Page 74 of Petals and Fangs

“Ugh, aren't you a tease?”

I pinch her cheek and notice how she shivers at my touch. I immediately take my hand back and try to focus on the road ahead.

“Are you always this cold?” I hear her asking.

“I am sorry. The perks of being a vampire. I should have warned you about this, though. It comes with the package,” I reply.

“Do you want me to warm your hands up?”

“It is not that easy, Lily. As a matter of fact, it is not even possible.”

“You know what, Ethan? You haven't had a problem with the fact that I am human, so, please, don't have a problem with the fact that I have warm blood.”

“Fair enough. And how are you going to get my hands warm, Lily?”

“Give me your hand,” she says, and I extend my arm. She grabs it and starts caressing the palm of my hand with her soft fingers.

“You are adorable.”

“Is it helping?”

“It is,” I fake my answer. My hand is still cold.

“Really? Oh, my God, it's working! This is incredible!”

“It's a miracle, isn't it?”

“I told you it was going to work,” she says. I just laugh.

“Perhaps I don't need substances to keep my body warm anymore. I just need you and your miraculous touch, Lily Snow.”

“Substances?”

“Yes. What do you think the Rothschild Pharmaceuticals is for, then?”

“You tell me, because I am not buying the anti-aging crap that you told me about,” she laughs.

“We create products for vampires to use. They help us with our needs, especially in terms of drinking blood. That's how we get energy. Through the blood substitutes that we develop.”

“I knew there was more to it. Do you have any idea how many times I had to go through that file you gave me? I knew something was not right. And then when I noticed the weird name on the container of the blood bags, I knew something was off.”

“Blood is not the only thing we create. We also create substances to help us survive in the human world.”

“Like?”

“For example, our fangs are quite long. If a human saw them, they would freak out, wouldn't they?”

“They would.”

“Well, we use special substances that allow us to have normal teeth and fangs.”

“You do have quite the fangs, though.”

“Oh yeah?” I say, as I flash her a smile.

“Yes. What about sunlight?”

“Oh, that. That has a special formula. We don't really need the sun to live, and most of the time we can be quite sensitive to the light. There is a special lotion for that. It works quite well, if I have to be honest.”

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