness follow. Baby vamps have to eat.” He ticked each item off like I was five.
Yeah, my estimation of Fin began to drop by several points. “I’m a succubus,” I reminded him. “That’s not how I heal.” Or feed.
“Well, I’m pretty sure Maddox still remembers how that works, just let him…”
“Fin,” Maddox snapped. “She already told you she wasn’t hungry. Leave her alone.”
Oh ho, he was defending me now? The flip-flop was enough to make anyone a little dizzy.
“Yeah, but she’s going to need her strength, and if she’s waning after only a day in your company, what’s she going to be like tonight?” He folded his arms, and I swore I could almost hear the tapping of his foot, even if it wasn’t audible.
“We’ll be fine,” Maddox stated smoothly. “Speaking of conserving energy, you should.”
“Says the one who gets to spend time with her while I lay here under the stone floor with a mouse for company,” Fin grumbled.
“Stop bitching and go away,” Maddox said in an aggrieved tone. “We’ll head up when the torches go out.”
“Fine. But she sleeps with me tomorrow.” He blew me a kiss before focusing on Maddox again. “You got two days. Fair is fair.” Then he was gone before my companion could respond.
“Still like him better, Kitten?”
“Not so much.”
He chuckled, then slid his hand up to massage my nape. “He’s not wrong. You do need some fresh blood. Feeding your dual nature needs to be something you get used to.”
“If that’s your polite way of saying ‘bite me,’ no thank you.” I really didn’t want blood. The image of Dorran cutting himself so the blood trickled out flashed through my mind, accompanying the hot flavor of it on my tongue.
I shuddered and curled my toes as I closed my eyes. I did not want to want it. I wasn’t a vampire.
“The hardest part of the transition is accepting your needs have also transitioned,” Maddox said, drawing circles against my shoulder with his thumb. “You have to feed both.”
“Or what?” I asked, in spite of my intentions of focusing on my house.
“Or bloodlust will set in. The need to sate yourself on whatever you can get your hands on, and you won’t mind killing to get what you need.”
I didn’t mind killing so much now.
“And you won’t be able to tell friend from foe.”
That part bugged me a little.
“For those who truly deny themselves, they may lose the thread of who they are entirely. Minds have broken in transition before, it is why those who are turned are carefully curated.” He was almost likeable as he handled this conversationally, without his domineering and orders.
“Too bad I missed that memo,” I told him, though maybe that was another reason Dorran had taken such an interest in me, particularly when I wouldn’t feed. It could also be he just wanted to have a good time. Though it was something to consider on both fronts.
“I’ll give you some latitude, Kitten, if I hadn’t put the shackles on you—you wouldn’t be half-starved now.” Before I could deny it, he gave my shoulder a squeeze. “Deny you’re hungry all you want, but your body betrays you. You can’t stay warm, can you? It’s why you’re letting me hold you.”
I would have wrenched away, but he had an iron grip on me. I debated and discarded a half-dozen responses, then settled for just ignoring him.
“Fine, don’t answer. But I know the truth, and deep down, so do you. I will not force you, but if it comes down to a choice between risking your sanity or your fury…well, I’ll take your rage, and you will feed. Fin was right, I can more than spare the blood, and it’s old enough that it will sate you.”
“Confident, aren’t you?”
He chuckled. “Very.”
“Hmm. Are you done?”
“For the moment.”
Nodding, I closed my eyes and returned to my house building. I must have drifted off again because he woke me with a gentle shake, and I snapped my eyes open to find myself not just leaning against him, but curled up in his lap like a slutty cat absorbing all that heat.
Okay, I never said I wasn’t a slutty cat.
“Is it time?” I asked, and my voice came out a croak. The torches were out, but as with the night before, his eyes glowed.
“Nearly. Fin said five minutes and we move.”
Extracting myself from his lap, I nodded. He set me on my feet, bracing me as my head swam. Yeah. That wasn’t a good sign. Fuck, I did not want to drink his blood. Once I was out of here, I’d ditch them and go find some cheerful fucker and seduce him. Then I’d find that asshole vampire and rip his spleen out.
Maybe the so-called prince, too.
I was an equal opportunity bitch slapper.
Maddox said nothing as I made my way over to the sink. I splashed a little water on my face to chase away the sleep. I’d slept a good portion of the day. Then I drank down a couple of palmfuls to wet my throat.
“When we get out there,” Maddox said. “You’ll stick close to me.”
Ah, there he was, the autocratic jerk who issued orders. I’d started to worry he’d been replaced by a kinder, gentler Maddox. No one would want that.
“You will do it,” he continued. “Don’t make me have to drag you out of here kicking and screaming.”
I chuckled. “I already kicked, and you have to be really good to make me scream.”
The abrupt silence made me smile wider. Never play the game with me. Turning from the sink, I stared across the void toward the glowing eyes regarding me from their narrow slits.
“Kitten, are you going to cooperate?”
That question was pregnant with all kinds of possibilities.
Then again, so was my answer.
“What’s in it for me?”
“Your ticket out of here,” he promised. “And a long conversation, a real one, with communication on both sides. After that, you’re free to go wherever you like.”
Sounded too good to be true.
Probably was just a lure to get me to agree. Once we were out, he could focus on containing me. He also had allies waiting for him, the irascible Fin and the mysterious Rogue.