battle half-weakened from starvation. We need his blood to be strong.”
“We can’t just murder people because it’s convenient,” you argued.
“It’s not a matter of convenience. It’s survival.”
“But he’s my friend.”
I nearly told you that I’d warned you, but I resisted. There was no winning this argument. Meanwhile your protests escalated in fervor, and I let them fall upon me like an icy rain. When you saw that I wasn’t going to be moved by arguments of justice and humanity, you resorted to lashing out at me in colorful vulgarities.
Seeing no resolution in sight and realizing that to continue this exercise would only stress you further, I nodded at Lucian who came from behind and wrapped his arms tightly around your chest. You kicked like a donkey and tried to bite him.
“I could drug him,” Lucian offered, not unkindly.
“No.” You weren’t a child anymore, and I couldn’t protect you from this aspect of our nature. “Let him watch.”
I went behind Maxwell, already stunned by my seduction, and tilted his head to the side.
“You’ve had a lot of practice with that, haven’t you, Henri?” you spat with venom.
“Yes,” I answered gravely. “It’s the most merciful way I know how. This is not your sin, Vincent.”
I bared my teeth and clamped down against the tender flesh of Maxwell’s neck. His blood surged into my mouth, coating my tongue thickly, slipping sensually down my throat. I drank deeply, relishing the taste of him even while you screamed at me to stop and thrashed wildly in Lucian’s arms.
When my thirst was sated, I came for you. Your eyes burned like coals, and your face was flushed an angry red as you shed hot tears.
“Give him to me.” I hugged you close even as you fought your hardest. I turned you, still kicking and bucking, away from the carnage. By now Maxwell’s soul had departed and his body lay supine on the cave floor. Lucian fed from his inner thigh, Ashur from his forearm, and Lena from the wound I’d made in his neck. Their sounds were not delicate, nor were their moans of satisfaction. I said a prayer for Maxwell’s soul to journey safely through the veil.
“Redemptio per sanguinem is a lie,” you rasped viciously. “It’s something you made up to be able to sleep at night.”
“This is not your sin,” I repeated, but you would not be placated. If I’d offered you my throat, you might have torn right through it, so I grabbed the back of your head and steered you toward my arm. I pumped my fist a few times to get the blood coursing through my thick, corded veins. You glared at me with silent fury, then sunk your teeth into my flesh and fed.
When you’d finished, I said, “I’m sorry we cannot offer your friend a proper burial.”
“Shut up,” you said and licked the excess blood from the corner of your mouth. “I don’t want to hear another word from you.”
37
Vincent
I’d always known of your capability to kill, but I never thought you’d be so cold about it. So… indifferent. You hadn’t even given Maxwell fair warning. Or the opportunity to run. Were humans nothing more than blood bags to you?
If so, you were no better than Lucian or Mater. Even Ashur seemed unbothered by it, as if it was just another day in the mine. How could I reconcile the man I loved, one who was gentle and loving and fair, with this… monster?
And now there was nothing I could do but shuffle along behind, still attached to you by a rope and harness like it was some weird umbilical cord. I hated you for what you’d done. And even worse, I knew it was my fault, because I was the one who insisted we rescue Mater. I’d told Lucian not to bring humans, which limited our blood supply. But who could have predicted that Mater would guzzle blood by the gallon?
Still, we could have gotten by without draining him, even if it made us a little bit weaker.
I argued with myself and didn’t even notice that you’d stopped until I nearly bumped into your broad back. Spooky hissed her discontent from inside my pack. Even though she hated being confined, I’d placed her in there in case we were attacked.
Your weapons were already drawn because we were approaching the mouth of the cave. Lucian unharnessed Mater, and you sent him ahead to scout the area. Mater wasn’t able to stand for long, so she rested on our pile