Page 4 of Tainted Blood

He easily pulled me up before I could get my own bearings to do so, his free hand going to my lower back to hold me while I got my balance. It brought us into that space I was glad he’d avoided earlier. His smell was the only thing I could register with our bodies pressed against each other.

It came flooding back without much help. I was there again, in that basement in Alaska, when he’d licked the blood from me, his hunger apparent. Not for me, but for the meal I had asked him to finish. I was lucky I didn’t need to breathe.

“Three minutes will save your life,” he said, releasing me and backing far enough away that I couldn’t reach him. His proximity had only lasted a couple of seconds.

“Yeah, I know,” I said, quickly pushing down how attractive I thought he was and trying to focus on the task. “Three minutes will give me enough time to find help, hide, or survive until you get there. Well, it wasn’t enough time in Alaska, but it could have been if the werewolves hadn’t closed in at the same time and caused problems.”

“Exactly. Let’s do it again. We’ll skip the equipment tonight. Let’s focus purely on engaging with an enemy. I need to be certain.” He turned away from me, heading back to his side of the mat.

“Certain?”

“If our enemies are there, I need to be certain you can survive,” he clarified. “A single week with the equipment will do little for your physique, but continuing to push you with self-defense lessons will help.”

Nodding, I went to my side of the mat, facing him.

Without another word, he launched for me, and the game started again.

3

After the lesson, I wiped my face with a small towel as I walked out, with him leisurely following me. My last meal of the night was soon, and we had to get out of the gym so Rupert could send in someone to clean up.

“Are you eating tonight?” I asked him as we walked the halls of his underground mansion. It was a complex built under the property, as large as the house that sat above it. I’d called it a basement for months, and technically, it was, but it was so much more. The longer I stayed in it, the more the introvert in me appreciated it, especially since I had a taste of what existed outside, the sort of jobs that convinced Alexius to leave his home and go to work.

“I am. Do you want to meet in the sitting room after we shower?”

“Sure. Don’t call Isaiah until I get there.” I kept walking as he stopped at his door.

“I’ll call him, but I’ll wait for you to discuss it with him. Print out the emails so we can read them to him verbatim.”

Showering quickly, I found loungewear to spend the rest of the evening in. Once the emails were printed, my little fridge dinged and showed me a blood bag. I took it with me to the sitting room, not wanting to make anyone wait on me. They wouldn’t.

Well, Isaiah wouldn’t wait for me. Alexius would try, but Isaiah is pushy.

As I approached the sitting room, I could already hear them.

“Isaiah, you wouldn’t hang up on me,” Alexius said, his boredom coming through clear.

“I should. Do you really think you can call at this time and convince me you just wanted tochat? I’ve known you for a long time. You don’t chat. You have very little skill for small talk. It’s a waste of time and air to you.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Alexius chatted with me.

“I have the emails,” I announced as I walked in, seeing that Alexius was using the new screen in the sitting room. It was like a waiting room, tucked into a corner and angled to make sure everyone could watch it. I had set it up so Alexius could project his phone screen to it. I streamed movies on it when I wanted to sit in a different room, just to keep myself from feeling locked in.

“Emails?” Whatever annoyance Isaiah had with Alexius disappeared immediately. Walking across the room, I held out the papers.

“Remember the correspondence Everly received in January? She has received a reply tonight. I wanted to pass the knowledge to you in case you wanted to make new plans for the event,” Alexius explained as he took the printed emails from me.

I went to prepare my meal, knowing I couldn’t get away with skipping and didn’t want to. The burn in my throat was still there, growing more persistent as I moved around. The worse it grew, the more dangerous I was.

“I see…” Isaiah nodded. “Let’s hear the new one.”

Listening to Alexius read out the ominous email made it sound more threatening, not less. The way his chest rumbled as he spoke made me wonder if he was trying to act out the person behind the email or if it was making him angry to see the thinly veiled threat in person.

Luckily, it was a short email.

“That’s concerning,” Isaiah declared.

“I said the same thing,” I said, throwing away the empty blood bag. I grabbed my cup and went to sit down on the opposite side of the couch from Alexius.

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