Page 48 of Blood Sport

“Roman was a threat,” I snap, getting annoyed with his badgering. “And now he’s no longer one because I dealt with him. No one is going to hurt my girl.”

I can feel the eyes of strangers on us as we walk through the streets, getting closer to the hospital. It’s approaching midnight, so there aren’t too many people out, but the people who are walking the streets make no attempt to hide the fact that they’re watching us.

I’ve been told that vampires have this aura around them that draws people’s attention, unable to look elsewhere as you pass by. I never fully understood the words of my parents until I completed my transition and started my freshman year at WSU. As soon as I got out of my car—before I bought my motorcycle—all eyes were on me. At first, it was unnerving to have that many people staring at me, but over time, the stares grew on me, slowly fading into the background of my mind to the point I no longer noticed it.

But every now and then, like tonight, I notice the stares.

“Jaylen…”

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” I interrupt. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Okay then,” Ethan says slowly and holds his hands up in surrender. “Do you want to talk about who we think the vampire hunter might be?”

I shake my head. “We could have all the theories in the world but it won’t lead us any closer to finding out who this asshole is, so it’s best that you drop it.”

Ethan doesn’t say anything to that, so we fall into a tense silence for the rest of the walk to the hospital, which I’m thankful for. I don’t need him to criticize my choices when it comes to Evie. I know what I’m doing, and what I’m doing is eliminating all the dangers in her life, which included her piece-of-shit ex-boyfriend. After the way he has treated her, he deserved everything he got. If I hadn’t stopped him, who knows what lengths he would’ve gone to trying to claim my little angel as his.

Not a chance in hell was I going to let that happen. And I let him know that before showing him who the devil truly is.

When the hospital came into view, we silently fell into our roles—Ethan is the one who collects the blood bags, and I keep watch. Walking around the side of the building, keeping to the shadows and away from the eyes of the night shift workers, we walk to the ground floor window that we know is where they keep the blood bags for donations. At first, I felt somewhat guilty for taking the bags that were meant for others, but in a way, those donors are also helping us, even if they don’t know it.

It makes the process easier to have that mindset.

Ethan uses his strength to push up the sliding glass window and remove the flyscreen before slipping inside. I follow suit and make my way to the closed door to stand guard in case anyone enters unexpectedly. Worst case scenario, I compel the person to forget and leave without a word. This doesn’t sound like such a bad thing, but one wrong move in a hospital could be our demise, so it’s best that I’m standing by ready to de-escalate if it reaches that point.

In the few years we’ve been doing this, no one has ever walked in on us. Touch wood. But it still doesn’t mean it won’t happen at some point.

I’m sure the hospital has noticed the missing blood bags, but every time we stop by to replenish our stash, the window is still easily accessible, and we aren’t met with the nasty surprise of someone waiting for us, wanting to catch us in the act. I’m not sure what they think happened to the missing bags, but I’m glad they haven’t moved to do anything about it. Lucky us. For now.

Ethan moves effortlessly around the room, having done this plenty of times before. He takes a few bags from different blood types—he likes to have options—and slips them into the foldable bag he keeps in his pocket. He is prepared for anything at any time.

“You done yet?” I ask over my shoulder, straining my senses to listen through the door. I can hear the whirring of machines and multiple voices, but no footsteps heading in our direction. The smell of blood and death is strong in my nostrils, making my hunger growl in need.

“Almost,” Ethan replies, moving around the room. “I’m grabbing a few extra bags because fuck it, why not?”

“Don’t get greedy,” I warn. The last thing we need is to draw more suspicion to the missing blood bags.

“Got it.”

After a moment, Ethan tells me he’s ready to go and I follow him out the window, through the shadows, and onto the sidewalk, walking away from the hospital. With this stash, we won’t have to come back for a couple of weeks—if we can make it last that long. With my hunger growing, needy, and desperate, I don’t know how long I can keep it at bay. I know what it wants, but I need more time.

With the stash replenished, Ethan and I indulge in a bag each when we return to the apartment, making sure to hide them away in the secret spot in my bedroom—under a loose floorboard in my closet. Even with the fresh blood coursing through my veins, relaxing my insides, the hunger is still growling, vibrating my bones.

Fucking hell.

Is this how it’s going to be until I can get a taste of my little angel? I fucking hope not. It’ll drive me insane.

It’s almost two in the morning when Miles walks through the front door, his eyes landing on Ethan and me on the couch. We finished our bags earlier, so they’ve been disposed of already. Not knowing when Miles is going to be home is the reason why I hold back on feeding, but tonight, I couldn’t keep the thirst at bay any longer.

“What are you two still doing up?” Miles asks, dropping his gym bag by the front door. As he walks further into the apartment, I notice a few twigs and pieces of bark in the strands of his messy hair, and he smells of soil.

If he was with Cindy, then why does he smell like he’s been rolling around on the ground in the nearby woods?

“We should be asking you the same thing,” Ethan counters, stealing a quick glance in my direction as Miles sits on the other couch beside us.

“Yeah, I decided to come home tonight,” Miles says, leaning back and lifting his legs to rest on the coffee table. “You know how it is.”

“Do we?” Ethan smirks. “You look like you just got done wrestling a grizzly bear.”

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