Page 30 of Purrfectly Peculiar Pixie

Fuck, that hurt. Leon’s fangs sank into my skin with a flash of searing pain. It was short lived. I’m not saying it felt good after, just not nearly as painful. Was this what Peaches went through at every feeding? The way he cuddled up to Lucroy and leaned into him when Lucroy passed his fingertips over the bite marks on his neck made me think not.

I stayed there, perfectly still as Leon took pull after pull of my blood. I wasn’t lightheaded. Yet. If he didn’t stop soon, I wasn’t sure how long that scenario would hold true. While I needed Leon strong, we couldn’t afford for me to be too weakened either.

I was just getting ready to say something when Leon pulled away. His tongue tenderly swiped over the area he’d damaged and his embrace gentled. Knowing it was over allowed me to finally relax.

“Forgive me,” Leon roughly whispered. “I did not take proper care. I was gluttonous.”

Considering I didn’t feel all that faint, I disagreed. “I don’t think you took too much.”

Leaning away, Leon cupped my head in his palms, his black eyes swimming in a ring of crimson. Rubbing his thumbs along my jaw, Leon continued staring, fixing me with his gaze. “That is not what I meant. I was too rough with the bite. It has been decades since I drank directly from the source.”

I mulled that over. “Bottled blood?”

“Mm-hmm. It is never as good, even when warmed, but it is safer. For all our strengths, vampires have far too many weaknesses and one of them is the need to feed. Clever humans discovered ways of weakening and even killing us by polluting their own bodies.”

I flinched. “You’re kidding.”

“Unfortunately, no. Vampire blood sources are carefully monitored. Under fairy law, it is an automatic death sentence if you’re caught tampering with vampire blood.”

I knew that but had never considered the devious reasoning behind the law.

“Do not think too harshly on humans, at least not for this. They are prey and for many centuries, fell victim to draining. Back in the day, it was common practice for a vampire to glut themselves on a single individual. Draining a whole body in a single feeding isn’t wise. Some individuals were kept against their will and slowly killed instead. It was not unlike what ogres do to pixies. The method might be different, but the results are the same.”

The shiver racking my body wasn’t from the cold. “That’s…disturbing,” I settled on.

Leon grinned and I noticed his skin didn’t look as bad. In fact, it was nearly healed. “Thankfully, vampires haven’t condoned such practices in nearly two centuries. I am pleased to say that even before fairy law, vampires policed themselves. I will not claim such incidents no longer happen, but they are few and when the culprit is found, punishment is swift.”

I figured that punishment resulted in a trip to a dust bin, followed by the garbage.

“Come on.” I jumped when Leon patted my rump. “We better get a move on if we’re going to put your plan in motion.”

Wings snapping open, I flew up, eye level with a now standing Leon. It was amazing how quickly he moved. I’d barely seen a blur. Looked like my blood really had revived Leon.

“By the way, what is the plan?”

Leon’s question snapped my attention back to the here and now. “What time of day do you completely lose consciousness?” Vampires slept throughout the daylight hours, but they could be roused during sunrise and toward sunset. The sun’s zenith was a different matter.

Leon’s slow blink let me know he’d been thrown by the question. “This time of year, 10:17 a.m. I am capable of regaining consciousness at 2:47 p.m. I cannot say I would be useful while the sun is up, only that I can be made aware.”

Well, that was more exact than I’d expected.

“Each century has shortened my unconscious time by twenty-three minutes.”

“Wow, I…that’s interesting.” And again, painfully succinct. I suppose if the sun’s movements ruled my life like it did Leon’s, I’d pay close attention too.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because you were sluggish but still up and walking when I touched Dusk’s doorknob but when we arrived here, you were out. That means—”

“We were transported to a different time zone.”

I nodded. “Exactly. Most likely east. Since we were in Virginia, that probably places us out of the US.”

Leon glanced around the room before saying, “The sun has fully set here.”

I didn’t question how he knew. It was a vamp thing.

“If I hadn’t been injured and weakened, I would have stirred prior to the setting sun.”

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