Page 57 of Tainted Blood

“No, we didn’t,” Marcus confirmed, his expression severe as he stepped back. “Are you sure you didn’t see anyone in the footage picking it up as they ran?”

“I lost cameras because of fighting. You might have seen them?”

“I saw that some went down, yes. That means there were blind spots in the footage, then…” Marcus looked at Isaiah. “I’ll get my group to search the entire building. Every room Alexius and Everly haven’t done from top to bottom.”

“Do the external buildings and the safe rooms as well. However, the daytime is coming quickly, and we need to get everyone fed who needs to be before that happens.” Isaiah looked stressed as he stood up. “Everly, you can pick someone out of these humans. They’ve all offered their blood for the evening. They’re getting paid well and have done this before for younger vampires.”

My eyes went wide as I was presented with the five people as if they were show cattle, each hoping to be picked for slaughter. I was getting used to being uncomfortable with how things were done out of necessity, but this crossed some invisible line.

“I can’t…” I took several steps back.

“Ah, a human from Jacob’s nest. Now I get it,” Marcus said, nodding as he watched me.

Alexius came closer to me, his eyes searching my face.

“I’ll decide,” he said. “I’ll pick the human, and… I can pick the vein you feed from. One that would be easy for you to detach from. If that doesn’t work, we can set up to do a blood draw—”

“I didn’t bring the equipment for that,” Marcus said quickly. “It would take hours to get here and set up for only one vampire while our city home needs it.”

“Then that option will remain off the table… for now,” Alexius said, sighing, but his eyes never left mine.

I thought about his offer to pick the human. Would that make this less weird? I hoped so.

“You can pick the human. I just… I don’t like walking over there and appraising them to find the best one. It’s…”

“Too close to something else?” he asked but didn’t give me a chance to answer. “I understand. I’ll decide, and you can wait in the next room.” He turned to Isaiah. “Will you wait with her?”

“I can,” Isaiah said, gesturing for me to follow him. I didn’t look at the humans. He took me into a quiet little library attached to the back of his office through a door I hadn’t noticed. “This is my private reading space,” he explained as he pointed to a chaise. “Sit down and get comfortable. I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable with that. I was trying to get to the point so we could continue with our work to secure the estate and that cambion blood. You need to feed, though. It’s been a long night.”

“It’s not your fault. I guess I’m too close to humans to really… think of them like cattle.”

“Theyaren’tcattle, and willing is easier than unwilling. It’s fine, though. Maybe I should have picked one and said that was the human you could feed from. That might have been easier on you.”

“Probably,” I agreed. “I just don’t think I can pick out of a line-up like that.”

“Eventually, you’ll need to learn to pick the right human to feed from,” Isaiah said, not sitting beside me but picking a recliner near a corner. “You’ll need to be able to enter a bar or even a grocery store and find the right one to feed from. That’s more complicated. You’ll need to weigh the risks. Who looks like no one is waiting at home for them? Who will be noticed missing for a couple of hours while they recover from the feeding? Will you put someone in the position of being victimized by others? It grows only more complicated from here, Everly.”

“I could stay on bagged blood,” I pointed out. It wasn’t realistic. I was feeling contrary because I didn’t like the reality in front of me at that moment, but I knew he was right.

“Do you plan on living with people who can supply that for eternity? Or afford it for yourself? Do you think you’ll have the right connections and employees to maintain what Alexius does or what I do? Let me tell you something. I don’t keep bagged blood for every vampire in my nest. I expect them to be able to feed themselves. I can’t afford to take care of them like that when they are all perfectly good adults and vampires. If anything goes wrong in Alexius’ supply chain, you and Alexius will be required to hunt. While he chooses not to right now, I promise you that he can. He did for thousands of years.”

“I didn’t say I was being realistic,” I muttered.

“But Iam. I’m not going to rush you, but I will state the facts. Alexius will teach you to hunt soon. You need to be prepared for that.”

“Yeah…” I knew that. I did.

“There are not many alternatives, and none of them are good enough to rely on indefinitely,” he continued.

“You can stop rubbing it in,” I snapped. “I neverwantedto be a vampire, damn it.”

“I know, yet you are one now. Sometimes, I’m amazed you don’t hold it against him.” Isaiah sighed, looking at the door to the office.

“I…” I didn’t know why I didn’t hold it against Alexius. I was angry for a little while, but I also knew it was a second chance. I had things I wanted to do, like finding out who wanted Jacob dead so badly, they helped Edwin do it for power. It wasn’t terrible most of the time, but there was this hard adjustment period I was still working through. As a vampire for less than a year, it wasn’t fair to judge the entire experience yet.

There was a soft knock at the door before I could put my thoughts together for Isaiah. Alexius opened it, and with him was a young man. Alexius locked the door and nodded toward Isaiah, who nodded back as my eyes flicked between them before they were pinned on the human. The burn of my throat rose into an inferno as I realized my meal was now in the room. My fangs dropped into my mouth as I studied him, wanting to know his face before I did this to him.

He had light blue eyes and dark brown hair, a contrast. He seemed college-aged, no more than twenty-five, but not too young, like a teenager.

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