Page 74 of How to Entice a Fiend

“The abduction did put a damper on things but there were fun moments, for sure!” Mads says, which is questionable. I don’t remember any of these “fun moments,” but it’s also become clear to me that Mads is strange… and has a really bitable neck.

Fuck.

I tear my eyes away from him and stare at my hands as the lady talks and talks and Mads laughs, and then she laughs.

“Boy, oh boy. Sure taking them a while for that blood. You think they’re having to catch a person and drain them first? Ha ha…” Mads sounds a bit delirious with that last part.

“I’m sure it’ll be out shortly.”

The waiter finally brings the blood. “Here we go!” he says as he starts to give it to Katherine, but Mads snatches it up. At first, I think he’s trying to be gentlemanly and guide it to her, but instead, he tips that glass back and chugs it while the waiter stares at him, hand still outstretched like he’s holding an invisible glass.

Realizing what he’s done, Mads hesitates and wipes a drop of blood off his lips. “Uh… do you… possibly… have more of this in like… a pint?”

“You want… you want a pint of blood?” he asks as he slowly sets down the other glasses between Katherine and me. I can already see Mads eyeing them.

“I will also take a pitcher if you have it. Really… any… large, hefty container will do. Even if it’s in like a saucepan, I can make it work. Thank you.”

The waiter stares at him for a long moment before nodding. “A bucket of blood. Okay…”

Mads turns to me. “You?”

“No, I’m good,” I say, repulsed by the smell of it. Even so, I lift it to my lips and try not to recoil when I taste it. It won’t hurt me, but it also does little to help me. It generally just makes me feel unwell to drink human blood, but if it’s the only option, I have little choice.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think about you being so thirsty,” Katherine apologizes as she slides her glass over. “Would you like some more while you wait?”

“No! No! I really couldn’t drink yours,” he sayswhiledowning it. Like how can he even pretend he’s not interested ashe licks the glass like a dog trying to get the very last crumb out of their bowl?

I take one more sip of mine and find that I can’t stomach the stuff, so I slide it over to Mads who now has a glass in each hand. Maybe it’ll make him stop licking the glass.

“Oh, I really couldn’t. Thanks, but I really couldn’t,” he says, even though my glass is already gone as well.

“You’re not thirsty?” Katherine asks me.

I’m fucking ravenous. I’m starving, but the only thing I could easily eat is sitting next to me, and he’s over here starved and deprived of blood because of me. “No, I’m fine.”

Mads stops licking the wineglass long enough to give me a concerned look which I promptly ignore.

“You really are okay?” he asks.

“I’m fine.”

“I’ll share my jug with you when I get it,” he assures me.

“I love your accent. Where are you from?” Katherine asks him.

“I’m currently working in the council out of London. I have this cute little apartment that overlooks the river.”

The waiter returns with a large glass of blood which Mads eagerly takes even though he looks disappointed that it’s not quite a bucket.

“You sure you don’t want more?” Mads asks, offering up some of the glass he’s treasuring.

“No,” I say as he manages to slide the glass near me, which seems to take a lot of effort on his part when he obviously wants to down it all himself, but my eyes are too fixated on his throat. I quickly stand up. “I’m going to go check the terminal. Make sure everything is on time.”

“Katherine would get an alert on her phone if it wasn’t,” Mads assures me.

I notice she isn’t planning on stopping me, which is more than fine with me. They can flirt to their hearts’ content; I’m going to go find someplace to cool my head… somewhere very far away from Mads’s throat.

Once I figure out the direction of the terminal, I begin walking.

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