Page 52 of Tainted Blood

“This is where Kamose is recovering. Isis should be with him,” he explained. “Before we start, I want to ask if you’re okay. We haven’t started properly training you to feed from the vein yet and the one time you did was under duress. It seems you’ll be in yet another less-than-optimal environment.”

“I want to focus on what’s going on until it’s time for me to feed.” I reached for the door, only to be stopped when he grabbed my wrist. His grip wasn’t hard, but he easily held me without much effort.

“Please be honest with me. I need that,” he said softly. “I’ll find another way to get you fed if you’re uncomfortable with taking from a vein right now.”

“I was being honest. I’m a bit… It's been a long night, Alexius. I’m already getting thirsty, but I trust that you won’t let me kill someone.” I gave him a pleading look. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I don’t want to worry about being a young vampire who can’t control herself right now. I know that’s something you think about all the time, but I just want to work.”

“I do the same thing, you know. I focus on work when it’s better than thinking about something else.”

His thumb rubbed my wrist, which made me want to melt. I wasn’t sure he knew he was doing it, but it was a tender touch. Another little thing I would carry with me for years, another one of the facets of the complicated man I worked for.

“Is that what you’ve been doing all night? Avoiding thinking about your age versus Samas’s?” I asked. He had gotten straight to the point with me, so I did the same with him.

“Wouldn’t you? If this had just been his age, we would finally know for certain that vampires have an expiration date, and I would be one of the next to reach it.” He sighed, releasing me to grab the doorknob. “I’m somewhat ashamed to say it, but I’m glad it wasn’t his age. I can stop what happened to him from happening to me. I’m not ready to face that sort of fate.”

“Not tired of immortality yet?” I was trying to be lighthearted, giving him a smile, but I wasn’t sure I pulled it off. I wasn’t sure it was the right place for it, but I hoped a tiny bit of lightness would help both of us.

His gaze met mine, those dark eyes full of mysteries just like his unreadable expression.

“No, not yet,” he answered. He seemed to switch in that second, swinging back to focusing on the task. “When we’re done with this wing, we’re going to stop at our suite. I want to arm you. I should have earlier.”

“Arm me?”

“Blades, to give you more weapons in case you’re attacked. A firearm could reasonably destroy a vampire’s head well enough, but the speed required to aim for the head and take the shot… It’s not a reasonable form of defense, especially since most fights with other vampires are in close quarters.”

“I think we’ve had this conversation before,” I said, frowning.

“We have, a shorter one, but I’ve focused more on teaching you other things. Either way, I want you to have them for now, even if you aren’t effective with them.”

“I get it. I wouldn’t mind having something sharp with me just to feel more secure.”

Nodding, he opened the door to the suite. We didn’t find anyone in the main room, which was much more complete in a design sense than our own. Isaiah had put time into our suite, but this one was clearly a space that had been kept for someone for a long time, maybe even designed by them.

“Isis?” Alexius called softly. She appeared quickly, coming out of one of the two doors that I assumed led to bedrooms.

“Yes?” She was wary, her gaze focused on Alexius like he was going to attack her at any moment.

“After the events of the night, we’re confiscating all outside blood supplies, human and non-human. I’ll need you to hand over all the blood you and your family brought with you. I’m also going to do a search of your suite to verify that none is being hidden from us. You can watch me during the search, or you can give me verbal permission to do so now.”

“I see,” she murmured. “I brought nothing. I don’t know if my parents brought anything, and… I cannot ask them. You have my permission to go into our suite with the express purpose of locating any blood that might be stored there and taking it. I need to stay with my father.” She turned away, heading back into the bedroom without another word.

Alexius tapped my hand as he backed away. We didn’t discuss what just happened. Isis looked tired, and based on her wariness, she was angry and scared in equal measure, ready to attack anyone who came too close or threatened Kamose or her.

In the next suite, Ivanna was similarly unperturbed by our request, not bothering to stand when we had to enter the room where Damek was being kept. She was similarly tired, but her focus on Damek didn’t make her as wary of us.

“I brought fae blood. It was a gift from a fae lover Isaiah has met before if you need verification of that. It’s kept in an enchanted decanter. I would prefer if it wasn’t destroyed, his blood or the decanter, but… if you must dispose of his blood, I would appreciate the decanter returned undamaged. He made it for me.”

“Where have you been keeping it?”

“In my small suitcase safe. Here…” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small key. “Put this key in, then punch in the codebeforeturning the key.” She pulled out her phone and typed several numbers, then showed them to me. “The code.”

I took a picture of her screen, nodding.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Ivanna. It won’t be forgotten.”

“Whoever did this… I want them dead,” she said, looking at Alexius with red-rimmed eyes. “To betray all of us like this…” She shook her head. “We are petty, conniving creatures, but this… This was too far.”

“You’re assuming this was orchestrated?” Alexius expressed a confusion I didn’t have. I was absolutely certain someone did this.

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