Page 17 of Taste of Fate

The label said it was supposed to resemble werewolf blood. That could have been accurate, if it had sat out in the sun for a few weeks and then was mixed with mud and moldy fruit.

“See? It’s criminal.” Bea laughed. “No one should be allowed to bottle and sell that.”

“In the human world, they have all this government red tape you have to go through before a product hits a store shelf,” Tavi explained. “There’s the FDA, USDA, and probably more. Everything is tested to make sure it’s safe to be consumed and doesn’t contain any harmful ingredients.”

“Maybe we should have something like that here.” Laith’s eyes slid to mine. “If there’s a high risk of humans getting sick from whatever they buy at the market.”

“Most of the market’s stock is smuggled in from the human world anyway,” I reminded him. “So they already go through those regulations Tavi mentioned. Only a very small amount of things sold are actually made here.”

“It was a very interesting trip,” Tavi said. “I never expected to see preserved dragon scales sitting next to the peanut butter.”

“Don’t get us started on dragon products.” Laith and I exchanged a glance and a groan.

The dragon shifters were technically our allies, so they had free rein to move in and out of Sanguine from their neighboring territory, the Shadowburn Cliffs. Some of them even lived in Sanguine full time.

Our alliance began nearly a thousand years ago, when it was discovered that vampires who ingested a small amount of draitrium, a mineral found only in the Shadowburn Cliffs, allowed them to walk in daylight unharmed. After that discovery, dragons couldn’t mine draitrium fast enough, and business flourished between our two species.

Unfortunately, draitrium turned out to be incredibly addictive and came with terrible side effects. To this day, we were battling an epidemic in Sanguine and our clan especially wanted it gone from the streets. We were Blood ‘til Dawn, after all. Not Blood ‘til Noon.

Eliminating the draitrium trade would not happen easily though. Our people’s relationship with the dragon shifters had become deeply intertwined after all this time. Cutting vampires off from the drug would not only make enemies out of the dragons, but could turn our own people against us.

In other words, it was way more than I wanted to explain to Tavi in that moment.

“What else did you think of the market?” I asked her. “Does it have everything you need?”

She gave me a nod and a small smile. “It should work, I think. It’s definitely more convenient than Sapien. We had to make or grow almost everything ourselves. Sometimes we went into the human world for essentials but that was rare, maybe once a year.”

A sad look crossed her face. Even though my scars were healed, I felt a burning sensation in the vow I carved into my chest. She missed her friend, that much was obvious. Soon, I’d have to fulfill my promise to take her back for a visit. I would never go back on a vow I made, but the idea of it made me uneasy.

What if she refused to come back to the clan compound with me? It was alarming how much that thought distressed me. I barely knew this woman and yet I already enjoyed her presence in my space. At the same time, I liked and respected her too much to rip her away from her friend, especially a second time.

“If I had to complain about something other than these…” Tavi waved her hand over the blood chillers and hesitated.

“Tell me,” I urged, leaning forward over the counter. “If the market is missing anything, we can source it for you.”

In my peripheral vision, Laith’s eyebrow lifted in surprise. Was I too eager to make my new blood pet, who I wasn’t feeding on or fucking, happy and comfortable in her new home? Maybe, but I didn’t care. Nor could I explain where such a desire came from.

Tavi brought her hands to her face, an adorable flush creeping up her neck and into her cheeks. “It’s nothing, really. It’s dumb, actually. You’re going to think I’m a snob.”

“Tell. Me.” I growled the two words, flashing fangs as I leaned into her personal space. “Or I’ll bite you.”

It was a joke. Honestly. I was smiling as I said it. But part of me wanted to see how she’d react, wanted to see if she’d take me up on it rather than voicing whatever complaint she had about the market.

Tavi’s lips parted and her pupils blew wide. Her pulse accelerated to match the beat throbbing through my fangs. In that moment, I forgot that we weren’t alone. My whole world shrank to her plump mouth, her pretty face flushed with strong, healthy blood beneath the surface. She went still, so still for me like a good blood pet. She would not move while I decided which blood vessel to drink from.

Just as my hand lifted to push her hair away from her neck, she broke eye contact with a laugh. “Okay, fine! I’ll tell you.”

I leaned away, hiding my aching hunger for her under a smirk. “I’m waiting.”

“So, the market has a terrible alcohol selection. Especially wine.” Tavi picked at a label on one of the bottles. “All the wines barely took up one shelf and they were all terrible brands that looked decades old. It just made me a little sad, that’s all.”

“You like good wine? That shouldn’t be hard to get.” I looked at Laith to confirm and he nodded. He had human-world connections most of us didn’t.

“I do, but it’s not really about drinking the good stuff.” She hesitated again. “Back in Sapien, I used to make it. That was kind of my thing. My art form, you could say.”

“Shut up!” Bea exclaimed. “You know how to make wine?”

Tavi nodded shyly. “Wines, meads, ciders, and beer too. Seeing that crappy selection makes me miss my hobby, you know? It was something I enjoyed and kept me busy.”

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